BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- Fighting Illini baseball (9-7) fell in their series finale to Southern Illinois (9-12), 4-2, at The Plex on the campus of Northeast Mississippi Community College.
Jack Wenninger was untouchable through the first 5.0 innings of his start, racking up 10 strikeouts and allowing just one hit and walking two. Wenninger struck out the side in fifth, catching the final two batters looking, to cap a run of four-straight strikeouts.
With Saluki bats being kept quiet, the Illini capitalized in the fourth, when Jacob Schroeder slugged a two-out, two-run homer to left to make it 2-0. It was Schroeder's fifth long ball of the season and the third of the series. He is also the second Illini batter this season to homer in consecutive games.
Southern Illinois would storm back in the sixth, scoring three times to make it 3-2 before increasing their lead to two by pushing a run across in the eighth.
Illinois sent the winning run to the plate twice in the ninth but were ultimately unable to come up with the decisive hit.
The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Tuesday, where they will travel to Peoria, Ill., to take on Bradley at Dozer Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Branden Comia extended his on-base streak to 56 games after going 1-for-4 with a double.
» He is just seven games away from matching Cam McDonald's program record of 63 games, which was set last season.
» Jacob Schroeder went 1-for-3 with a run, home run, RBI and a walk.
» Has homered in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
» Tied for the team lead (Westcott) with five home runs on the season...has homered five times in 31 at-bats.
» Has posted an OPS of 1.352 in 36 plate appearances.
» If he qualified, would be second-highest OPS among Big Ten hitters.
» Cam McDonald collected his team-leading eighth double of the season.
» His eight doubles are tied for second-most among Big Ten hitters.
» Went 1-for-3 in the ballgame...has hit safely in eight-straight games...has hit safely in 14 of 16 games overall.
» Jack Wenninger suffered his first loss of the season in the start.
» 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, 10 SO, 86 pitches/52 strikes.
» Second time this season Wenninger has struck out at least 10 batters in a game.
» Cal Hejza went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles out of the lead-off spot.
» Batted first in the order for the first time this season.
» Connor Milton made his first-career start, playing left field.
» Fighting Illini pitchers combined to strike out 12 Southern Illinois hitters.
» Illinois pitchers faced 37 Southern Illinois hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out 12.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
