CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Andy Fisher threw eight shutout innings Friday night and the Illinois baseball team beat No. 19 Indiana 4-0 at Illinois Field. The Illini improved to 8-2 in its last 10 Big Ten games.
"Our guys did a really good job," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "We got a great start out of Andy Fisher."
Illinois (30-15, 9-7 Big Ten) produced its second shutout of the season behind Fisher's dominant performance. The lefty ace allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out nine to tie his Illini career high.
"We knew Andy was a good matchup," said Hartleb. "He is a guy pounds the zone, stays ahead in the count and locates down. He did an outstanding job against a really good hitting team."
Indiana (30-15, 11-5 Big Ten) had only two base runners reach second base all night. Fisher retired 14 batters in a row from the third through seventh innings.Â
The Illini gave Fisher support with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Jeff Korte hit sac flies in both innings and Grant Van Scoy added an RBI double. Van Scoy had three hits and Jack Yalowitz had two hits and two runs.Â
Illinois added another run in the eighth on an Indiana error and closer Garrett Acton finished the ninth in 1-2-3 fashion.Â
The two teams are back Saturday and Sunday at Illinois Field to finish the three-game series. Ty Weber gets the ball Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.
Highlights
Notes
• Illinois has won eight of its last 10 games.
• Illinois is 8-2 in its last 10 Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois is now 9-7.
• Illinois is No. 2 in the nation in winning percentage (.714) against the RPI top 50, behind only Vanderbilt (.720).
• Illinois shutout Indiana for the first time since a 3-0 win 5/12/2007.
• Illinois had its second shutout of the season (4-0 vs. Sacred Heart 5/3/19).
• Andy Fisher is second in the Big Ten in batting average against (.193), third in innings (74.1), third in strikeouts (79) and 11th in ERA (2.66).
• Michael Massey, is eighth in the Big Ten in batting average (.339).
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 36-8 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only five earned runs in the first inning for a 1.00 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois' bullpen is 16-10 with a .182 batting average against, 3.71 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 170 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .200 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (82/410). Indiana was 0-for-2
• Illinois is 4-1 against ranked teams (D1Baseball Poll). Indiana is ranked No. 19 by D1Baseball.com.
• Illinois is 29-7 when scoring four or more runs and 1-8 when scoring three or fewer runs.
• Illinois is 29-6 when allowing six or fewer runs and 1-9 when allowing seven or more runs.
• Illinois is 27-8 when leading or tied after four innings.
• Illinois is 14-3 at home.
• Illinois is 5-0 at home since beer sales began.
• Zac Taylor snapped a 16-game reached base streak.
• Reached base streaks: Massey 13
• The attendance of 2,379 was the 21st-best in Illinois Field history.Â
