With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of a tie game Tuesday night, the Illinois baseball team needed a hit. Pinch hitter Will Krug came into the box and gave them just that, slapping a single to left field to drive in the run that would give the Illini their 11th consecutive victory.

Illinois (30-6-1) squeaked out a 7-3 win over Illinois State (17-16) in a pitcher’s duel in Normal, Illinois.

In the midst of a disappointing season at the plate, Krug proved to be the unlikely hero. 

“I did my job when I was asked to, which was good,” Krug said. “More importantly, our team put us in that position to have any one of us get the opportunity to do that.”

While the rest of the Illinois lineup was stagnant until the late innings, third baseman Ryne Roper went 3-for-4 out of the nine hole, including a RBI single in a two-run seventh inning that gave Illinois its first lead of the game.

Illinois State answered with a two-run bottom of the seventh, though, and retook a 3-2 lead.

The Illini began their comeback eighth inning with a walk, single and sacrifice bunt before center fielder Casey Fletcher tied the game at three apiece with a fielder’s choice groundout. Catcher Jason Goldstein was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Krug delivered the game-winning two-run single.

After adding another eighth-inning run on a wild pitch and one more in the ninth from senior Reid Roper’s RBI hit, Illinois scored all seven of its runs in the final three innings.

“It’s just a great feeling,” Krug said. “We never get rattled and we’re always calm because we always know we’re in the fight. It’s a great thing to have on our side.”

Starting pitcher Rob McDonnell struggled with his command early on, but the Illini defense bailed its pitcher out of two second-inning walks with a double play to erase the first and a nice throw by Goldstein to catch the second runner stealing.

Illinois’ defense has gone three straight games without an error and head coach Dan Hartleb has been impressed.

“Our defense was really outstanding,” Hartleb said. “We’ve done a great job defensively and everybody competes.”

McDonnell didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, but the big lefty exited the game after throwing 92 pitches through 4 1/3 innings. He walked five, struck out two and allowed one run.

In relief of McDonnell, sophomore Cody Sedlock struck out a season-high five batters in just two innings. Reliever Nick Blackburn took the mound in the eighth and pitched two shutout innings to close it out.

With Tuesday’s win, Illinois has won seven straight midweek matchups and its 11-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the nation.

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