Michigan Rides Big Innings to Win Over Illinois in Big Ten Opener

Friday, March 7

Vero Beach, Fla.

6:30 PM

Michigan

7-5, 0

Illinois

6-5, 0

Michigan

Illinois

Will Rogers (Michigan Photography)

Michigan Rides Big Innings to Win Over Illinois in Big Ten Opener

3/7/2025 11:40:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Conor Stemme

» Michigan took down Illinois 12-7 in Big Ten opener.
» Benny Casillas went 4-for-5 with a run and a career-high six RBI.
» Will Rogers earned his third save of the season and went 3-for-4 with four runs scored.
» Tate Carey earned the second win of his career, throwing a hitless, scoreless fifth inning.

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Trailing 3-2 in the fifth inning, the University of Michigan baseball team scored five runs in the sixth and four more times in times in the eighth to lead the Wolverines to a 12-7 come-from-behind victory over Illinois on Friday night (March 7) to open Big Ten play at Holman Stadium.

Michigan (7-5, 1-0 Big Ten) was led by Benny Casillas, who went 4-for-5 with a run and a career-high six RBI. Will Rogers went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and earned his third save after allowing two runs on five hits while pitching the final four innings. Tate Carey (2-0) earned the win, throwing a hitless, scoreless fifth.

Illinois (6-5, 0-2 Big Ten) started the scoring in the third inning, working a leadoff walk into a 1-0 lead and increased the advantage to 3-0 with a two-run home run in the fourth.

Michigan got its offense revving in the top of the fifth. Matt Spear drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a Rogers single and wound up at third on a sacrifice bunt. He scored on an AJ Rausch sac fly. Casillas followed with a double to left field to plate Rogers to make the score 3-2.

Carey came into pitch in the bottom of the fifth and retired the two batters he faced in the frame, with Spear throwing out a runner trying to steal second base in between.

U-M's bats remained hot in the sixth, doing much of the damage with two outs. Jeter Ybarra drew a one-out walk and Spear drew one of his own with two outs. Rogers scored Ybarra with an RBI single and Robert Hamchuk plated Spear with an RBI single. Rausch drew a walk to load the bases before Casillas laced his third hit past the second baseman to push home two runs. Rauch came home on a wild pitch to cap a five-run inning, giving Michigan a 7-3 advantage. Illinois got two runs back in the bottom of the frame on one hit, three walks, and a sacrifice fly.

Illinois cooled the U-M bats in the seventh, forcing a 1-2-3 inning before getting one run back on three hits in the bottom of the inning to cut its deficit to 7-5.

The Wolverines bats heated up again in the eighth, with the big blow coming on a bases-clearing double by Casillas, who then scored courtesy of a Mitch Voit single to bring the U-M lead to 11-6.

Rogers pitched a scoreless eighth before hitting a triple and scoring on a passed ball in the ninth to give the Wolverines a 12-6 lead. Rogers gave up one run in the ninth, but it was not enough to overcome U-M's lead.

Michigan will return to action on Saturday (March 8) with game two of its series against Illinois. First pitch is set for 4 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on B1G+.