It was one of those midweek games where the Illinois baseball team was going to have to dive into its bullpen early on.
Senior pitcher Jackson Douglas received his first start of the season, but only lasted 2.1 innings after giving up two runs and having nearly thrown 60 pitches already. Freshman pitcher Ryan Kutt couldn’t bring consistency out of the bullpen, lasting only an inning after giving up three hits.
But the third time was the charm for Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb as he went to sophomore pitcher Zach Jones to take over the duties on the mound during the fourth inning while the bases were loaded.