Illinois (18-12) suffered a major setback against Illinois State (15-16) Tuesday night. The 14-4, run-rule loss snapped a four-game winning streak that started last week. This is the sixth game this year for Illinois to end via run rule, and the fourth time the final score was 14-4.
The Illini defeated their in-state foes in Champaign to begin the month, but things went differently in the Redbird’s nest.
“We just showed up like we were going to win because we beat them last week,” said head coach Dan Hartleb. “You had to compete every day, right? And what we did last weekend doesn’t matter.”
What went wrong?
The biggest issue for Illinois was its pitching. It has been a constant issue the entire season, which reared its head in the first inning. The Illini found themselves in a 4-0 hole to begin the game, and it got deeper as the night progressed.
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Illinois went through nine pitchers, and most of them didn’t last more than a single inning. Just two went beyond a single frame: redshirt senior left-hander Payton Hutchings, and junior right-hander Mitch Dye.
If there’s a silver lining to the game, it’s that Dye performs when his name is called. The right-hander has appeared in eight games this season, and has pitched well after some early-season hiccups.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jake Swartz was given the nod to start in his hometown, but struggled from the get-go. Swartz allowed four runs while recording just a single out before Hutchings was called in from the bullpen.
“Right from the start, we just didn’t do a good job,” Hartleb said. “First inning, we had to use multiple pitchers and throughout the game, not a lot of quality strikes.”
Quiet offense
Despite a solid performance from senior outfielder Vytas Valincius, who went 2-3 on the day, the rest of the bats struggled to get anything going.
The offense didn’t get on the board until the third inning, by which point the Illini were already down 4-0. In the bottom-half of that frame, Illinois State lit up the scoreboard for six runs, making the score 10-1.
Illinois State’s offense primarily came from junior outfielder Daniel Pacella and senior infielder Kyle Gibson. Both went 4-5 on the day, with Pacella notching two doubles and four RBI.
Chance to rebound against Hoosiers
Illinois has a chance to reflect and rebound on the loss to Illinois State this weekend against Indiana (19-14, 9-6). The Hoosiers are currently No. 5 in the Big Ten standings, while the Illini check in at No. 8.
Game one starts Friday at 6 p.m., and game two begins Saturday at 3 p.m.. The series finale takes place Sunday at 1 p.m.. All three games will be shown on Big Ten Plus and will be broadcast live on 1400 AM WDWS.
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