CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â Illinois baseball (24-13, 10-2) slugged five home runs to defeat Western Illinois (8-28, 4-11), 12-1, tonight at Illinois Field. The win clinched a perfect 8-0 record on the Fighting Illini's season-long homestand.
Vytas Valincius powered the offense, going 2-for-3 with two runs, two home runs and six RBI. Ryan Moerman went 2-for-3 with two runs, a home run and an RBI. Brody Harding went 1-for-3 with a run, home run and three RBI. Coltin Quagliano extended his hitting streak to 16 games by going 1-for-4 with a run, home run and RBI.
Will Lavin picked up the victory out of the bullpen, to improve to 3-1 on the season. The right-hander went 2.0 shutout innings while giving up one hit, allowing one walk and striking out three. Sam Reed got the start for the Illini, working 2.0 scoreless innings while allowing one hit, with no walks and three strikeouts. The pitching staff as a whole allowed just one run, unearned, on four hits, while picking up 11 strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quagliano broke the deadlock in the third, taking the first pitch of the inning over the fence in left center, a solo blast for his sixth home run of the year.
With Illinois keeping Western Illinois off the board, the Illini offense erupted for seven runs in the fifth. Valincius launched a grand slam to begin the scoring and Harding capped it with a three-blast to right to make it 8-0.
Illinois pushed four more runs across in the sixth, starting with Hejza scoring on a wild pitch. Valincius crushed his second homer of the night, a two-run shot, and Moerman immediately followed with an opposite-field solo home run to make it 12-0.
The Leathernecks scored an unearned run in the ninth, but the Illini still coasted to the 12-1 win.
UP NEXT
The Illini will return to Big Ten play on Friday when they begin a three-game series with Maryland. First pitch from College Park is set for 4 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Vytas Valincius went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two home runs and six RBI.
    » First-career multi-home run game with the Illini.
    » Matched his career-high with six RBI...is a career-high mark with the Illini.
    » Has back-to-back two-hit games.
» Ryan Moerman went 2-for-3 with two runs, a home run and an RBI.
    » Is tied for the team lead with 12 home runs...ranks T-2nd among Big Ten hitters.
» Brody Harding went 1-for-3 with a run, home run and three RBI.
    » Has seven home runs this season, increasing his career-best mark.
    » Has 23 RBI this season, matching his highest single-season total.
» Coltin Quagliano went 1-for-4 with a run, home run and RBI.
    » Extended his hitting streak to 16 games...has gone 30-for-61 (.492) with six doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI during that span.
        » Has raised his season average from .229 to .340 during that span.
» Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Leathernecks at a 10-4 clip.
» Illinois went 3-for-9 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers limited Western Illinois to just 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 37 Western Illinois hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Fighting Illini drew eight walks from Western Illinois pitching.
» Illinois went a perfect 8-0 during its season-long eight-game homestand.
    » The Illini have gone 15-1 at home this season and have won 12-straight overall at Illinois Field.
    » Illinois' eight-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the nation.
        » The Illini's eight-game hitting streak is their longest since winning 10-straight from March 2-19, 2019.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
