:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32244399/baseball.0.jpg)
The Illini (22-15, 9-3 Big Ten) expectedly downed Eastern Illinois (12-28, 6-12 Ohio Valley Conference) Tuesday, but fell the following day to heated rival Missouri (19-21, 6-12 Big 12). Cody Sedlock and Rob McDonnell gave outings for the Illini, with the latter earning a victory.
McDonnell pitched his third start of the season Tuesday and advanced to a 3-0 record with a 3-2 win. Tyler Jay earned his sixth save of the year.
McDonnell allowed a run in the first inning after an RBI groundout to first that scored Panthers center fielder Caleb Howell. The Fighting Illini responded the next half inning with a run of their own when Kerian was knocked in by Goldstein after walking with two outs.
Illinois struck again in the third after three consecutive batters reached base to start the inning. Norris-Jones was hit by a pitch followed by a single to the catcher from Krug. Norris-Jones scored through a ground-rule double hit by Adam Walton, his first on the year. Two batters later, Goldstein earned his second RBI of the game when he grounded out to bring home Krug.
Eastern Illinois entered the fourth inning down 3-1, and began a bit of a rally, though this quickly came to a halt after only scoring one run on a sac fly that scored third baseman Brant Valach.
McDonnell, Mamlic, and Tyler only allowed a combined three hits in the last five innings, resulting in another dominating pitching performance for the Illini.
On Wednesday, struggling Cody Sedlock and the Illini faced the hated Missouri Tigers at Busch Stadium. After allowing three runs in four innings, Illinois could not bounce back, and lost with a final score of 5-2.
Mizzou scored first on a run in the second, after loading the bases and hitting into a double play that ultimately scored catcher Dylan Kelly.
To start the bottom of the second, Nagle hit a one out single up the middle and scored on a single to right field off the bat of Ryne Roper.
With the game tied at one, Missouri put up two in the fourth inning, with Kelly scoring his second run of the game along with third baseman Ryan Howard.
The Tigers added another two in the fifth, both coming off a double to left field from Kelly, scoring right fielder Logan Pearson and second baseman Shane Segovia.
Down 5-1 in the seventh, the Fighting Illini could only garner one run scored by Reid Roper, who was hit in by Fletcher.
Up next for the Illini is a possible season-determining series with the Indiana Hoosiers in Champaign, where the Illini will be fighting for the top spot in the conference.