In their conference opener in mid-March, the Illini (10-28, 2-9) plated eight runs in the first inning to take an 8-3 lead over the Iowa Hawkeyes (21-16, 5-10).
Over the course of the three-hour marathon, Illinois saw its early advantage slip away before falling 21-15.
After dropping game one of their Friday doubleheader against the Michigan State Spartans (14-22, 1-10), the Illini had another big first inning in game two. Illinois scored seven in the opening frame, and this time, hung on for its second conference victory of the season.
Lucky No. 7
Illinois kept the ball in the yard during its seven-run outburst to kick off Friday’s second game. Instead, the Illini generated runs with a pair of hit-by-pitches, three singles, two doubles, a fielder’s choice, a passed ball, a sacrifice fly and a steal.
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Sophomore catcher Jackie Yeager’s RBI double put Illinois ahead 3-0 and chased Michigan State sophomore Carsyn Cassady after the right-hander recorded just a single out. Sophomore outfielder Eden Echevarria and sophomore shortstop Ava Moore greeted Michigan State junior righty Autumn Behlke with back-to-back singles to bring Illinois’ lead to five.
Behlke quickly settled down, but not before the Illini scored two more on senior outfielder Alaina Miller’s sacrifice fly and junior outfielder Skylar Brennan’s single.
After covering the final 3.1 innings of Illinois’ game-one loss, junior right-handed pitcher Megan Nuechterlein took to the circle. The junior spun 4.1 innings in the game to total 7.2 on the day as the Spartans cut the Illini’s lead to three.
Illinois’ bats awoke in the closing innings, with the team scoring five runs across innings six and seven. The Spartans scored a pair of runs against freshman southpaw Abby Sabalaskey in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late as the Illini held on for the 12-6 win.
One-hit wonders
The offensive outburst in game two was a promising showing from a group that had just suffered a complete-game shutout hours before.
Michigan State’s sophomore right-hander Jacey Schuler silenced Illinois’ offense in game one to the tune of seven scoreless innings. The right-hander yielded just a single hit — a first-inning single from junior infielder Adisyn Caryl — in the 7-0 win.
Schuler entered the game with a 5.58 ERA on the season, but had fired a complete-game shutout against Howard (18-13) in late February.
Against Illinois, the right-hander struck out just three, perfectly balancing the other 18 outs between nine flyouts and nine groundouts.
No place like home
The Illini now return home for their next five games. The team takes on Western Illinois (10-21) on Tuesday, UCLA (33-5, 13-2) this weekend and SEMO (12-21) next Tuesday. Ten of Illinois’ final 16 games take place at Eichelberger Field, where the team is winless in ten games this season.
Something has to give on Tuesday, as Illinois has taken seven-straight against Western Illinois, including the most recent matchup last April. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CDT on Tuesday.
@BrendanGallian
