COLUMBUS, OHIO (WWJ) - The Fighting Illini scored early and often against Michigan State’s baseball team during Big Ten Tournament play as the Spartans were stunned 9-1 in the loss against Illinois on Saturday.

The Spartan’s baseball team had a chance to move on in the brackets
after defeating Minnesota, 6-3 on Saturday afternoon in an elimination game. But the Spartans seemed to be offensively spent in the Saturday evening game against Illinois.

The Spartans lost to Illinois on Friday night in a closer match-up 4-1. At that point the Fighting Illini (27-25)  only needed to win one more game to win the tournament, while the Spartans (35-20) would have had to win three games.

Freshman right-hander Chase Rihtarchik took the loss for MSU, while Corey Kimes got the win for Illinois.

The loss on Saturday eliminated the possibility of a Spartan Big Ten Tournament win.