CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball (30-17, 15-6) captured a series victory with a 6-3 win over Iowa (29-20, 14-10) today at Illinois Field.
Vytas Valincius, Jacob Schroeder and Brody Harding all launched home runs in the ballgame as eight of the nine starters reached base safely in the ballgame.
Jake Rons got the win out of the bullpen, as the right-hander went 1.2 shutout innings without giving up a hit, striking out two. Joe Glassey went 2.1 shutout innings allowing just one hit, walking none and striking out two. Payton Hutchings set the tone by tossing 4.1 innings of three-run ball in his start, punching out three.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Iowa hit solo home runs in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead, but Illinois hit back with a five-spot in the third. Valincius and Schroeder each hit two-run home runs while Harding also went deep with a solo shot of his own to make 5-2.
The Illini bullpen shut down the Hawkeye offense, allowing no runs and just one hit over the final 4.2 innings of the contest.
After a solid 4.1 innings of three-run ball turned in by Hutchings, Rons turned in 1.2 innings of scoreless ball before turning the ball over to Ben Plumley. Plumley retired the first two batters he faced before giving way to Glassey, who stranded two inherited runners to get out of the seventh. Glassey then faced one batter over the minimum over the final two innings to earn the seven-out save and give Illinois the 6-3 victory.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini will be back in action on Thursday, as they take on Purdue in the final weekend series of the season. First pitch from West Lafayette, Ind., is set for 5 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Vytas Valincius went 1-for-4 with a run, home run and two RBI.
    » Has 23 RBI in his last 11 games.
    » Second time this season homering in consecutive games.
» Jacob Schroeder went 1-for-3 with a run, home run, two RBI and a walk.
» Brody Harding went 1-for-3 with a run, home run, RBI and a walk.
    » Is the fifth Illini this season to reach the double-digit mark in home runs.
    » Has hit safely in 18 of his last 23 games.
» Cal Hejza has reached base safely in 32-straight games.
» Connor Milton has reached base safely in 13-straight games.
    » Has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games.
» Jake Rons picked up his fourth win of the season.
    » 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
    » Has not allowed a run in his last 2.2 IP, spanning two games.
» Joe Glassey picked up his sixth save of the season.
    » 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
    » Has not allowed an earned run in his last 4.1 IP, spanning two games.
    » Fourth scoreless appearance out of the bullpen that spanned 1.0+ IP.
» Illinois pitchers limited Iowa to just 1-for-6 (.167) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 35 Iowa hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out eight.
» The Fighting Illini drew eight walks from Iowa pitching.
» Illinois improved to 20-3 at this facility this season.
    » First 20+ win season at home since 2015.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
