April 24, 2015
| 1 | 10 |
| Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | University Park, Pa. | Attn: 1304 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| VIDEO: Postgame Comments |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - David Kerian hit a grand slam and Reid Roper hit a two-run home run to lead No. 8 Illinois past Penn State, 10-1, in Big Ten baseball action Friday night in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Illinois (34-6-1, 11-1 B1G) extended its winning streak, the longest active one in the nation, to 15 games. LHP Kevin Duchene (7-1) kept the Penn State (13-24, 2-10 B1G) offense in check in six innings of work, holding it to an unearned run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Kerian and Roper paced the Illini offense, as both went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.
Left fielder Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) led the Nittany Lions, driving in the lone run and reaching base in all four plate appearances with two singles, a hit-by-pitch and walk.
Roper drove in the game's first run with an RBI-single to center in the first, and his brother, Ryan, added another in the second with a sacrifice fly for an early 2-0 lead. The Lions ran into big trouble in the third though as Kerian extended the lead to 6-0 with a blast over the centerfield wall with two outs and the bases loaded in a 3-1 count. LHP Nick Hedge (1-6) was trying to battle back after falling behind 3-0.
The Nittany Lions got one run back in the bottom half on an RBI-single through the left side by Guers, but the Illini added two more runs in the fourth, including a sacrifice fly by Roper, for an 8-1 lead.
RHP Tom Mullin relieved Hedge in the fifth and retired the side, striking out two, but Roper got to him in the sixth, homering to right with one on for the final margin.
Hedge worked four innings, surrendering eight runs (seven earned), on nine hits and two walks with one strikeout.
The series continues with PSU's Military Appreciation Day Saturday at 2 p.m. on BTN Plus and concludes Sunday starting at 10 a.m. on Big Ten Network. LHP Taylor Lehman (1-4, 7.41 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Blue and While, while RHP Drasen Johnson is scheduled for the opposition.