Illinois baseball loses midweek contest at Illinois State

After locking down two Big Ten wins at Penn State, the Illini made their way up to Illinois State for their midweek matchup. The odds were in favor of Illinois walking away with a victory, but instead the night ended with a 4-1 upset for the Redbirds, leaving the Fighting Illini with a 14-13 record. The first five innings went scoreless for both teams, but a flash of lightning, followed by a downpour of rain, almost cut the evening short.

Two hours later, the Illini came into the sixth inning with a little more energy than before, scoring the first run of the night after J. R. Nelson made his way to home from second base.

The Redbirds responded with four runs, leaving Illinois in the dust. Nelson came in clutch with the team’s only run, shutting down ISU’s attempt at a shutout. One more lightning delay interrupted the eighth inning for another two-hour break, but the long wait left Illinois drained as it came back for the remainder of the game.

Illinois finished the night with just three hits. Even though the offense wasn’t able to make much of a difference, the pitching staff kept the Redbirds from having a crazy blowout. Ike Young kept ISU scoreless in the eighth inning with three strikeouts, giving his team one last chance at closing the three-run gap for the final inning.