WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Fighting Illini baseball (1-0)Â opened their 2023 campaign with a 9-6 win over the Youngstown State Penguins (0-1), backed by a career-high 11 strikeouts from Riley Gowens and home runs from Branden Comia and Danny Doligale.
Illinois came under some early pressure in the top of the first, when the first three Youngstown State batters reached base, loading the bases with no outs. Gowens responded with back-to-back strikeouts before getting an inning-ending fielder's-choice groundout to get out of the jam.
Illini bats immediately got hot their first time up, scoring four runs on five hits, with four going for extra bases. Comia opened the scoring by crushing a solo home run to left-center and Cam McDonald followed with a double. Two batters later, Ryan Moerman scored McDonald, with a double of his own, and he would score on a double from Brody Harding. Camden Janik's RBI-single with two outs brought Harding around to score for the team's fourth run of the inning.
Bolstered by the lead, Gowens became untouchable on the mound, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced, allowing no hits and striking out nine. He finished his outing with a career-high 11, his first double-digit strikeout performance of his career, and allowed just one earned run on four hits.
Illinois added a run in each the second and third innings, a solo blast from Doligale and on a sacrifice fly from Moerman, respectively.
Youngstown State would fight all the way back in the sixth inning, scoring six runs to tie the ballgame, five of which went unearned toward Illinois pitchers.Â
The Orange and Blue were undeterred and took back the lead in their half of the inning. A single from Gavin Bennett, the first hit of his Illini career, and back-to-back walks drawn by Cal Hejza and Doligale loaded the bases for Comia. He and McDonald were both hit by pitches, giving the duo hard-earned RBIs. Drake Westcott drove in the third run of the inning with a fielder's-choice, beating out a potential double-play ball.
The Illinois bullpen shut down Youngstown State the rest of way and allowed just two hits, with TJ Constertina and Alex Vera combining to work 3.0 scoreless frames down the stretch. Vera earned his first save of the season by pitching the final 2.1 innings of the contest, whiffing three batters.
GAME NOTES
» Gowens struck out 11 Penguins hitters, a career-high mark.
» Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.
    » Eight of the nine Illinois starters recorded at least one hit in the ballgame.
» Branden Comia and Ryan Moerman each had multi-RBI games.
    » Moerman was the lone Illini batter to have a multi-hit game.
» The Illinois pitching staff combined to strike out 15 Youngstown State hitters.
    » Most strikeouts record by Illini pitching since May 18, 2021, at Indiana (15).
    » Illinois pitching recorded 15 double-digit strikeout performances last season.
» TJ Constertina made his Illini debut, picking up his first strikeout with the program in the seventh inning.
» Illinois went 4-for-7 (.571) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 39 Youngstown State hitters in the game, allowing six ground balls and six fly balls while striking out 15.
» The Fighting Illini drew four walks from Youngstown State pitching.
    » Danny Doligale drew two of those walks.
        » Doligale had five multi-walk games last season.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
