Illinois Field | University of Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Field | University of Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois baseball team began their 2025 season with a narrow loss to Abilene Christian, falling 10-9 in extra innings at Whataburger Field. The Illini were led by Vytas Valincius and Kyle Schupmann, both of whom had three-hit games. Valincius also contributed a double, home run, and two RBIs, while Nick Groves added two hits and three RBIs.
Tyler Schmitt made his Illinois debut on the mound, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Sam Reed provided solid relief work with 2.2 scoreless innings.
The game saw Illinois take an early lead through a sacrifice fly from Greg LaChance in the second inning. Valincius extended the lead with a home run in the third inning, making it 3-1. Illinois added four more runs in the fourth inning for a 7-1 advantage.
Abilene Christian responded by scoring four runs each in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 9-7 lead. Illinois tied the game again in the seventh inning but was unable to score after Abilene Christian added another run in the tenth inning.
The Illini will face Abilene Christian again tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT for game two of their three-game series.
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