CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois baseball (5-2) opened the 2025 home slate with a 19-8 victory today over Aurora at Illinois Field.
Jack Zebig provided some loud offense in the ballgame, going 2-for-4 with a run, double, grand slam and six RBI. Greg LaChance and Kyle Schupmann also homered in the contest.
The Illini used nine pitchers in the game, with Brayden Mazzacano getting the ball first, making his first-career start, and Reed Gannon picking up his first-career win in relief by tossing a scoreless inning in the fifth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead their first time up through a sacrifice fly before Jacob Schroeder made it 1-1 in the second with an RBI-single.
Aden O’Donnell and Zach Bates each made their Illini debuts in the second and third inning, respectively, with the duo each working scoreless frames to keep the home team in the game.
Illinois would go on to take a 5-1 lead in the third when LaChance’s two-run homer capped a three-run frame.
Aurora battled back with three in the fourth to make it a one-run game, but a three-run fifth from the Orange and Blue pushed the lead to four at 8-4.
The visitors scored twice to again in the sixth to again cut the lead to one, but Zebig’s grand slam in the bottom half of the frame began to put the game out of reach, as his second home run of the season made it 12-7.
Illinois added two more runs in the seventh and Schupmann’s three-run blast in the eighth capped off a five-run frame as the Illini ultimately went on to win 19-8.
GAME NOTES
» Jack Zebig went 2-for-4 with a run, double, home run and six RBI.
» Most RBI in a single game by an Illini this season.
» Greg LaChance went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run, two RBI and a walk.
» Second three-hit game of the season.
» Kyle Schupmann went 2-for-3 with four runs scored, a double, home run, three RBI and three walks.
» Set season-high marks it runs, RBI and walks.
» Nick Groves went 2-for-5 with two runs, a double, three RBI and a walk.
» Has four two-hit games this season.
» Has reached base safely at least twice in all games this season.
» Cameron Chee-Aloy stole five bases in today’s game, setting a new program record.
» Collin Jennings doubled in the eighth to record his first-career collegiate hit.
» Aden O’Donnell made his Illinois and collegiate debut in the second inning, working a scoreless frame.
» Zach Bates made his Illinois debut in the third inning, working a scoreless frame.
» Reed Gannon earned the first win of his collegiate career, working a scoreless fifth inning and picking up one strikeout.
» Illinois’ highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed five runs across.
» Four Fighting Illini had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Illinois hitters hit three dingers in the ballgame.
» The Fighting Illini swiped six bases as a team.
» Illinois has stolen 20 bases through seven games this…had just 25 stolen bases in the 2024 season.
» Illinois went 8-for-18 (.444) with runners in scoring position.
» Illinois pitchers faced 49 Aurora hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out 11.
» The Fighting Illini drew 11 walks from Aurora pitching.
