In their home opening series, Illinois baseball got down to business this past weekend. Winning their fourth weekend sweep in five weekend against the Southern Illinois Salukis (10-8), the 2019 Illinois team is off their best start in 30 years.
Illinois won two hard played one-run games in a doubleheader on Saturday both by the score of 5-4. On Sunday, they put on their hitting shoes and won 14-5.
The six-game winning streak that Illinois possesses is the second one the season. The current one puts Illinois at 13-3 which is the best start by the team since 1989. They are currently tied for first in the Big Ten standings with the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Saturday Game 1: Illinois 5 SIU 4
Game 1 was a back-and-forth battle but Illinois came out the victor.
In the second, Grant “GVS” Van Scoy hit a key two-run single. Michael Massey followed that up with a monster home run in the 3rd inning. The big hero was Jacob Campbell. While he went 0-2, he put the bat on the ball for a sac fly to tie the game in the 7th inning. The icing on the cake was Campbell’s walk-off SF in the 9th which won it for the good guys.
FightingIllini.com recap | Box Score | IBR Photos
Saturday Game 2: Illinois 5 SIU 4
Game Two on Saturday was identical to the first. The score was the same. Illinois had to come back to win it. Grant Van Scoy did well again with three hits. How about Cam McDonald too? He went 3 for 4 with two runs and an rbi!
Ty Weber is still winless despite giving up no earned runs six innings. Similar to last weekend, Sean Leland came in and got the job done for his third win of the season. Garrett Acton pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save of 2019.
FightingIllini.com recap | Box Score | IBR Photos
Sunday: Illinois 14 SIU 5
SIU scored one run in the first inning so technically, Sunday’s game was a comeback win. But let’s face it though, it was an all-Illini affair. The Illinois offense rapped 18 hits and as a result, the runs kept coming. Highlights of the game included a Kellen Sarver 3-run homerun in the 3rd inning and back-to-back triples by Ben Troike and Branden Comia.
Some big Sunday performances by Illini hitters include:
- Ben Troike – 4 for 5, 4 rbis, triple
- Michael Massey – 4 for 4, 2 rbis
- Andy Dyke – 3 for 4, 3 runs
- Kellen Sarver – HR, 3 rbis
- Grant Van Scoy – 3 for 4, 3 runs
- Branden Comia – 2 for 4, 3 rbis, triple
Cyrillo Watson allowed two earned runs in six frames to get his third win.
FightingIllini.com recap | Box Score | IBR Photos
Random Ramblings
What a great weekend! It sure was nice of the Illini team to treat the hometown fans to one of these “sweeps” we’ve been hearing about. Saturday’s games were hard fought as most Illinois-SIU games are.
The Illinois hitters certainly had a chance to boost their numbers this weekend. Grant Van Scoy in particular, went 7 for 10. In fact, he hit a career high three hits in the second game on Saturday then tied that mark on Sunday with another three-hit performance. GVS is second on the team with a .387 average.
Shortstop Ben Troike is finding his stride. He went 5 for 33 in his first nine games. In the last five games, he’s gone 11 for 20. His batting average has almost doubled from .152 to .302. Also in those five games, he’s scored six runs and collected eight rbis.
Next up
Illinois has a midweek two-game set against the St. Louis Billikens on Tuesday and Wednesday. Don’t worry, the guys won’t miss classes seeing as it’s spring break. Oh, in case you are wondering… What is a Billiken?
Game times for both dates are 3pm.
Way to go, Illini!