Monticello was balanced on Thursday afternoon as the Sages beat the weather and Paxton-Buckley-Loda 9-1 in Illini Prairie Conference baseball action on Thursday in Paxton.

Severe weather was in the area Thursday afternoon but held off long enough to get Thursday's action played. 

Matt Swartz, Colton Vance, and Jacob Long each had two RBIs. Swartz was 1-for-2 with a double and run scored. Vance finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while Long was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.

Koyie Williams doubled finishing 2-for-3 and Russ Brown drove in a run in with a pinch-hit double. 

Brody Billedo went 2 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts and allowed a hit and a walk. Ike Young went 2 2/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts and allowed a hit and a walk. Hayden Romano finished off the win with 2 innings of one-run ball.

The Sages' win streak is now 22 straight as they go to 22-0. They will host Pontiac Monday in Monticello.

Maroa-Forsyth snapped a brief two-game losing streak with a convincing 14-1 win over Illini Central in Sangamo Conference baseball action on Thursday in Forsyth.

The Trojans broke open a 5-1 game with a nine-run fourth inning. 

Kaiden Maurer and Mitch Williams doubled and scored two runs for the Trojans while Tate Brandenburg drove in two runs. Cayden Rose and Connor Kelly had two RBIs apiece while Zayn Giles and Andy Munjoy also added RBIs. Munjoy finished 3-for-3. 

Brandenburg struck out five in four innings of one-run ball for Maroa-Forsyth. Ace Giles finished off the five-inning, run-rule win for the Trojans with a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout. 

The Trojans go to 15-2 overall and 4-1 in the Sangamo. They host Athens Friday.

Monticello used a balanced offensive attack to roll past Paxton-Buckley-Loda 16-0 in Illini Prairie Conference softball action from Paxton Thursday.

Marrissa Miller was 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored to lead the Monticello offense. Sadie Walsh was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Cassidee Stoeffel was 3-for-3 with two doubles and drove in two. Thea Key and Isa Beery drove in two runs apiece. 

Lucy Leatherwood, Lynsee Trybom, Reese Patton, and Ali Weidner added RBIs for the Lady Sages.

Patton struck out four in four innings of shutout ball. The senior allowed a hit and a walk. 

Monticello has won seven of its last nine to move to 13-9. They host Pontiac on Monday. 

Monticello used a big day at the plate and a bullpen day to roll Salt Fork 10-0 securing the Sages' 21st straight victory to start the season in non-conference high school baseball action from Monticello Wednesday.

Eli Craft and Colton Vance went deep. Craft went 2-for-2 with a home run, a double, and drove in a run. Vance finished 1-for-3 with a two-run blast. 

Matt Swartz hit a two-run triple for the Sages finishing 1-for-2. Carter Foran was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. Dylan Brown and Rai Colbert each drove in a run and scored twice.

Forrest Rawdin went two innings of shutout ball getting the start for the Sages. Swartz struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief and Jacob Long struck out three in two innings to preserve the win.

The Sages are 21-0 on the season, continuing to build on its best start in program history. They travel to PBL this afternoon for an Illini Prairie Conference tilt.

Normal Community scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to separate and beat crosstown rival Normal West 9-4 Thursday, sweeping the two-game set this week in Normal.

Owen Cavanaugh cleared the bases with a double in the big sixth inning for the Ironmen. The Senior finished with a team-best five RBIs. Kyle Beaty finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored at the top of the order. Anthony Gura went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Joshua Eisfelder drove in a run.

Sam DesCarpentrie and Brady Hart had RBIs for the Wildcats while Chase Knuth finished 2-for-3 with a double and run to pace Normal West's offense. 

Normal used a bullpen day to limit the Wildcats offense. Kaileb Hackman threw three scoreless innings to close out the win. The senior struck out four and allowed just one hit. 

Ryder Coone was tagged for five runs, three were earned for Normal West. He walked four, struck out three, and allowed five hits. Trent Durham allowed Normal Community's four runs in the sixth inning.

Normal West drops to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the Big 12. Normal Community goes to 17-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big 12. 

Normal West is back in action Friday traveling to Danville. Normal Community hosts Richwoods on Friday.

Williamsville took down Maroa-Forsyth in a Sangamo Conference high school baseball classic 2-1 Wednesday in Williamsville. 

Jo Catalano struck out seven in five scoreless innings for the Bullets. Brayden Sailing and Kyle Carter drove runs for Williamsville.

Ace Giles drove in the only run for Maroa-Forsyth. Kaiden Maurer, Zayn Giles, Tate Brandenburg, and Cayden Rose had base hits for the Trojans. Maurer and Rose doubled in the loss.

Connor Kelly tossed five innings of relief for the Trojans after Kaiden Maurer threw an inning at the start of the game. Kelly struck out two, walked three, and allowed five hits.

Williamsville is 10-6 and 3-0 in the Sanngamo. Maroa-Forsyth falls to 13-2 overall and 2-1 in the Sangamo. They will host Illini Central today in more Sangamo Conference play. 

Normal U-High scored nine runs in the third inning and rolled past Lincoln 12-1 in a five innings, a run-rule win in Central State Eight high school baseball Wednesday in Normal.

The frustrating inning for the Railsplitters featured a two-run error, two walks with the bases loaded and only six hits in the inning.

Colbie Glenn finished 1-for-3 with the lone RBI for Lincoln. Drew Hayes, Trey Schilling, Brenden Wurth, Michael Lucas and Jarrett Evers had hits for the Railsplitters. 

Griffin Meyer paced Normal U-High going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Devan Tupper was 1-for-3 two RBIs.

U-High is 12-5 overall moving to 3-1 in the CS8. They travel to Jacksonville this afternoon.

Lincoln falls to 8-7 and 2-3 in the Central State Eight. They travel to Springfield Southeast this afternoon.

The Clinton Lady Maroons seemingly had everything thrown at them Tuesday afternoon but the kitchen sink and in a high school softball game heard on WHOW, outlasted Sullivan 5-3 in walkoff fashion from Clinton High School.

Avery Smith doubled home two runs to give the Lady Maroons the win Tuesday in a game originally scheduled against Hart-Em and then before action could get underway, a weather delay paused the game that was moved up to 4 pm for Hart-Em then 4:15 when Sullivan was added to the schedule.

Smith finished 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Heidi Humble drove in the other Clinton run. 

Aliviyah Haynes got the start in circle for Clinton and completed all nine innings. She struck out nine, walked two, and permitted five hits.

With the win, Clinton moves to 8-9 overall. They travel to Shelbyville on Friday.

Erratic pitching late allowed Clinton to get by Rantoul 7-5 in non-conference high school baseball action at Clinton High School Tuesday.

With the score tied at 5-5 and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, Aiden Toohill was hit by a pitch and Ryan Pine drew a walk that each scored a run to put the Maroons ahead 7-5. 

Clinton would hold on for its 13th win of the season, moving to 13-3 overall.

Pine finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored. Brooks Cluver was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored for Clinton. Colton Walker went 1-for-4 with a double, and RBI and scored twice.

Preston Curtis threw six innings of relief for Mason Walker who permitted three unearned runs in an inning of work.

Curtis struck out three, walked two, and allowed two unearned runs on five hits.

The Maroons are back in action Friday when they travel to Shelbyville.

Marrissa Miller hit two home runs and drove in three runs leading Monticello past Westville 7-4 in non-conference high school softball action Tuesday in Monticello.

Layla Atwood hit a two-run home run in the first inning for the Lady Tigers to go up 4-0.

But Monticello scored three runs in its half of the first to go up 3-2.

Westville answered with another run in the second but Sadie Walsh hit a one-out home run and Miller answered with the first of her two big flies that bounced off the top of the scoreboard in center field. 

The home runs gave Monticello a 5-3 lead.

Miller's second home run just cleared the fence in right-center field in the sixth inning extending the Monticello advantage to 6-3.

Cassidee Stoeffel was excellent in circle for Monticello. The sophomore went the distance allowing four runs but struck out six. She also went 1-for-3 with an RBI double and drew a walk. 

Monticello improves to 12-9 overall. They travel to PBL on Thursday for Illini Prairie Conference action. 

Lance Lynn earned his first win for the St. Louis Cardinals in seven years, a 3-2 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night before a season-low crowd of 3,296 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Lynn (1-0) allowed two runs - one earned - and five hits in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.18 in four starts. The 36-year-old right-hander went 72-47 for the Cardinals from 2011-17. After pitching for five other teams, he returned to St. Louis during the offseason for an $11 million, one-year contract.

JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley each got three straight outs, with Helsley earning his major league-leading seventh save in eight chances.

St. Louis won its second straight over the A's and got back to .500 at 9-9.

Masyn Winn and Jordan Walker hit consecutive sacrifice flies off Dany Jiménez (1-1) as the Cardinals overcame a 2-1 deficit in the sixth. Nolan Arenado led off with a single, Jiménez issued back-to-back walks and center fielder JJ Bleday heaved the ball home with no chance for a play on Winn's fly, allowing the other two runners to advance.

Oakland fell to 3-9 at home and 7-11 overall. The team's average home attendance has been 5,968 through 12 games. The A's have announced plans to move to Sacramento from 2025-27 and Las Vegas after that.

Kyle McCann hit an RBI single in the second and hit his first major league homer, a fifth-inning drive off Lynn that left McCann's bat at 106.3 mph and traveled 385 feet to right-center.

Brendan Donovan had a run-scoring grounder in the third off JP Sears, who allowed two hits in five innings.

Willson Contreras singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He has reached base safely in 22 straight games dating to last year.

Cardinals LHP Steven Matz (1-0, 1.80 ERA) starts Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against Athletics RHP Paul Blackburn (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who has yet to allow a run in 19 1/3 innings this season.

Ketel Marte hit a tying solo homer with two outs in the ninth, and Randal Grichuk won it with a pinch-hit RBI double in the 10th, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a wild 12-11 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.

The teams split the first two games of the series, which both went into extra innings. They'll play the finale on Wednesday.

Grichuk ripped the second pitch he saw from Drew Smyly (2-2) into the left-center gap, easily scoring Christian Walker from second as D-backs players poured onto the field to celebrate.

The Cubs rallied from two three-run deficits, but still couldn't get the win. Ian Happ hit a go-ahead grand slam as part of a six-run seventh inning that gave Chicago an 11-8 lead, but the D-backs slowly clawed back. Arizona cut the margin to 11-9 in the seventh on Blaze Alexander’s double and 11-10 in the eighth on Joc Pederson’s sacrifice fly.

Then came Marte's homer off Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay - a liner that barely cleared the right-center wall. After an official review, the homer was confirmed. Marte finished with four hits.

Happ hit his first homer of the season off lefty Kyle Nelson, turning on a cutter and sending a line drive into the D-backs' bullpen. Christopher Morel had a sacrifice fly and Garrett Cooper added an RBI single before Happ's crucial homer.

Nico Hoerner had four hits for Chicago, including a double and triple.

The game was marked by big swings, with the D-backs taking a 4-1 lead after four innings. The Cubs responded with four runs in the fifth before the D-backs scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning for an 8-5 advantage.

It was another tough outing for Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, who gave up seven earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. The veteran right-hander has been hit hard in all four of his outings this year and now has a 12.71 ERA.

Michael Busch's five-game streak with a homer came to an end. The Cubs rookie - who tied a franchise record with his long-ball streak - was 0 of 4 with a walk and run scored.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run homer and Pederson added a solo shot in the third inning to give the Diamondbacks a 4-1 lead. Gurriel has five homers and 20 RBIs through 17 games.

D'backs left-hander Tommy Henry gave up five runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. Kevin Ginkel (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless 10th inning.

The teams wrap up the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. The D-backs will throw RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-0, 6.48 ERA) and the Cubs counter with LHP Jordan Wicks (0-2, 5.68 ERA).

The Kansas City Royals’ game at the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night has been postponed because of rain.

It will be made up on Wednesday afternoon as part of a straight doubleheader.

Kansas City beat Chicago 2-0 in the series opener on Monday night.

White Sox right-hander Jonathan Cannon takes the mound in the doubleheader opener for his big league debut. Right-hander Brady Singer starts for the Royals.

Kansas City right-hander Michael Wacha and Chicago right-hander Erick Fedde start the second game.

Mt. Pulaski used a five-run fourth inning to get by Riverton 9-4 Monday in non-conference high school baseball action from Mt. Pulaski.

Luke Martin drove in three runs for the Hilltoppers finishing 3-for-4 with a double. Landon Smith hit a two-run triple finishing 1-for-3. Liam Smith, Franklin Wade, and Tucker Fitzpatrick drove in runs.

Fitzpatrick, Eric Cooper, and Chance Payne hit doubles for the Hilltoppers while Cooper logged three stolen bases to Fitzpatrick's one.

Cooper allowed an unearned run in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six, walked five, and permitted three hits.

Aaron Volle held on in the final 2 2/3 innings for the win. He allowed three runs, two were earned, on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Mt. Pulaski is 13-1 overall. They host Heyworth this afternoon. 

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond brought home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning and took down Blue Ridge 7-6 in Lincoln Prairie Conference high school softball action Monday in Arthur.

ALAH took control of the game with a five-run fifth inning to go up 6-4. Blue

Ridge came back to tie the game in the seventh on a two-run double from Cassie Zimmerman.

But Anna Rawlins walked it off for the Lady Knights in the bottom of the seventh.

Zimmerman finished 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Karlee Fenton was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Lady Knights.

Blue Ridge stole eight bases highlighted by Addison Roos' four. Lily Enger and Zimmerman stole two bases apiece.

Blue Ridge drops to 4-9 overall and 0-4 in the Lincoln Prairie. They will host PBL this afternoon.

Nico Hoerner scored the tying run from second base on a wild pitch in the ninth inning, then delivered the go-ahead single in the 11th as the Chicago Cubs rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Monday night.

Michael Busch homered for the Cubs leading off the second on an 0-2 pitch from Merrill Kelly. It was the rookie's sixth of the season and fifth straight game with a home run, tying the franchise record.

Busch walked in the 11th and Garrett Cooper singled, moving automatic runner Nick Madrigal to third against Kevin Jarvis (0-1) and loading the bases. Hoerner followed with a single to right field, advancing all three runners one base.

Chicago was unable to tack on, but Keegan Thompson (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, walking one and striking out three. He fanned Christian Walker with the potential tying run on third to end it.

Corbin Carroll’s two-out RBI single off reliever Drew Smyly in the eighth gave the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead, but the Cubs tied it in the ninth against Kevin Ginkel. Hoerner and Mike Tauchman singled with one out. After a strikeout, Ginkel bounced a pitch that rolled away from catcher Gabriel Moreno, and Hoerner raced all the way around from second.

Cubs rookie Ben Brown, making his second career start and fourth appearance, retired his last 13 batters and only gave up one hit in six innings. But it was an RBI single by Jake McCarthy that followed two walks in the second. Brown struck out four.

Hack Wilson, Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa, and teammate Christopher Morel also homered in five consecutive games for the Cubs.

Kelly lasted five innings, throwing 95 pitches. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out five.

Before the game, the Cubs placed OF Seiya Suzuki on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain, which occurred Sunday while running to first base in Seattle. Chicago recalled OF Alexander Canario from Triple-A Iowa to replace him.

Kyle Hendricks (0-2, 12.08 ERA) faces Diamondbacks LHP Tommy Henry (0-1, 5.79) on Tuesday.

Sonny Gray struck out six and didn't walk a batter over six scoreless innings to beat his former club with career win No. 100, and Willson Contreras doubled twice and drove in a run for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 3-1 win against the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.

Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single in the first to stake Gray (2-0) to an early lead against an Oakland team that had won three of four and drew a crowd of 5,508.

Esteury Ruiz was called up by Oakland shortly before first pitch from Triple-A Las Vegas and hit a pinch homer in the eighth.

Closer Ryan Helsley struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save in a game that lasted 2:19.

A's starter Ross Stripling (0-4) left in the sixth and gave way to Michael Kelly, who immediately gave up an RBI single to Jordan Walker. Stripling has allowed 32 hits over his initial four starts since the A's acquired the right-hander in a trade from the Giants.

Zack Gelof had a pair of hits for the A's, who took two of three from the Nationals at home over the weekend and have won three straight series for the first time since May 31-June 16, 2021, when they had five victorious sets in a row.

Lance Lynn (0-0, 2.63 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series for St. Louis opposite LHP JP Sears (1-1, 5.17).

In a game heard on WHOW, Seth Lugo pitched seven crisp innings, Vinnie Pasquantino homered and the Kansas City Royals topped the Chicago White Sox 2-0 on Monday night.

Lugo (3-0) allowed four hits - all singles - in his third straight win. The right-hander also beat the White Sox with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball on April 4.

Andrew Benintendi had two of Chicago's four hits in its fifth consecutive loss - part of a franchise-worst 2-14 start. The White Sox became the first team to get shut out six times in their first 16 games since the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas, according to Baseball Reference.

Braden Shewmake was the only Chicago runner to advance past first base. He singled and swiped second in the fifth, but was stranded there when Robbie Grossman flew to the warning track in right.

Gavin Sheets was hit by a pitch with two down in the ninth, but McArthur struck out pinch-hitter Eloy Jiménez for the final out.

White Sox right-hander Nick Nastrini (0-1) permitted two runs and three hits over five innings in his major league debut. He struck out five and walked two..

White Sox OF Jiménez was activated from the 10-day injured list. The slugger had been sidelined by a left adductor strain.

Right-handers Brady Singer and Jonathan Cannon take the mound on Tuesday night. Singer (2-0, 0.98 ERA) pitched five innings of one-run ball in Kansas City's 13-3 victory over Houston on Thursday. Cannon will make his major league debut for Chicago.

Ashley Armstrong broke a 2-all tie in the bottom of the sixth inning and Clinton rallied past Decatur St. Teresa 3-2 Monday night in non-conference high school softball action in Clinton.

Armstrong's hit came after Hadley Humbled tied the game with a base hit earlier in the inning.

Jalie Eller doubled in a run for the Lady Bulldogs who jumped in front 2-0 in the first inning.

Brooke Reeves was 2-for-4 for Clinton while Armstrong was 2-for-3. 

Armstrong went the distance in circle for Clinton. The senior struck out seven, allowed two runs on five hits and walked zero.

Clinton goes to 6-8 on the season. They will host Hartsburg-Emden on Tuesday afternoon. Hear Tuesday's action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Eli Craft hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the second inning and Monticello held on against Maroa-Forsyth 6-2 in a matchup of undefeated high school baseball teams Monday in Monticello.

The Trojans opened the game with a 2-0 lead. Kaiden Maurer had an infield single kick off the slope of the pitcher's mound that caught Monticello's shortstop off-guard in his pursuit of the groundball to his left.

Mitch Williams worked a walk on a borderline 3-2 pitch from Monticello senior Luke Teschke. After Zayn Giles sacrificed the two over, two passed balls allowed the Trojans to go up 2-0 early.

The Sages got a run back in their half of the first inning on a Teschke RBI triple to right center field. 

Craft blistered another big fly to left following a Jacob Long single to start the inning that put Monticello ahead 3-2.

The game could be a huge indicator of seeding in the upcoming 2A playoffs. Monticello and Maroa-Forsyth are in the same sub-sectional and could see each other again in a Regional or Sectional setting.

The Trojans' defense let them down in the third inning as Monticello added insurance runs. With Ike Young at bat and a third strike in the dirt, Mitch Williams' throw to first base sailed into right field. 

Young took second on a ball in the dirt and then Long singled through the right side of the infield and Young slid around the tag at home plate to make the score 4-2.

In the sixth inning, Dylan Brown singled to start the inning for Monticello. Raiden Colbert doubled down the left field line to set up second and third and nobody out. Eric Arnold, hitting for leadoff hitter Carter Foran, brought in Brown with a sac fly to left field then Matt Swartz singled home Colbert to put Monticello up 6-2.

The game ended after Maurer singled to center field with two outs. Williams then doubled to right field just past the diving attempt by Young.

Maurer was held at third at the last second and Williams took a big turn at second base. The throw went to third base and Monticello got Maurer at home plate trying to score.

Teschke worked through a frustrating start to the game to finish 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball for Monticello. The Illinois State-commit struck out nine, walked three and allowed five hits.

Foran finished the game with an 1 2/3 of shutout ball. 

Maurer led Maroa-Forsyth going 3-for-4 with a run and a stolen base. 

Monday was another classic between two programs that have had a lot of success in recent years and play each other very close when they matchup. 

The Trojans undefeated run comes to an end as they go to 13-1 overall. 

Monticello goes to 20-0 on the season. The Sages are off to its best start since the 2017-18 Sages went 25-5. They will host Salt Fork on Wednesday. 

Ethan Eberle struck out 15 in six innings of one-run ball Normal Community dispatched its crosstown rival, Normal West 6-1 in Big 12 high school baseball at Normal West high school.

The Louisville commit just three over the minimum, walking one and permitted two hits. 

Alex Olson doubled in the only run of the game for Normal West. 

Kyle Beaty and Riley Hendren for the Ironmen. Beaty was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Hendren finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Chase Reinhart went six innings for the Wildcats allowing three runs, one was earned, on three hits with two walks and struck out six. 

Normal West drops to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 while Normal Community improves to 16-1 and 6-0 in the Big 12. 

The two teams play again on Wednesday at Normal Community High School. 

Illinois (20-13) picked up its fourth-straight win with a 21-11 blowout of Northern Illinois (11-24), in seven innings, to complete the weekend series sweep, Sunday at Illinois Field in Champaign. 

Jacob Schroeder and Drake Westcott had monster days at the plate, with the duo slugging three home runs each. They would combine to go 6-for-8 in the game with seven runs, six home runs, 13 RBI and two walks to power an Illini offense that slugged a season-high eight home runs, the most in a single game since at least 2004, falling just one shy of matching the single-game program record.

Ben Plumley picked up the victory out of the bullpen. The right-hander went 1.2 shutout innings without giving up a hit, allowing no walks and striking out three. Payton Hutchings also made an impact on the mound for the Fighting Illini, throwing 1.0 scoreless frames while allowing no hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.

Illinois faced a 6-0 deficit before taking an at-bat in the contest, but got three of those runs back, one on a Cal Hejza RBI-single and a two-run shot from Westcott.

The Huskies pushed the lead to five with two runs in the second, but the Illini would bring the game level with five runs in their half of the frame. Coltin Quagliano brought home a run on a single and Hejza brought home three on a round-tripper right center. Westcott then tied the game with a towering solo blast to right field, making it 8-8.

Northern Illinois broke the tie with a run in the fourth, but Illinois would take the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Wescott completed his home run hat trick by launching another moonshot over the scoreboard to score two runs and open the scoring in the frame. Schroeder followed three batters later with a two-run blast of his own, his second of the game, to cap the frame and make it 12-10.

Cameron Chee-Aloy led off the fifth with a solo home run and Ryan Moerman continued the scoring with a bases-loaded walk. Schroeder cleared the bases with a grand slam and Brody Harding would score on a wild pitch.

Schroeder launched his third home run of the game, a second two-run blast, in the sixth to make it 21-9 Illini, the first time since May 10, 2015, vs. Rutgers that the Illini have scored at least 20 runs in a game.

Schroeder went 3-for-4 with three home runs, eight RBI and walk. Westcott went 3-for-4 with three home runs, five RBI and a walk. 

The Fighting Illini continue this homestand with a midweek matchup with SIUE on Tuesday. 

Illinois State dropped a 13-1 decision in seven innings at Charles A. Braun Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Evansville, dropped all three on the weekend. 

The Aces scored seven runs in the first four innings.

Illinois State scored their lone run in the 6th with a sac fly from sophomore Daniel Pacella.

Illinois State (18-15 overall, 7-5 MVC) totaled three hits. Evansville improves to 18-17 overall and 7-5 in the MVC.

Illinois State remains on the road, facing Lindenwood on Tuesday in St. Charles, Missouri.

Rookie Michael Busch homered for the fourth straight game, Javier Assad struck out six and the Chicago Cubs beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Sunday.

Reliever Adbert Alzolay picked off pinch-runner Julio Rodríguez to end the game after double plays ended two rallies. First-base umpire Doug Eddings initially called Rodríguez safe under first baseman Busch's tag, but Alzolay knew the call would be overturned.

Busch’s two-run homer put the Cubs up 3-0 and helped them to their second straight win to take the series from the Mariners. The franchise record for consecutive games with a home run is five, held by four players, including current Cubs slugger Christopher Morel, who did it last season.

The Cubs scored their only other run on a first-inning throwing error by Seattle starter Luis Castillo (0-4), who lost his fourth straight appearance to start the season.

Jorge Polanco hit a two-run homer in the sixth to cut Chicago's lead to 3-2, chasing Assad (2-0). Assad struck out six and walked one in 5 2/3 innings.

The Mariners put two on with no outs to lead off the seventh, but Mark Leiter Jr. induced a grounder from Luke Raley for a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.

Héctor Neris walked three to load the bases with one out in the eighth, but Ty France grounded to short for a second rally-killing 6-4-3 double play.

Of the game-ending pickoff, Servais said: “It happens, but for me that's not the play that cost us the game.”

Alzolay struck out two to earn his third save in five opportunities.

Castillo had his best outing of the season, reaching six innings and holding opponents to fewer than four runs for the first time. But his errant throw while chasing down Cody Bellinger’s bouncer down the first-base line allowed Seiya Suzuki to score easily from third.

Cubs RHP Ben Brown (0-0, 6.10) takes the mound to start a three-game series at Arizona. He has allowed one run in his last 8 2/3 innings.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand tied a career-high with four RBIs, and the Cincinnati Reds routed the Chicago White Sox 11-4 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.

Chicago dropped to 2-13, the worst 15-game start in the franchise’s 124-year history. The White Sox had 14 hits in the series and have scored a major league-low 34 runs.

Erick Fedde (0-0, 4.30) makes his fourth start of the season and Kansas City will counter with RHP Seth Lugo (2-0, 1.45) in Chicago on Monday night.