CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â Illinois baseball (7-10) clinched a series win over Southern Indiana (8-10) by slugging three home runs in a 6-5 victory at Illinois Field today.
Drake Westcott, Ryan Moerman and Jacob Schroeder all went yard and eight of the nine starters reached base safely in the contest.
Sam Reed picked up the first win of his Illini career in relief, turning in 1.2 scoreless innings while striking out two. Ben Plumley also turned in 1.2 scoreless frames in relief while Joe Glassey shut the door in ninth to earn his first save of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Westcott put the Illini on the board in the first with a two-out, two-run home run to right, his fifth of the season. Moerman would then go deep in the second, another two-run shot, making it 4-0.
The Screaming Eagles would hit a solo home run in the fourth and the visitors would go on to plate four in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.
Southern Indiana would threaten to build on their lead in the sixth by putting runners on the corners with one out, but Reed would work out of the jam and keep it a one-run game.
In the home half of the frame, Brody Harding singled with two outs to keep the inning alive and Schroeder followed with a two-run homer to give Illinois the 6-5 lead.
Reed and Plumley combined for a 1-2-3 seventh and Plumley would then work a perfect eighth inning, setting up Glassey's scoreless ninth, giving the Illini their second-straight win.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini go for the series sweep vs. Southern Indiana tomorrow, with first pitch from Illinois Field scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Drake Westcott went 1-for-2 with a run, home run, two RBI and two walks.
    » Leads team with five home runs...ranks T-3rd among Big Ten hitters...has three home runs in three games at Illinois Field.
    » Leads the team with 17 walks...ranks T-2nd among Big Ten hitters.
» Ryan Moerman went 1-for-4 with a run, home run and two RBI.
    » Ranks second on the team with four home runs.
» Jacob Schroeder went 1-for-3 with a run, home run and RBI.
» Vytas Valincius went 1-for-4.
    » Has hit safely in eight of his last nine games.
» Cameron Chee-Aloy went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch.
    » Has reached base safely in 14 of 15 games.
» The Illini launched three home runs...have homered seven times in three games at Illinois Field this season.
» Illinois went 2-for-6 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 40 Southern Indiana hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out eight.
» The Fighting Illini drew four walks from Southern Indiana pitching.
» The Illini bullpen (Sam Reed, Ben Plumley and Joe Glassey) combined for 4.1 scoreless frames and allowed just two hits...struck out five batters.
» Illinois improves to 3-0 at Illinois Field this season.
» The Illini are now 2-1 in one-run games in 2024.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
