Illinois (7-11) hosted the Bradley Braves (6-12) to end its four-game-long homestand on Tuesday. The Illini won two out of three games over the weekend but dropped the series finale on Sunday. The midweek matchup between the Illini and the Braves has become common, with the Illini leading the all-time series 46-24-1.
The Illini had won three of the last four against the Braves but struggled lately when playing them at home. Illinois had lost four of the last five home games against Bradley, but it ended a four-game home losing streak versus the Peoria-based program last year.
The lineups for both teams exploded in the early portions of the evening, as both Bradley and Illinois scored runs in the first two innings. The Illini made two early pitching changes, as the starter, sophomore left-hander Sam Reed was relieved by senior right-hander Jake Rons in the second inning, who was relieved by redshirt junior left-hander Payton Hutchings in the third.
The Illini trailed 1-0 after the top of the first before scoring a pair of runs in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead. The Braves scored six in the top of the second, and the Illini followed up with another pair of runs to trail 7-4 heading into the third inning. Bradley added to its lead in the top of the third with another run to take an 8-4 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
Hutchings struck out his first five batters, before allowing a single, followed by another strikeout, his sixth of the evening, to keep Illinois within four as the game headed to the bottom of the fifth.
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The bottom half of the fifth inning was as eventful as it could get. Junior catcher Camden Janik — playing left field in this game — led off for Illinois in the inning and got a rally started with a single, adding to his triple and home run earlier in the evening.
Junior infielder Ryan Moerman made way for the Illini bats to pile on the runs as they scored six unanswered to take a 10-8 lead — all six runs coming with no outs in the fifth. Redshirt senior catcher Jacob Schroeder added to the lead, with a two-run shot in the seventh inning to make it 12-8.
Bradley did not give in despite the blown lead. The Braves hit a two-run slam in the ninth to make it 12-10, but the Illini held strong for the final out, taking the only matchup between them and the Braves in a 12-10 win.
The Illini will be in Bloomington, Indiana, over the weekend for their first Big Ten series of the season.
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