Illinois (22-15, 10-8) returns from Seattle more so losers than winners after facing the Washington Huskies (21-20, 11-7). Despite a victory on Sunday, Friday and Saturday ended with gloomy losses for the Illini.
Offense sputters early
Illinois has struggled on the mound for most of the year, but that wasn’t the case in this series. Illinois held Washington to only three runs behind junior right-hander Tyler Schmitt and junior left-hander Sam Reed.
Schmitt lasted 4.2 innings and allowed two earned runs. Reed pitched a fantastic 3.1 innings in relief. The southpaw was dominant, striking out six without allowing a single run.
Despite the effort from Reed and Schmitt, the Illinois offense couldn’t provide much run support.
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The bats only mustered five hits against nine strikeouts. Multiple Illini collected one hit on the day, but there wasn’t a single multi-hit performance.
Team falls short again
In game two, Illinois’ pitching again kept the game low-scoring. The team only surrendered four runs. While the offense showed slight improvement, it wasn’t enough.
Senior left fielder Vytas Valincius continued his dominant campaign by going two-for-four. After the Washington series, Valincius lifted his batting average to a remarkable .369 on the season.
Illinois had a solid day at the plate, recording nine hits. Due to a lack of timely hitting, the nine hits netted only three runs.
The pitching staff put up a strong group effort. Despite allowing four runs, only two of them were earned. Two Illinois errors came back to bite them.
Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Reed Gannon had the longest outing, going three innings without allowing a run. Winning in college baseball with only three runs is no easy feat. If Illinois had limited the number of errors it committed, it just might have been possible.
Third time’s the charm
On the cusp of a sweep, Washington was looking to bust out the brooms in game 3. With its back against the wall, Illinois walked out of game three with a victory.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Regan Hall threw a gem, lasting 5.2 innings while only giving up one earned run. Two other pitchers covered the final 3.1 innings. The pair of left-handed pitchers — redshirt senior Payton Hutchings and sophomore Zach Bates — only allowed one hit between them.
Redshirt senior first baseman Drake Westcott led the way on offense, racking up two hits and recording two RBI. Graduate student catcher Jacob Schroeder and junior infielder Greg LaChance both went one-for-four on the day.
Next up
Illinois takes on Indiana State (20-19) Tuesday and Purdue (24-15, 6-12) over the weekend. With the season in full swing, Illinois is looking to bounce back and get a series win under its belt.
