Hawkeyes drop the series opener to Illinois in Champaign

Illinois Field in Champaign has been the toughest place to play in the entire Big Ten this season. The field generally lends itself to plenty of offense and it’s perfect for an Illinois team that leads the conference in many offensive categories. The Hawkeyes learned first-hand just how dangerous the Illini can be at home on Friday night. Illinois scored multiple runs in the first three innings en route to 10-5 win in the series opener.

There was plenty of excitement for Iowa coming into the game. Although slim, they still had a chance to win the Big Ten regular season title and Cade Obermueller was back on the mound for his first start since April 19th. The Illini gave Obermueller a less than friendly welcome in his return.

Cade retired the first two batters of the game, but a two out walk and a single put traffic on the bases for the dangerous Ryan Moerman. He delivered a two-run double off the wall in right field to put Illinois on top 2-0. In the second inning, back-to-back doubles from Camden Janik and Drake Westcott plated three runs to extend the lead for the Illini to 5-0. Obermueller allowed five runs on five hits over 1.2 innings, including three strikeouts to two walks. He will now turn his focus towards his final regular season start next week against Florida International before the Big Ten Tournament.

The Iowa offense was retired six up, six down by Illinois starter Jack Crowder to begin the game, but the Hawkeyes fought back in the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Raider Tello pulled an RBI single through the left side to get Iowa on the board. Davis Cop cut the lead to 5-2 with a sacrifice fly in the ensuing at-bat, but Crowder struck out Reese Moore to limit any further damage.

Illinois answered back in the bottom of the inning off of reliever Aaron Savary. Back-to-back home runs from Brody Harding and Coltin Quagliano wiped out the Hawkeyes work to begin the inning. With two outs, Camden Janik delivered an RBI double to extend the lead to 8-2 in favor of the Illini.

In the top of the fourth, the Iowa offense answered again. Ben Wilmes delivered a two out, two-run home run to right field to cut the deficit to 8-4. After a Brody Harding RBI groundout in the bottom of the fourth made it 9-4, an RBI double from Davis Cop in the fifth made it 9-5. For a while, the Hawkeyes were able to put runs on the board, however, the pitching staff couldn’t put up a zero. Drake Westcott hit a solo home run in the sixth to make it 10-5 Illini. They scored in five of the first six innings of the game.

Down the stretch, the Iowa pitching staff put together some clean innings. Sam Hart tossed 2.0 scoreless innings, including four strikeouts to two walks. Reece Beuter came in for the eighth inning and set the Illini down in order, including a pair of strikeouts. Unfortunately, the Hawkeye offense ran out of juice after they put up five runs in the first five innings.

Illinois turned to the bullpen in the seventh inning and Ben Plumley was a bit wild, walking Raider Tello and hitting Reese Moore, but struck out three to put a zero on the board. In the eighth against reliever Jake Rons, Will Mulflur worked a one out walk, while Ben Wilmes got ahead in the count 3-1. A walk may have started a rally, but Wilmes grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Then in the ninth, the Hawkeyes got a pair of singles off of Korey Bunselmeyer, but Reese Moore struck out to end the game.

Raider Tello reached base four times, including three hits, while Davis Cop and Ben Wilmes each had two hits. Iowa finished the night just 2/10 (.200) with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, the Illini managed to put up six runs with two outs.

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will look to even up the series against Illinois on Saturday afternoon. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for the matchup. First pitch is set for 3:00pm CT on BTN+.