Illinois cruises over Paladins

Illinois topped Furman 14-5 Saturday at Fluor Field.

A day after shutting down Michigan State, Furman found Illinois to be an entirely different Big Ten beast Saturday. Illinois batters collected 15 hits and seven walks in a 14-5 win over the Paladins in the annual First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field.

Illinois (8-3) scored in all but the first and fourth innings. The Illini led 6-1 in the seventh when Furman tried to mount a comeback. With one out, Bret Huebner and Ben Anderson singled ahead of Sims Griffith's RBI-double. After Jake Crawford's groundout plated another run, Jason Costa added an RBI-single to cut the lead to 6-4.

Illinois responded in a big way with a four-run eighth and added four more runs in the ninth to remove all doubt. Ben Troike finished a double away from hitting for the cycle for the Illini, while Doran Turchin also had three hits. Troike and Jack Yalowitz drove in three runs apiece for Illinois, while Bren Spillane and Grant Van Scoy each had two RBIs.

Andy Fisher (1-0) allowed one unearned run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings to get the win. He had three walks and five strikeouts. Furman's Grant Schuermann (2-2) gave up five runs on eight hits in six innings, with three walks and two strikeouts.

Costa was the lone Paladin with multiple hits as he went 2-for-3 with his fifth double. Anderson's single in the seventh extended his hitting streak to eight consecutive games.

Furman returns to action Tuesday at Winthrop. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.