Chambana Sun

Illinois baseball team celebrated a strong start to their 2025 home season with a decisive 19-8 victory over Aurora at Illinois Field. Jack Zebig stood out in the offensive lineup, achieving two hits in four at-bats, including a grand slam and six RBIs. Greg LaChance and Kyle Schupmann also contributed with home runs.

The game saw nine Illini pitchers take the mound, with Brayden Mazzacano starting his first career game and Reed Gannon securing his first career win by pitching a scoreless fifth inning.

Aurora initially took a 1-0 lead, but Illinois responded quickly. Jacob Schroeder tied the game with an RBI single in the second inning. Newcomers Aden O'Donnell and Zach Bates made impressive debuts by delivering scoreless innings in the second and third innings, respectively.

Illinois surged ahead in the third inning with LaChance's two-run homer helping them secure a 5-1 lead. Despite Aurora's attempts to close the gap, Zebig's grand slam in the sixth inning extended Illinois' lead to 12-7. The Illini added more runs in subsequent innings, culminating in Schupmann’s three-run homer during a five-run eighth inning.

Game notes highlighted Zebig's significant contribution as he recorded the most RBIs by an Illini this season. LaChance had a perfect batting day with three hits, while Schupmann set season-high marks for runs scored, RBIs, and walks. Cameron Chee-Aloy set a new program record by stealing five bases during the game.

The team showed aggressive base-running tactics, accumulating six stolen bases against Aurora’s pitching. They achieved an impressive .444 batting average with runners in scoring positions throughout the match.

Illinois’ pitchers faced 49 hitters from Aurora, managing to strike out 11 batters while conceding seven ground balls and eight fly balls. The team drew 11 walks from Aurora’s pitchers.

This coverage was generated using Data Skrive's content automation technology.