Illinois baseball (34-18, 18-6) pulled through in the top of the tenth inning to get a 4-2 victory over Iowa this morning in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. Both teams were facing elimination after losing their openers, but it was Illinois who came out on top in extra innings.
Illinois first got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when senior infielder Cal Hejza drew a walk with bases loaded, bringing home redshirt senior catcher Jacob Schroeder to put the Illini up 1-0. Illinois scored again in the top of the sixth inning when junior infielder Coltin Quagliano hit a sacrifice fly to bring in redshirt senior infielder Brody Harding.
Iowa responded in the bottom of the sixth inning when their sophomore infielder Gable Mitchell hit an RBI single to bring home senior infielder Michael Seegers. The Hawkeyes added another run as their senior catcher Cade Moss hit a sacrifice bunt to score junior infielder Ben Wilmes, bringing the score to a 2-2 tie.
The score did not change again until the 10th inning when Illinois pulled away from Iowa on the back of Quagliano. The Kewanee native hit a two-RBI single that helped Illinois extend their lead to 4-2, bringing both Harding and Schroeder home.
“You know, just seeing the pitch, just looking for something I can drive,” Quagliano said. “I saw the infield was in. I had to get my job done, put it in the outfield, or hit the ball hard somewhere at least.”
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Iowa did not go away quietly, as they attempted to make a rally in the bottom of the 10th, starting with a lead-off double that came from their senior infielder Davis Cop. Illinois redshirt senior right-hander Joe Glassey subsequently walked Iowa’s redshirt freshman catcher Reese Moore, and then senior utility player Will Mulflur hit a single to left field, loading the bases.
With the winning run on first, Hawkeyes’ Seegers hit a fielder’s choice grounder, which initially scored a runner from third bringing the score to 4-3 with runners on the corners.
However, an umpire ruled that pinch runner Kyle Huckstorf committed runner’s interference on his way to second — which was confirmed upon review. The call negated the score and resulted in Iowa’s second out, returning Illinois’ two-run lead.
With runners still on second and third with two outs, Glassey ended the game by striking out Wilmes, completing the 4-2 victory
The game was Illinois’ first win in the Big Ten tournament since 2018 — previously losing eight straight games in that period.
“It doesn’t matter what happens in the regular season, anything can happen,” Quagliano said. “Just sticking with the group of guys you have, and something big happened for us.”
Illinois will take on the loser of today’s Michigan vs. Penn State game on May 24 at 7 p.m. The game will be live on the Big Ten Network.
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