Illinois headed to Minnesota last week for a three-game series with the Gophers, and after winning the series 2-1, ended up with a fourth game scheduled as the first leg of the Big Ten Tournament.

Minnesota was the home team not as the host team, but as the higher seed, and took advantage by getting the best of Illinois in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walkoff hit from Andy Henkemeyer to earn the 3-2 victory and put Illinois in a do-or-die scenario in the loser’s bracket for the remainder of the double-elimination tournament.

Illinois got great pitching from newly anointed Big Ten Freshman of the Year Kevin Duchene, who went 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

Tom Windle, who was named first-team all-conference, matched him, going five innings and allowing two runs on six hits. Ben Meyer was superb in relief of Windle, going four innings and allowing just two hits with no runs or walks and four strikeouts.

It was Ronnie Muck who relieved Duchene in the seventh and eventually took the loss. Illinois now needs to win six consecutive games to win the tournament.

The Illini have experience playing with their backs against the wall this season — losses in three of their first four conference series ensured that the rest of their season would be a climb back into conference tournament contention.

“It’s one game,” head coach Dan Hartleb said of Wednesday’s defeat. “We’ve done that all year; you lose a game, you’ve just gotta turn around to the next game, find a way to win.”

It’s one game, sure, but one game means a lot in a double-elimination tournament.

Muck pitched 1 2/3 spotless relief innings for the Illini heading into the ninth, but a leadoff double by Matt Halloran put Muck in an immediate jam. After a pinch runner came on for Halloran, a single up the middle was fielded by a hard-charging Justin Parr to keep the runner from trying to score. Muck intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases, and was able to induce a fielder’s choice to get the inning’s first out.

A ground ball away from an inning-ending double play, Minnesota left fielder Andy Henkemeyer hit home the winning run.

The Orange and Blue had played the Gophers to a draw — perhaps better — until that ninth inning. In the bottom of the fifth with his team trailing 1-2, Henkemeyer hit a single up the middle with the tying run on second. The runner was waved home, and a throw to the plate from Parr was deemed too late as the Gophers tied the game 2-2. Replay showed catcher Jason Goldstein applied the tag just before the runner touched home. Goldstein had blocked the plate, causing the runner to have to adjust and tag home plate with his hand, during which the tag was apparently applied. Hartleb came out to exchange words with home plate umpire Mike Duffy, but returned to the dugout without much conflict.

Hartleb declined to comment on the play after the game.

“They played (the replay) during the next batter’s at-bat, so we could hear the crowd and everybody yell at the umpire, tell him that he was wrong,” said first baseman David Kerian, who was named first team all-conference Tuesday. “So everybody in the stadium knew it was the wrong call, except for him.

“We were frustrated, but baseball — that happens a lot,” he added. “You just have to forget about it and go on to the next pitch.”

Duchene was able to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Kerian said the team wasn’t bitter about the call, especially because they had so many chances throughout the game on which they failed to capitalize. Illinois left 13 runners on base, all within the first seven innings, and three times left the bases loaded.

Illinois will face the tournament’s No. 6 seed, Michigan, on Thursday at 12:05 p.m. Sophomore right-hander John Kravetz will get the start for the Illini on the mound. Kravetz is 4-2 in 13 starts this season, with a 4.10 ERA. He leads the team in innings pitched.

The Illini have not played Michigan yet this year.

Eliot can be reached at [email protected] and @EliotTweet.