Akron Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader With Illinois - Coach Faulds Collects First Win At Akron

Friday, February 16

Winston Salem, N.C.

10:00 AM

University of Akron

0-1, 0

Illinois

1-0, 0

Akron

Illinois

Akron Splits Season-Opening Doubleheader With Illinois - Coach Faulds Collects First Win At Akron

February 16 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Boxscore (PDF) Gm 1 Boxscore (PDF) Gm 2

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Akron baseball team split a doubleheader with Illinois as Jared Schaeffer struck out six in game one and Max Bowman hit a walk-off home run to give the Zips their first win of the season. Bryan Faulds First Win

Head coach Bryan Faulds also picked up his first win leading the Zips after the walk-off effort on Friday.

GAME 1 | Illinois 3, Akron 1

Sophomore Jared Schaeffer had a solid effort on the hill on Friday, but the Akron Zips (0-1) fell 3-1 to the Illinois Fighting Illin as the right-hander went six innings, giving up one run on three hits, allowing one walk, and striking out six.

Junior Sam Seeker led the way offensively for the Zips, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame with a double, a home run, and an RBI. Freshman Breydan furnished a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 2-for-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Zips put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the fifth inning. Seeker put Akron on the board with a one-out solo home run off senior Jack Crowder. The Zips were unable to hold the lead, as Illinois scored three times over the remaining four innings to grab the 3-1 win.

GAME NOTES

» Akron's power output was led by Seeker, who compiled two extra-base hits in the ballgame.

» Schaeffer put together six innings of one-run ball for Akron.

» Akron pitchers faced 32 Illinois hitters in the game, allowing five ground balls and 13 fly balls while striking out six.

» The Zips drew four walks from Illinois pitching.

» Seeker led the Zips at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and an RBI.

GAME 2 | Akron 5, Illinois 4 (11 Inn.)

The Akron Zips rallied to secure a 5-4 walk-off victory in the 11th inning over the Illinois Fighting Illini Friday after being down 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh.

Junior Jack Kelley (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Akron (1-1, ). The right-hander went three shutout innings while giving up one hit, allowing one walk and striking out two. Junior Sean also made an impact on the mound for the Zips, throwing three scoreless innings while allowing no hits, with no walks and one strikeout.

Offensively, the Zips were led by senior Max Bowman, who went 1-for-1 on the day with a home run and an RBI. Freshman Evan Bottone put together a noteworthy effort as well, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Junior Ian Pennington also contributed for Akron, putting together one hit in four trips to the plate while adding a walk and two RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Zips got on the scoreboard first starting in the third inning. Pennington drove in two runs for Akron with a single, that scored senior Charlie Rhee and Bottone.

The Fighting Illini rallied to score four runs and take a 4-2 lead before the Zips got back on the board in the seventh. Akron pushed across a run on Bottone's two-out RBI double, which tightened the Fighting Illini lead to 4-3.

Akron held the Fighting Illini off the scoreboard before rallying to tie it up at four in the eighth.

The tying run for Akron came around in the eighth when Ben Brombaugh scored on a wild pitch.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eleventh when Akron walked it off on Bowman's one-out solo home run

GAME NOTES

» The Zips out-hit the Fighting Illini at a 9-6 clip.

» Akron pitchers limited Illinois to just 1-for-10 (.100) with runners in scoring position.

» Akron pitchers faced 46 Illinois hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and 18 fly balls while striking out three.

» The Zips drew five walks from Illinois pitching.

» Bowman led the Zips at the plate, going 1-for-1 with a home run and an RBI.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Zips continue their stay in Winston-Salem, N.C., with a 4 pm matchup against Fordham on Saturday, February 17.