OMAHA, Neb. — The Illinois baseball team was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament with a 8-1 loss to Indiana on Friday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
Illinois (31-21) had the game tied 1-1 in the sixth, but Indiana (25-31) scored one in the sixth and sixth in the eighth to pull away. The Hoosiers advance to play the loser of Maryland/Michigan in an elimination game on Saturday.
Illinois tied the game on a Branden Comia groundout to drive in Brody Harding. The Illini were limited to four hits by Indiana's Bradley Brehmer (5-4), who threw a complete game and struck out six.
Riley Gowens (5-4) gave Illinois a chance on the mound by allowing one earned run on four hits in five innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter before giving way to the bullpen.
Illinois was 31-22 overall and 17-7 in the Big Ten. The 17-7 conference mark was the best conference record since 2015.
Notes
• The Illini finished .500 or better for the 16th time in Dan Hartleb's 17 seasons as head coach.
• Cam McDonald snapped his Illinois record 63-game reached base streak (dating back to 5/8/21). He set the Illinois on-base streak record against Nebraska on May 14, reaching base in his 58th consecutive game.
