HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Fighting Illini baseball (3-2) slugged three home runs en route to collecting six extra-base hits in their 13-5 victory over No. 18 Southern Miss (4-1) at Pete Taylor Park on Friday.
Illinois got on the scoreboard first, starting in the third inning. Coltin Quagliano and Cal Hejza started the frame with singles, with the former coming around to score off an RBI-fielder's choice from Cam McDonald. Drake Westcott then followed with his first home run of the season, an opposite-field three-run blast, to make it 4-0.
Southern Miss looked prime to get back into the contest in its half of the fourth, by loading the bases to begin the frame. Illini starter Riley Gowens got out of jam by striking out the next three batters to quiet what had become a raucous crowd of 5,321 fans.
Bolstered by Gowen's performance on the mound, Illinois added to its lead its next time up, when Branden Comia crushed his second home run of the season off of the scoreboard in left-center to make it 5-0.
The Golden Eagles cut into the Illini lead in the fifth, scoring three times on four hits. Alex Vera, who came in for Gowens in relief during the inning, was able to strand the bases loaded to preserve the lead.
Illinois would respond at the plate, scoring three more times in the sixth to restore its five-run advantage. Cam Janik led off with a single and Ryan Moerman followed with his first home run of the season. Quagliano would later walk and come all the around from first to score on a throwing error.
Moerman picked up two more RBI in the seventh with a one-out double to make it 10-3. The Lockport, Ill., native has driven in nine runs in the first five games this season.
The hosts would grab a run in the seventh to make it 10-4, and Illinois would again tack on runs in the eighth, with McDonald and Westcott picking up RBI-singles and Janik knocking in the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Southern Miss would add one more run in the ninth, but Joe Glassey closed out the ballgame to complete a 4.0 inning relief appearance to earn his first win of the season and give Illinois the 13-5 win.
GAME NOTES
» Head coach Dan Hartleb picked up career win 510 and is just nine wins away from passing Lee Eilbracht (518) for the most in program history.
» Illinois launched a season-high three home runs tonight.
» Six of the Illini's 12 hits went for extra bases (3 HR, 3 2B).
» Five players had multi-hit games.
» The 13 runs scored were the most by an opponent at Pete Taylor Park since May 18, 2019 (UAB, 13).
» Illinois picked up its first ranked win of the season.
» The Illini are 1-2 against ranked opponents this season.
» Illini hitters drew eight walks while striking out just eight times.
» Illinois is 1-0 in the all-time series against Southern Miss
» Both Branden Comia and Ryan Moerman had a double and a home run.
» Comia went 2-for-5. He is one of two Illini batters to have a base hit in all five games this season.
» Comia has now reached base safely in 45-straight games, a streak that dates back to last season.
» Ryan Moerman and Drake Westcott set career highs with four RBI performances.
» Coltin Quagliano went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored in his first-career Illini start.
» Cal Hejza picked up his first multi-hit game of the season, matching a career high.
» Cam Janik went 2-for-2 and two walks in the contest.
» Janik is one of two Illini batters to have a base hit in all five games this season.
» Riley Gowens picked up seven more strikeouts in his start, bringing his season total to 18.
» Gowens has racked up at least seven strikeouts in both starts this season.
» The Illini pitching staff stranded a total of 13 baserunners, a season-high mark.
» Illinois took the lead at 4-0 in the top half of the third and never lost that advantage.
» Illinois went 4-for-11 (.364) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 45 Southern Miss hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and 15 fly balls while striking out seven.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
