CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – SIUE baseball homered three times Tuesday, but they came in a losing effort as Illinois picked up a 16-4 victory in seven innings at Illinois Field.
The Cougars dropped to 19-17. Illinois improved to 19-16.
The Cougars have a quick turnaround and will be back home to face Saint Louis Wednesday at Roy E. Lee Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Illini chased SIUE starter Trent Koehler (0-2) before a complete inning. Koehler allowed seven runs, four of them earned, thanks to four hits, an error and two walks in the first inning and Illinois led 7-0 going to the second inning.
Cooper Eggert got the Cougars on the board with a one-out, solo home run in the second inning-the first of his collegiate career.
Illinois scored seven more against three SIUE relievers in the second inning. Jack Zebig and AJ Putty hit back-to-back home runs against reliever Andrew Ressler to open the inning. Zebig drove in two more runs with a single against Wyatt Doak later in the inning.
Noah Johnson finished the inning and threw 3.2 innings in the game, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out three.
Eggert picked up another RBI in the third inning when he walked with the bases loaded.
Ryan Niedzwiedz and Kyle Hepburn both homered in the fifth inning. For Niedzwiedz the home run was his 15th of the year and the 34th of his Cougar career, to move into third all-time. He is one back of tying the all-time record, which is shared by Brady Bunten and Brock Weimer. For Hepburn the homer was the first of his SIUE career.
Putty hit his second home run of the game for the Illini in the bottom of the fifth and Illinois pushed a run across in the bottom of the sixth for the 16-4 final.
