CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball (15-11) earned an 8-2 win over Illinois State (12-15) tonight at Illinois Field.
Offensively, the Fighting Illini were led by Cameron Chee-Aloy, who went 2-for-2 with a double, two walks and two RBI. Collin Jennings continued his power surge at the plate, going 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Vytas Valincius also had a solid night at the dish, going 3-for-4 with a double.
Payton Hutchings picked up the victory out of the bullpen, tossing a scoreless third inning and striking out one. Mitch Dye posted a scoreless sixth inning, striking out the side in the frame. Seven of the eight Orange and Blue relievers made scoreless appearances tonight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jake Swartz started on the mound for Illinois, posting two zeroes on the board to begin the ballgame.
The Illini scored three times in the second, taking the lead for good, thanks to a Will Johannes RBI-single and a Chee-Aloy two-run double.
The Illinois pitching sparkled throughout the night, blanking Illinois State through the first eight innings of the contest. Hutchings, Luke Weber, Nolan Girard, Dye and Sam Reed followed Swartz on the mound, limiting the Redbirds to just four hits while punching out four.
The Illini broke the game open in the seventh, plating five runs to make it an 8-0 game. Greg LaChance and Jack Zebig tallied RBI-hits and Kyle Schupmann collected an RBI with a groundout. Jennings then capped the scoring with a two-run blast to last, his fourth in the last six games.
Illinois State got two back in the eighth but Zach Bates turned in a shutout ninth to give Illinois the 8-2 win, improving to 6-1 at Illinois Field this season.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini return to action on Friday, when they welcome Big Ten foe Maryland to Champaign for a three-game set. First pitch in Friday's series opener is set for 6 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Vytas Valincius went 3-for-4 with a run and a double.
» Fourth three-hit game of the season.
» Cameron Chee-Aloy went 2-for-2 with a run, double, two RBI and two walks.
» Reached safely in all four plate appearances.
» Collin Jennings went 1-for-4 with a run, home run and two RBI.
» Has four home runs and 15 RBI in his last six games.
» Now ranks tied for second on the team with six home runs on the season.
» Ranks third on the Illini with 24 RBI this season.
» Coltin Quagliano went 1-for-4 with a run.
» Extended his season-long hitting streak to 10 games...has gone 15-for-39 (.385) during that span with five doubles, a home run and five RBI.
» Nolan Girard turned in his fourth-straight scoreless inning to begin his collegiate career.
» Mitch Dye worked a scoreless inning tonight, striking out three.
» Has whiffed three batters in consecutive appearances...had four strikeouts in first four games this season.
» Zach Bates tossed a scoreless ninth...has thrown 4.0-straight scoreless innings.
» Illinois improves to 6-1 at Illinois Field this season.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Redbirds at an 11-7 clip.
» Illinois went 5-for-15 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers limited Illinois State to just 1-for-13 (.077) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 41 Illinois State hitters in the game, allowing 12 ground balls and six fly balls while striking out six.
» The Fighting Illini drew four walks from Illinois State pitching.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
