CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball (24-15, 11-8) survived a late scare from Purdue (24-17, 6-13) to claim a 6-4 victory in the series opener, pushing its winning streak to three games, tonight at Illinois Field.
Tyler Schmitt improved to 4-2 on the season by tossing his third quality start of the campaign. The right-hander went a season-high 7.1 innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on seven hits, allowing one walk and striking out five. Zach Bates picked up his fifth save of the season, tossing 1.1 shutout frames while allowing one hit and striking out two.
Kyle Schupmann went 3-for-4 with a run, double, home run and two RBI. Collin Jennings also had a big night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs, a double, home run and three RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Purdue nearly struck first its first time up to bat but a stunning home run robbery from Jennings kept the visitors off the board. Carrying the momentum into the bottom of the frame, Jennings crushed a two run-shot, his 10th of the year, to give the Illini a 2-0 lead.
Schmitt rolled through the next two innings, allowing just one hit and picking up pair of strikeouts.
In the bottom of the third, the Orange and Blue put four runs on the board, first through RBI-doubles from Jennings and Jack Zebig. Schupmann capped the scoring in the frame with a two-run blast of his own, also his 10th of the year, matching Jennings for the team lead.
Schmitt continued to deal on the mound, allowing just one baserunner in both the fourth and fifth, before turning in back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh.
The Boilermakers would get back into the contest by plating four in the eighth and would load the bases with two outs but Bates would enter the game out of the bullpen and leave the bases loaded by getting a big strikeout. The left-hander went on to toss a scoreless ninth to give Illinois the 6-4 triumph.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini continue their series vs. Purdue tomorrow, with first pitch from Illinois Field set for 3 p.m. CT.
GAME NOTES
» Kyle Schupmann went 3-for-4 with a run, double, home run and two RBI.
» Has three, three-hit games in his last eight...five total multi-hit games during that span.
» Tied for the team lead with 10 home runs.
» Collin Jennings went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double, home run and three RBI.
» Tied for the team lead with 10 home runs.
» Extended his hitting streak to eight games...has gone 13-for-29 (.448) during that span with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 12 RBI.
» Tyler Schmitt earned the win by tossing his third quality start of the season.
» 7.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
» Zach Bates recorded his fifth save of the season.
» 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
» Has allowed just one earned run over his last 11.1 innings of work, spanning eight games...has 12 strikeouts compared to just 4 walks during this stretch.
» Has fired 3.1-consecutive scoreless innings over last three outings.
» Illinois has now won 10-straight games over Purdue.
» The Fighting Illini out-hit the Boilermakers at a 9-8 clip.
» Illinois pitchers limited Purdue to just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 39 Purdue hitters in the game, allowing 13 ground balls and six fly balls while striking out seven.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
