WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Illinois baseball (32-17, 17-6) clinched at least a share of the 2024 Big Ten Championship with a 9-4 victory over Purdue (33-21, 13-10), Friday night at Alexander Field.
It marks the first time since 2015 that the Illini have captured a Big Ten title and it is the third conference title in the Dan Hartleb era (2006-pres.).
"This team has been unbelievable," Hartleb said. "We started out so tough but they turned it around and got things going. They've been a family and supported each other all year. It is just awesome."
Vytas Valincius, Ryan Moerman and Camden Janik all homered in the ballgame, as Illinois reached the 100 home run mark on the season. Six of the nine starters recorded a hit and all nine reached base safely in the contest.
Cooper Omans made his return to the mound and delivered 4.0 innings of one-run ball in the start, allowing just one hit and striking out one. Jake Rons tossed 1.2 scoreless frames in relief, retiring all five batters he faced, picking up two strikeouts. Joe Glassey worked the ninth, allowing one hit and amassing two strikeouts to deliver the Big Ten crown.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Purdue would get on the board in the first and would keep its 1-0 lead through the fourth, as Illinois would be held without a hit and a baserunner.
Omans would keep the hosts from pulling away by matching zeroes on the scoreboard, stranding runners on the corners in the bottom of the fourth to cap his night.
Valincius led off the fifth with an opposite-field solo shot for the Illini's first hit, and run, of the game, making it 1-1.
The Boilermakers would grab the lead right back in their half of the fifth as they would push a run across the plate to make it 2-1.
After a quiet sixth inning on both sides, the Orange and Blue offense erupted for seven runs in the seventh to take the lead for good. Valincius started the inning off with a walk and was brought along for the ride on Moerman's two-run homer to center, his Big Ten-leading 17th of the season, making it 3-2. Back-to-back singles from Jacob Schroeder and Brody Harding kept the rally going and the pair was moved into scoring position following a sacrifice bunt from Coltin Quagliano. Connor Milton worked a walk after a lengthy at-bat and Cal Hejza followed with a bases-loaded walk to bring home a run, making it 4-2. Janik then took the first pitch that he saw over the wall in left for a grand slam, putting Illinois ahead 8-2.
Purdue put two more on the board in the seventh to make it 8-4, but Rons emerged from the bullpen to record the final two outs of the inning to end the threat. The Carlsbad, Calif., native, then turned in a 1-2-3 eighth to keep the Illinois lead at four.
Milton would score on a wild pitch in the ninth to make it 9-4, and Glassey shut the door in the bottom half of the frame to give Illinois the victory and a share of the Big Ten Championship.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini will be back in action today in the series and regular season finale at Purdue. First pitch from Alexander Field is set for 2 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Ryan Moerman went 2-for-5 with a run, home run and two RBI.
    » Leads the team with 17 home runs...also leads the Big Ten.
        » Fourth time this season homering in consecutive games.
    » Leads the team with 50 RBI...ranks ninth in the Big Ten.
    » Has two hits in each game of this series and five RBI.
» Jacob Schroeder went 2-for-4 with a run.
» Camden Janik went 1-for-5 with a run, home run and four RBI.
    » Second grand slam of the season.
    » Was the Illini's 100th home run of the season...first team in program history to reach that mark.
» Vytas Valincius went 1-for-3 with two runs, a home run, RBI and two walks.
    » Has driven in runs in nine of his last 13 games...has 24 RBI during that span.
» Cal Hejza extended his on-base streak to 34 games.
» Connor Milton has reached safely in 15-straight games.
» Cooper Omans took no decision on the mound in his first appearance since May 4.
    » 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
» Jake Rons turned in a scoreless relief appearance.
    » 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
    » No runs allowed in his last 4.1 innings of work (3 G).
        » Has also not allowed a hit during that span.
» Joe Glassey worked a scoreless ninth inning to end the game.
    » 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
    » Has not allowed a run in his last 6.1 innings of work (4 G).
        » Has yielded two hits and struck out six batters during that span.
» The Illini have now hit 100 home runs on the season, building on what is already a program record.
» Illinois pitchers limited Purdue to just 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 37 Purdue hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out seven.
» The Fighting Illini drew six walks from Purdue pitching.
» Illinois captured its 31st Big Ten title, second-most all-time.
    » First Big Ten championship since 2015.
    » Third Big Ten championship in the Dan Hartleb era.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
