Illinois (23-15) earned a dominant victory over Indiana State (20-20) in its midweek matchup. This is the team’s second-straight victory over Indiana State and second win in a row.
The win marked head coach Dan Hartleb’s 15th over the Sycamores during his tenure with the Illini.
Westcott’s big day
Redshirt senior infielder Drake Westcott has been struggling throughout the season. He’s only appeared in 24 of the 38 games, but he seemed to have returned to form during this matchup.
Westcott stepped up big time for Illinois; he went 4-4 with two home runs. The Edwardsville native now has 40 career home runs. He is just the third player in program history to accomplish this feat.
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“This past weekend and then tonight (Westcott) stopped pulling off things,” Hartleb said. “(He) used the whole field; hit the big home run to center field.”
After this game, Westcott’s batting average sits at .230. He now has six home runs on the year.
Junior infielder Jack Zebig also himself had a big game. He went 3-4 with two doubles and one RBI.
Midweek pitching struggles
Illinois found themselves down early in this contest. Sycamore hitters shelled freshman right-handed pitcher Luke Weber, tagging him for three runs in the first inning. Junior righty Mitch Dye took over after just one out.
Dye was able to go 1.2 innings on the mound and recorded three strikeouts against one hit.
Redshirt junior left-handed pitcher Reed Gannon was the last pitcher to be called upon in the win. The southpaw went 1.2 innings, giving up one hit and notching one strikeout.
“Disappointed in some guys,” Hartleb said. “It’s opportunity time and I really want some guys to take advantage of that. Mitch Dye came in, got us out of a big jam and was really good and then Reed Gannon, the last inning wasn’t nearly as sharp, but he came in with the bases loaded, gets two outs.”
Indiana State scored eight runs off Illinois pitchers, with half of them coming off senior left-hander Evan Clark. Despite this, Clark earned the win, his first of the season.
Big series on horizon
Illinois currently has a 10-8 record in conference play. The team struggled last weekend against Washington, dropping two games. The Illini currently sit at No. 8 in the conference.
Illinois has Purdue (24-16, 6-12) on the horizon, and has a chance to pick up some much-needed conference wins. Purdue sits at No. 15 in the conference, above just Maryland (19-23, 5-13) and Ohio State (10-28, 2-16).
The series begins at Illinois Field Friday at 6 p.m. and continues with games Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The games will be live on Big Ten Plus and on the radio at 1400 FM WDWS.
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