CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â Illinois baseball (19-12, 8-5) opened its three-game series vs. Indiana (19-15, 9-7) with a 4-2 victory, tonight at Illinois Field.
The Orange and Blue improve to 10-1 at home this season and have now won seven-straight contests in Champaign.
Tyler Schmitt improved to 3-1 on the season, turning in the best start of his Illini career. Schmitt worked 7.0 innings, allowing one run, unearned, on just three hits to go along with six strikeouts, posting his second quality start of the season. Zach Bates allowed just one run over two innings of work to earn his third save of the season, amassing three strikeouts along the way.
Vytas Valincius delivered the biggest hit in the ballgame, slugging a three-run shot with two outs in third. Overall, Valincius went 2-for-4 in the contest, joining Coltin Quagliano (2-for-3) as the only Illini to tally multi-hit efforts. Jacob Schroeder reached in all four of his plate appearances tonight, going 1-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two sides traded zeroes through the first two innings, with Schmitt picking up the first two strikeouts of the night.
The Hoosiers found the breakthrough in the third, scoring on an error to take a 1-0 lead, but Schmitt was able to strand a runner at third to limit the damage.
In the home half of the third, walks from Jack Zebig and Greg LaChance put runners on the corners with two outs, where Valincius cashed in on the opportunity with a towering blast to left, his sixth of the season, to put Illinois ahead 3-1.
Schmitt would face just one batter over the minimum over the next two frames and did not allow a hit during that span. The junior took the mound in the sixth and worked out a two-out jam to keep the Orange and Blue in front. The Madison, Wis., native, then fired a scoreless seventh to keep it a 3-1 game.
Indiana pushed a run across in the eighth to cut the lead to one, but Grant Ross' two-out single in the bottom of the eighth restored the two-run advantage at 4-2.
The Hoosiers started the ninth by putting two runners on base, but Zach Bates was able to induce a clutch double play to quiet the threat. Bates then delivered the victory by recording his third punchout of the night.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini continue their series vs. Indiana tomorrow, with first pitch from Illinois Field set for 3 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Vytas Valincius went 2-for-3 with a run, home run and three RBI.
    » Extended his hitting streak to six games...has gone 13-for-23 (.565) with four doubles, a home run and eight RBI.
    » Has four-straight multi-hit games and five such performances in his last six.
» Coltin Quagliano went 2-for-3 with a run, triple and a walk.
» Jacob Schroeder went 1-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch.
» Tyler Schmitt improved to 3-1 on the season by tossing his second quality start of the campaign.
    » 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
    » Matches the longest outing by an Illini pitcher this season.
» Zach Bates earned his third save of the season.
    » 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Hoosiers at a 7-5 clip.
» Illinois pitchers limited Indiana to just 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 38 Indiana hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out nine.
» The Fighting Illini drew five walks from Indiana pitching.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
