Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern Falls in Series Finale at Illinois
4/21/2024 4:23:00 PM | Baseball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Northwestern fell 11-7 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field.
Northwestern (12-23, 2-10 Big Ten) drew first blood when Preston Knott scored on a passed ball in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Illinois (22-13, 10-2 Big Ten) knotted the game up at one apiece on an RBI single by Colton Quagliano in the bottom of the second. The Illini grabbed the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth, capped off by a three-run home run by Connor Milton to take a 5-1 lead. Illinois extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Jacob Schroeder.
In the top of the sixth, Northwestern cut into the deficit with a two-RBI double by Griffin Arnone, trimming the deficit to 6-3. With the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, Camden Janik hit a grand slam to give the Fighting Illini a commanding 10-3 lead.
Trent Liolios hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth, his sixth of the year, to make it a 10-4 ballgame. Illinois responded with an RBI single by Quagliano in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead to 11-4.
In the top of the ninth, Bennett Markinson plated Zach Selfon and Knott on a two-RBI double. Jackson Freeman followed it up with an RBI groundout to 11-7 before the Illini closed out the game for the series sweep.
Garrett Shearer (2-9) is credited with the loss, surrendering five runs on five hits, walking two and striking out two in 3.0 innings pitched.
Regan Hall (2-1) gets the win for Illinois, allowing two runs on one hit, walking three and striking out three in 5.0 innings of work.
Northwestern returns to action with a midweek matchup against Illinois State at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park at 3:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 23.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hall, Regan (2-1)
L: Shearer, Garrett (2-9)

Batting:
2B: Knott, Preston 1 ; Markinson, Bennett 1 ; Arnone, Griffin 1
HR: Liolios, Trent 1
RBI: Markinson, Bennett 2 ; Freeman, Jackson 1 ; Liolios, Trent 1 ; Arnone, Griffin 2
SH: Selfon, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knott, Preston 2 ; McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Markinson, Bennett 1 ; Liolios, Trent 2 ; Selfon, Zach 1
HBP: Markinson, Bennett 1 ; Liolios, Trent 1 ; Kaplan, Marty 1

Batting:
2B: Valincius, Vytas 1 ; Harding, Brody 1 ; Milton, Connor 1
HR: Janik, Camden 1 ; Milton, Connor 1
RBI: Janik, Camden 4 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Quagliano, Coltin 3 ; Milton, Connor 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Hejza, Cal 1 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Westcott, Drake 1 ; Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Schroeder, Jacob 1 ; Harding, Brody 2 ; Quagliano, Coltin 2 ; Milton, Connor 2
SB: Hejza, Cal 1
CS: Harding, Brody 1
HBP: Hejza, Cal 2 ; Westcott, Drake 1 ; Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Harding, Brody 1