In its final midweek game of the year, No. 6 Illinois completed a perfect month and extended its school-record winning streak to 18 games with a 7-5 victory over Southern Illinois.
On his birthday, starter Rob McDonnell improved to 6-1 with six strikeouts over six solid innings.
The Orange and Blue tallied their seven runs and 10 of their 11 hits in the first five innings as every Illini had either a hit or a run, led by Adam Walton, Ryan Nagle, Casey Fletcher and David Kerian with two hits each. Sophomore Matthew James led off the fourth with the only home run of the game.
The Illini finished 16-0 in April and notched an unblemished 9-0 mark in midweek tilts.
Former Monticello standout, Jacob Williams threw two innings in relief, allowing no runs and no hits, but dished out two walks and had one strikeout.
No. 6 Illinois will head to Columbus for a Top-25 showdown with No. 25 Ohio State this weekend (May 1-3). The Illini are in first place in the Big Ten at 13-1, while the Buckeyes are in third at 12-3.
