The Illinois baseball team steamrolled Michigan State, 16-5, on Wednesday to advance to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
After a grand slam by Michigan State’s Eric Roof put the Spartans up 4-0 in the top of the third inning, the Illini bounced back in the bottom of the fourth. Pete Capetta doubled in two runs to key a five-run fourth inning to bring the score to 5-4, in favor of Illinois.
The No. 4-seeded Illini broke the game open in the sixth inning with a seven-run outburst aided by two Spartan errors.
The victory sets up a matchup with No. 1-seeded Ohio State on Thursday. The Buckeyes took two of three from the Illini on May 8-10 in Champaign. Thursday’s game will air live on the Big Ten Network at 6:05 p.m.