No. 18 Illinois battled back from a 5-1 deficit to send the finale with USF to extra innings, but came up short in the 10th, 8-5.

Redshirt-senior Reid Roper blasted a 3-run homer in the fifth and senior David Kerian knotted it up 5-5 with an RBI single in the eighth.

Junior J.D. Nielsen relieved starter John Kravetz in the fifth and worked a pair of scoreless stanzas.

With the Illini back in the game at 5-4, junior Nick Blackburn took over in the seventh and posted a zero. Junior Tyler Jay toed the rubber in the eighth and allowed a pair of hits but erased it with a 4-6-3 double play.

Jay breezed through a 1-2-3 ninth, but ran into trouble in the 10th, giving up his first runs of the season. USF (16-8-1) delivered a two-run double and RBI single for an 8-5 advantage, which proved to be the final score. Jay (4-1) suffered his first loss of the year, while the Illini ended the weekend with a record of 17-5-1.

No. 18 Illinois will host two midweek games at Illinois Field on Tuesday against Illinois State and Wednesday against Kent State.