Only 10 games remain for Illinois (26-16, 12-9), and it picked up a much needed midweek victory over Bradley (9-31) Tuesday. Illinois improved its record against in-state teams to 5-3 and has now won its second straight game over Bradley.
The win over Bradley comes following the series win over Purdue (26-18, 7-14). That series win kept Illinois afloat in the Big Ten standings, falling to No. 6.
Nice day on the mound
For most of this season, Illinois’ success has come from the plate rather than from the mound. This was no better shown than during each midweek matchup that has occurred throughout the season.
However, against Bradley, this story was entirely different. Illinois only went through six different pitchers during the game, compared to other midweeks that have used nine pitchers.
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The pitcher that got the nod to start was senior right-hander Ryan Daly. Daly went four total innings and only gave up a single hit with four strikeouts to add to his solid start.
“I thought we did a really good job on the mound,” said head coach Dan Hartleb. “We got a really quality start out of that Daly tonight.”
The Plainfield, Illinois, native was able to throw 52 total pitches, which was the most of the six pitchers that saw action against the Braves.
It was Illinois’ second pitcher, junior left-hander Sam Reed, who secured the win. The Carmel, Indiana, native picked up his third win on the season with zero hits allowed and one strikeout for the game.
Daly and Reed were not the only ones who had a solid day on the mound. Junior right-handed pitcher Mitch Dye picked up his first save of the season. Dye went on the mound and gave Bradley a goose egg in the hits category with two strikeouts to add on. Over 13 games this season, Dye has been able to get his ERA down to 7.98 for this year.
Jennings was the offense
Illinois’ offense was pretty quiet during the game. However, sophomore outfielder Collin Jennings gave Illinois a major offensive boost to get the 5-2 win. Jennings went two for five against Bradley and had five RBIs. His stat line had a major impact for Illinois to get the win.
“Did some good things defensively, offensively. A good thing — we had Jennings tonight with the RBI as a home run in the first inning,” Hartleb said. “We didn’t do a very good job overall offensively. Way too many strikeouts. Really didn’t hit anything with spin and, you know, it was disappointing.”
Bradley struck out Illinois 13 times, compared to the home team forcing 10 total strikeouts during the game.
Senior outfielder Vytas Valincius had a multiple-hit game himself. He went two for three, but unfortunately was stranded on the bases each time he got there.
Where does the team go from here?
Illinois will travel to New Jersey this weekend to take on Rutgers (21-24, 9-12) for its third-to-last Big Ten series. Rutgers ranks No. 13 in the conference with a below .500 conference record.
The series begins Friday night and will conclude Sunday afternoon. The series will be aired on Big Ten Plus and will also be on the radio at 1400 AM WDWS.
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