Despite a disappointing Big Ten opening series where Illinois (8-7) suffered a sweep, an offensive explosion allowed for a much-needed bounceback win against Western Illinois (4-12). Freshman right-hander Ike Young started for Illinois in this one, but wasn’t able to keep zeros on the board.
A leadoff walk put a runner on for fifth-year outfielder Liam Bushey. He proceeded to crush a ball over the left field wall, giving Western Illinois an early 2-0 lead. A sequence of a single, stolen base, walk, then passed ball allowed Western Illinois to score another run off of a groundout.
Scorching hot bats
Down 3-0 early, Illinois needed a response. That’s exactly what it got. A leadoff hit-by-pitch followed by a walk put runners on. Graduate student catcher Daniel Contreras then hit a weak grounder to the pitcher, but an airmail throw to first resulted in two runs for Illinois.
They weren’t done, though. Two consecutive walks gave junior outfielder Collin Jennings a golden opportunity to give Illinois the lead. He blasted a no-doubter over the wall, scoring three to give Illinois its first lead of the game.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
A walk brought up sophomore outfielder Brayden Mazzacano. The speedy center fielder smacked a ball to center and flew around the bases for a triple, giving him his first RBI of the season. A fielder’s choice scored him, giving Illinois a 7-3 lead.
Illinois seemed to have a chip on its shoulder offensively after a couple zero-run games against USC (16-0). The hot start in this one carried to the rest of the game, and the mentality seemed to be, get on base in any way possible. Freshman first baseman AJ Putty stressed how important this hot start was.
“We’re trying to get on base any way possible,” Putty said. “We came back from striking out and not putting the ball in play when we needed to, so I think today we approached it well and started to understand it a little bit. I think our offense got a little giddy up there, and I’m glad to see we got those runs.”
Relievers hold lead
Illinois got a lot of help from the bullpen in taking control of this game. First out of the pen was sophomore right-hander Sam Mommer. Despite getting into some deep-count at bats, he was solid enough to only give up two runs in his three innings pitched.
Junior right-hander Ryan Ohm came in after and recorded three strikeouts and just one earned run in his two innings.
Graduate student right-hander Liam McKillop and junior right-hander Olivier Martel each recorded one inning pitched after that and looked sound on the bump. The right-handers each struck out two batters while not giving up any runs in the final two innings.
Illinois’ pitching rotation has been very experimental so far this season, but head coach Dan Hartleb knows that it takes reps to improve.
“I really liked what I saw from Ohm, McKillop and Martel,” Hartleb said. “They were down the zone, aggressive … they found a way to give us some innings. It’s good to get those guys out there. That’s the only way they’re going to progress.”
Sixth inning seals deal
At this point, it was an 11-7 game, and still within reach for Western Illinois. Illinois rallied in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Putty followed a leadoff walk with a double down the line, resulting in runners at second and third.
Senior catcher Will Johannes hit a 2-RBI single to extend the lead. A walk and a flyout advanced him to third. Mazzacano then hit a sacrifice fly, giving him another RBI.
Following that up was junior infielder J.R. Nelson, who hit a two-run double to left. The extra-base hits weren’t done as senior outfielder Nick Groves sliced a triple down the line to score yet another run for Illinois.
Hartleb liked seeing this rejuvenated offense, and will need to rely on it for Illinois’ upcoming Big Ten matchups.
“Today I thought we were a little more relaxed, and we were able to take advantage of a lot of good pitches,” Hartleb said. “You have to be selective at the plate … which you control the zone, you stay away from swinging at balls out of the zone. Then we get guys in scoring position, we just need to be relaxed and get good pitches.”
Illinois needed this bounceback and they didn’t just win, they dominated in this 21-8 affair. With Big Ten play picking up soon, a win like this could be just what Illinois needed to gain some confidence back. Hartleb sees it as a learning experience for his guys.
“It’s always good to come back and get a win,” Hartleb said. “Tough games out there, and there were some things we did well, some things we could have done better. All you can do is learn from it and move forward, and I thought our guys did a good job of that today.”
Illinois next game is Friday against Minnesota (14-3). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CDT.
