CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois State (15-7, 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference) struck first, but allowed six unanswered runs and lost at Illinois (12-10, 0-0 Big Ten), 6-1, Wednesday afternoon at Illinois Field. The Redbirds tallied eight hits in the defeat.
Cam Verbeke (0-1) made his first-collegiate start and allowed three earned runs on five hits in 2.2 innings. J.D. Nielsen (1-0) struck out three in two scoreless innings for Illinois, en route to his first victory of the season.
Illinois State jumped on the board in the second inning. Mike Hollenbeck extended his on-base streak to 22-consecutive games with a leadoff single. Logan Leverett added a single and Brian Rodemoyer was hit-by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Dennis Colon drew a bases-loaded walk to give ISU an early 1-0 lead.
Illinois took the lead for good in the third. The Illini scored first on a run-scoring groundout from Ryan Nagle. Catcher Jason Goldstein added a two-run double off Verbeke to extend the Illini lead to 3-1. Goldstein had four hits, three RBI and one run scored in the game.
The Redbirds received 3.1 scoreless relief innings from Steve Heilenbach and Ben Hecht. The Illini added two runs in the seventh inning and one run in the ninth inning to put the game away.
Illinois State returns to action Friday night at Indiana State to resume Missouri Valley Conference play versus the Sycamores.
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