CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Fighting Illini baseball (17-18, 6-8) clinched a series win over Minnesota (10-26, 4-7) with a 5-3 victory at Illinois Field on Saturday.
Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Drake Westcott began frame with a single but looked like he would be left stranded at first after back-to-back strikeouts. Branden Comia stepped up and delivered the biggest swing of the ballgame, crushing an opposite field shot to give Illinois a one-run lead.
Westcott would go on to provide some insurance in the seventh with a sacrifice fly, scoring Danny Doligale, to make it 5-3.
Jack Crowder was simply dominant in relief, earning his second win of the season by working 4.0 scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Crowder retired the final seven batters of the ballgame and struck out the side in the ninth to end the ballgame. The junior faced just two batters over the minimum and has now worked 7.0 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Golden Gophers took the lead with a solo home run in the first and later went up 2-0 after pushing a run across in the second. The Illini scratched a run on the board in the home half but the visitors went back up by two after scoring another run in the third. Again, Illinois got the run back when Doligale scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2.
TJ Constertina also turned in a solid outing out of the bullpen, working a season-high 3.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and whiffing three batters.
The Fighting Illini go for the series sweep tomorrow, with first pitch from Illinois Field scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Drake Westcott went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
    » Extending his hitting streak to four games...has gone 5-for-12 (.417) during that span with one home run and two RBI.
    » Was lone Illini batter in the game to have at least two hits.
» Branden Comia went 1-for-3 with a run, home run, two RBI and was hit by a pitch.
    » Has homered in consecutive games for the second time this season.
    » Extended his hitting streak to five games...has gone 5-for-16 (.313) during that span with one double, two home runs and five RBI.
» Jack Crowder improved to 2-0 on the season.
    » 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
    » Has not allowed a run over his last 7.0 innings of work, spanning two games...all in relief.
        » Has struck out nine batters and walked just one during that span.
    » Has three scoreless outings of 3.0+ innings of work in his last four appearances.
» TJ Constertina allowed one run on two hits in a season-high 3.2 innings of work.
» Illini pitchers struck out 11 Golden Gophers and walked just three.
    » Illinois pitchers have combined for 22 strikeouts and seven walks in this series.
    » After allowing four hits in the first three innings, Illini pitchers allowed just two hits over the final six innings of the ballgame.
» Illinois pitchers limited Minnesota to just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 35 Minnesota hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Fighting Illini drew six walks from Minnesota pitching.
    » Have drawn 14 walks total in the series.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
