CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball (21-13) slugged five home runs to earn a 17-6 run-rule victory, in seven innings, over SIUE (15-20) 17-6, tonight at Illinois Field.
Vytas Valincius (3-for-3) and Coltin Quagliano (3-for-4) each tallied three-hit games while six total Illini tallied multi-hit efforts. Greg LaChance (solo), Drake Westcott (solo), Quagliano (solo), Collin Jennings (three run) and Will Johannes (grand slam) all homered in the contest.
Luke Weber picked up the win, tossing a 1-2-3 third inning, picking up one strikeout. Payton Hutchings needed just 12 pitches to strikeout out the side in order in the seventh to finish the ballgame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars led off of the game with a solo home run but the Illini took the lead for good by plating six runs their first time up. LaChance and Valincius each recorded RBI-doubles and Johannes crushed a grand slam with two outs to make it 6-1.
SIUE scored three times in the second to make it 6-4 but Illinois got all those runs back in the bottom half of the inning on Jennings' towering three-run shot to make it 9-4.
Quagliano led off the third with a solo shot and the Orange and Blue scored four more in the fourth to make it 14-4, with LaChance's solo blast the highlight of the inning.
Valincius singled home two more in the fifth before the Cougars added two more in the sixth to make it 16-6. Westcott capped the scoring with his solo homer in the sixth, the 38th of his Illinois career, to make it 17-6.
Hutchings struck out the side in order in the seventh to clinch the Illini's second-straight run-rule win.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini return to Big Ten action with a three-game series at Washington. First pitch in Friday's series opener is set for 9:02 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Every Illinois starter reached base safely in the win.
» Six Fighting Illini had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Illinois hitters hit five homers in the ballgame.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Cougars at a 16-5 clip.
» Illinois went 8-for-13 (.615) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 29 SIU-Edwardsville hitters in the game, allowing 12 ground balls and four fly balls while striking out five.
» The Fighting Illini drew six walks from SIU-Edwardsville pitching.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
