OMAHA, Neb. -- [1] Illinois baseball (33-18) dropped its first game of the 2024 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament Presented by IFS.ai to [8] Penn State (27-23), 8-4, today at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
Coltin Quagliano went 3-for-4 with a run, double and an RBI, Drake Westcott went 2-for-3 with two walks and Brody Harding went 2-for-4. Camden Janik and Vytas Valincius also chipped in with each tallying an RBI.
Jack Crowder started and took the loss on the mound, allowing three runs on seven hits over 5.0 innings of work, striking out five. Korey Bunselmeyer worked a scoreless ninth, picking up a strikeout.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State pushed a run across in the first inning and would eventually score two more in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead.
Illinois got on the board in the home half of the fifth through Janik's sacrifice fly.
The Nittany Lions hit back for two more runs in the sixth but the Illini were able to get one of those back in the frame when Harding's infield single allowed Ryan Moerman to eventually score on an error to make it 5-2.
The Orange and Blue continued to chip away in the seventh when Valincius drove in a run on a fielder's choice, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
But Penn State would break the game open in the eighth, scoring three times to make it 8-3. Illinois would score for the fourth-straight inning through Quagliano's RBI-double, but were held to just one run.
The Illini were unable to get any closer, ultimately falling to the Nittany Lions 8-4.
UP NEXT
Illinois will be back in action tomorrow morning and will face either [4] Michigan or [5] Iowa. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Coltin Quagliano went 3-for-4 with a run, double and an RBI.
» Has back-to-back multi-hit performances.
» Fifth three-hit game of the season.
» Drake Westcott went 2-for3 with two walks.
» Has back-to-back multi-hit games.
» Brody Harding went 2-for-4.
» Has back-to-back multi-hit games...has hit safely in three-straight.
» Camden Janik went 1-for-4 with a run and RBI.
» Has reached base safely in 30-straight games.
» Cal Hejza has reached base safely in 36-straight games.
» Connor Milton has reached base safely in 17-straight games.
» Korey Bunselmeyer worked a scoreless ninth inning.
» 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
» Has not allowed a run in his last 4.0 innings of work (2 G).
» Illinois left 10 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Illinois pitchers faced 45 Penn State hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out eight.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
