Michigan
Illinois
O'Halloran, Kim Lead Michigan To Series-Opening Win Against Illinois
3/31/2023 8:23:00 PM | Baseball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan baseball got a great start by Connor O'Halloran and a five-hit day from Jonathan Kim in a 12-9 win over Illinois on Friday (March 31) at Illinois Field. With the win, the Wolverines remain unbeaten in Big Ten play.
O'Halloran kept Illinois (11-11, 1-3 Big Ten) without a base runner until the fourth inning, and the Michigan (14-11, 4-0 Big Ten) offense gave him some early run support with a three run second and at least one run each inning through the seventh.
The Wolverines used a trio of RBI doubles from Tito Flores, Jack Van Remortel and Jonathan Kim to grab an early advantage. Flores, Van Remortel and Joey Velazquez, who reached on a leadoff single, all scored to gave Michigan a 3-0 lead after two innings.
The Wolverines extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the third with a leadoff home run by Ted Burton that traveled down the left-field line.
Both teams hit home runs in the fourth inning with Mitch Voit launching a two-run shot to left field, which also scored Flores. O'Halloran surrendered his first hit of the afternoon, a solo shot to straightaway center, but retired the three next three Illini batters to come to the plate.
In the fifth, Velazquez reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to third on two wild pitches. A Flores single brought Velazquez home and extended the Wolverine's lead to 7-1. O'Halloran continued to deal and allowed just his second baserunner of the night but struck out two in the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Kim hit a home run to left field, scoring Voit and extending the Michigan lead to 9-1. In the home half of the frame, Illinois got to O'Halloran with two singles -- the first accompanied by an error resulting in the batter at second base, and the second scored him -- but the run was unearned. The inning marked the end of O'Halloran's day, finishing with a final line of six innings pitched, two runs allowed (one earned) on three hits and eight strikeouts.
The scoring trend continued for both teams in the seventh as Michigan tallied three in the top of the inning to take a 12-2 lead. Three straight walks with one out brought Voit to bat and he singled to score Flores and Sotres. On the next pitch, Kim doubled to right field, but Van Remortel scored on the play. Eamon Horwedel took the mound in the bottom of the seventh with a 12-2 lead, but he surrendered four runs on a pair of two two-run home runs.Noah Rennard came on for Horwedel with two outs and struck out the final batter of the inning.
Michigan was held scoreless in the eighth inning for the first time since the first inning, but the Illini continued to rally with a two-out single to cut their deficit to 12-7 after eight.
Kim singled in the ninth to finish the game 5-for-5 with four RBI and finished a triple shy of the cycle, but the Wolverines were held scoreless. The Fighting Illini scored two in the ninth off Mitch Voit on a one-out home run. Voit then forced two groundouts to Burton to end game 12-9.
O'Halloran (5-1) earned the win. Voit joined Kim in driving in four runs on the day, and Flores scored three runs.
The Wolverines will continue their series at Illinois on Saturday (April 1) at 1:30 p.m. CDT. Game two of the series will be streamed live on B1G+.
