CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â Illinois baseball (11-7) concluded its season-long five-game homestand with an 8-6 victory over Indiana State (9-12) tonight at Illinois Field.
Jack Zebig went 3-for-4 with three runs, a home run, three RBI and a walk, while Vytas Valincius and Collin Jennings each had two-hit performances. Jacob Schroeder also went yard in the contest.
Jake Swartz picked up the victory out of the bullpen for the Illini. Swartz tossed 1.0 innings and allowed two runs on two hits to go along with two strikeouts. Evan Clark, Zach Bates, Luke Weber and Reed Gannon each worked scoreless frames in relief, with Gannon turning in a shutout ninth to recorded his first save of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Sycamores led off the ballgame with a home run and then later pushed an unearned run across the plate to take a 2-0 advantage in the first.
The Orange and Blue would take the lead for good with a six-run second inning. Coltin Quagliano doubled home Jennings and would later score on an RBI-single from Nick Groves. Grant Ross brought home a third run with a sacrifice fly and Zebig capped the scoring with a two-out, three-run, blast, his team-leading sixth of the season, to make it a 6-2 game.
The two teams traded runs in the third and fourth inning, with the Illini getting their runs on a solo homer from Schroeder and a Valincius RBI-single.
After Indiana State scored twice in the fifth to make it 8-6, the Illinois bullpen turned in 4.0 scoreless relief innings to secure the midweek victory.
GAME NOTES
» Jack Zebig went 3-for-4 with three runs, a home run, three RBI and a walk.
    » Has homered in consecutive contests for the first time this season.
    » Has totaled eight RBI in his last two games.
    » Second three-hit game of the campaign.
» Vytas Valincius went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
    » Has hit safely in seven-straight games.
        » Has recorded a hit in 16 of 17 games this season.
    » Has driven in at least one run in seven-straight games.
» Collin Jennings went 2-for-4 with a double and a run.
    » Has three-straight two hit games.
        » Is 6-for-11 in his last three games after starting the season 3-for-14.
» Zach Bates worked a scoreless inning in relief.
    » Has spun 3.0-straight scoreless frames.
» Luke Weber threw a shutout eighth inning.
    » Has worked 3.1-straight scoreless innings.
» Reed Gannon recorded the first save of his collegiate career by working a scoreless ninth.
» Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Sycamores at a 12-9 clip.
» Illinois went 3-for-9 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers limited Indiana State to just 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 40 Indiana State hitters in the game, allowing 12 ground balls and four fly balls while striking out nine.
» The Illini committed a season-high four errors in the ballgame.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
