CHAMPAIGN, lll. -- Fighting Illini baseball (14-15, 4-6) began their season-long seven-game homestand with a dramatic 7-5 win over Indiana (23-11, 7-3) at Illinois Field on Friday night.
Indiana took a late 5-4 lead in the seventh, but Korey Bunselmeyer was able to keep the Hoosiers off the board in the eighth. In the home half of the inning, Drake Westcott led off with a walk and was then lifted for Connor Milton to pinch run. Ryan Moerman smashed a double to left to put runners on second and third with nobody out. After a strikeout, Jacob Schroeder stepped up and sent the crowd of 1,723 into a frenzy when he crushed a three-run blast to left-center to give the Illini a 7-5 lead.
Joe Glassey took over in the ninth and spun a quick 1-2-3 inning to give Illinois the important series opening victory, earning his third save of the season.
The Hoosiers jumped into the lead their first time up, taking a 1-0 lead with a solo home run, but Riley Gowens would respond by keeping the visitors off the board the next four frames, scattering three hits and picking up two strikeouts along the way.
The Illini evened up the contest in the second, when Danny Doligale reached on a dropped third strike and scored all the way from first on a double from Camden Janik. The Orange and Blue would take their first lead of the ballgame when Cal Hejza singled home Brody Harding with two outs in the fourth.
Illinois increased its lead in the fifth when Westcott launched a two-run blast to right-center to make it a 4-1 game. Indiana chipped away at the lead by scoring twice in the sixth and would take the lead in the seventh by scoring two more times.
The Fighting Illini will be back in action tomorrow with a doubleheader at Illinois Field. First pitch of the opener is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and will be streamed on B1G+. Saturday's regularly scheduled 5:00 p.m. contest will follow. The nightcap will be televised on Big Ten Network.
GAME NOTES
» Jacob Schroeder went 1-for-2 with a run, home run, three RBI and two walks.
    » Has eight home runs in 64 at-bats this season...eight home runs in 19 games/18 starts.
    » Has back-to-back multi-RBI games...five RBI in his last two...12 RBI in his last six.
    » Has three walks in his last two games...had six in his previous 17.
» Drake Westcott went 1-for-3 with a run, home run, two RBI and a walk.
    » Has homered in consecutive games for the second time this season.
    » Has seven RBI in his last two games...most in a two-game span this season.
» Camden Janik went 2-for-4 with a run, double, RBI and a walk.
    » Extended his hitting streak to five games...is batting .471 (8-for-17) during that span.
    » Has three two-hit games in his last four.
» Cam McDonald went 1-for-4.
    » Extended his hitting streak to nine games...is batting .350 (14-for-40) during that span...matches a season-high.
» Illini batters have launched two home runs or more in six of seven games at Illinois Field this season.
» Illinois opened a Big Ten series with a win for the first time this season.
» Illinois pitchers limited Indiana to just 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 37 Indiana hitters in the game, allowing nine ground balls and 12 fly balls while striking out four.
» The Fighting Illini drew seven walks from Indiana pitching.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
