Ben Wilmes sent the Illinois faithful packing a few minutes early. They were sticking around hoping to see their Illini make a comeback in the final inning, but a grand slam off the bat of Wilmes in the top of the ninth put the finishing touches on a 10-4 win for the Hawkeyes. His 400 foot blast bounced into the grassy parking lot beyond the left field wall and moments later the ball was not alone, as many fans quickly headed to their cars. After dropping the series opener on Friday night, Rick Heller and Co. bounced back with a win, setting up a decisive series finale on Sunday afternoon.

On the mound for the Hawkeyes, Brody Brecht put together his fourth straight quality start. He got help from his offense, but the Illini had a hard time putting traffic on the bases for the majority of the afternoon. Through five innings, Brecht had allowed just three batters to reach base, while he had racked up seven strikeouts. His strikeout of Ryan Moerman in the second inning put him past former Hawkeye pitcher Jim Magrane for the most strikeouts in a single season in program history (111).

At the plate, the Iowa offense got off to a start the very much resembled what Illinois was able to do in the series opener. Starter Jake Swartz retired the first two Hawkeyes hitters of the game, but Davis Cop got ahold of him for a solo home run to make it 1-0 Iowa. In the second, Will Mulflur got the traffic started with a double and scored on an Andy Nelson RBI single to make it two runs in two innings.

The home run fun continued in the third inning off of the Illinois starter. Reese Moore launched a sky-high two-run home run to right field. Gable Mitchell followed with a solo shot on the very next pitch and the Hawkeyes were all of the sudden up 5-0. Jake Swartz allowed five runs on six hits over 3.0 innings.

Illinois went to the bullpen with reliever Will Lavin, but Iowa scratched across another run in the fourth inning. Davis Cop pulled an RBI single through the left side of the infield to extend the lead to 6-0. Despite the early offensive success, the Illini bullpen was able to put up four straight zeros on the scoreboard. That gave them a chance to fight back into the game. Brody Brecht allowed just six runners to reach base, but three of them were in the sixth inning.

Leadoff hitter Cal Hejza drew a one out walk, while Drake Westcott singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. Brecht worked out of a jam in the third inning, but Vytas Valincius made sure he didn’t let him off the hook in the sixth. Valincius hit his ninth home run on the season, a three-run shot to left to cut the Hawkeyes lead in half. Brody Brecht answered with a three up, three down inning in the seventh to close out his outing. He allowed three runs on three hits over 7.0 innings, including nine strikeouts to three walks.

Rick Heller went with Jack Young out of the bullpen in the eighth inning, but Illinois got a step closer off the bat of Connor Milton. The nine hitter in the lineup drove a solo home run over the right field wall to make it 6-4. Young later faced two on and just one out, but retired Vytas Valincius and Ryan Moerman, keeping the lead intact.

In the top of the ninth, the Hawkeyes were in need of some insurance runs. With reliever Korey Bunselmeyer on the mound, Iowa got what they needed. They loaded the bases with one out and Ben Wilmes delivered the knockout blow, sending Bunselmeyer’s 1-0 offering over the left field wall for a grand slam. Jack Young retired the side in the ninth to close out the 10-4 win.

Six Iowa hitters finished the day with multiple hits, while Andy Nelson led the way with three of them. It’s his third multi-hit game in the last four contests. Davis Cop extended his on-base streak to 11 games, with a pair of hits. Four home runs by the Hawkeyes is their most in a game since they hit six in their 20-1 win over Jacksonville State on March 9th.

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will close out their Big Ten slate with a rubber match against Illinois on Sunday afternoon. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher. First pitch is set for 3:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network.

One of the aspects of the two-week run of Classic trials after the Guineas meeting at Newmarket that makes it so much fun is that you can never be entirely sure when a realistic – and previously unconsidered – contender for the Derby or Oaks will suddenly throw their hat into the ring. Ambiente Friendly was a 100-1 shot for the Derby before the Lingfield Derby Trial but he is now no bigger than 12-1 after a powerful run down the middle of the track saw him stride nearly five lengths clear of Illinois, the Aidan O’Brien-trained 6-4 favourite, at the line.

O’Brien for one will probably have better Derby candidates in his yard than his runner here but there was no hint of fluke about Ambiente Friendly’s success. Instead, there was the sense of a young, improving colt who was a headstrong, hard-pulling type at two suddenly putting it all together, with the possibility of ­better still to come.

“I’ve been riding him a lot at home and he’s become so much more manageable,” Callum Shepherd, Ambiente Friendly’s jockey, said. “My feet were on the dash quite frankly for nine furlongs at Newmarket [in April] and he’s just developed so well [since], I decided to trust him today and slide forward in the hope that he’d relax, and he did.

“He handled the quicker ground and the camber beautifully and he was just relentless up the straight. I certainly didn’t think I’d be looking around in a Derby trial if I was fortunate enough to be in front in one, so what a wonderful dress rehearsal.

“He really gets his head down, he’s become a really kind and willing horse and hopefully the best is yet to come.”

The Derby on 1 June now promises to be a huge moment for everyone associated with Ambiente Friendly, who runs in the famous yellow and black silks of the veteran owner Bill Gredley that were carried to victory in both the Oaks and St Leger in 1992 by the outstanding filly User Friendly.

For his trainer, James Fanshawe, meanwhile, there is a rare chance to add a British Classic to a career record that includes nearly two dozen successes at Group One level, dating back to Environment Friendly’s win, in the same ­colours, in the Eclipse Stakes in 1991.

“We don’t get many horses that head for the Derby, Tom Fanshawe, the trainer’s son and assistant, said, “but thanks to Mr Gredley, it looks as if we do now.

“He’s always been a nice mover and everything he does is effortless. We know Charlie Appleby and Aidan will have contenders, but we feel we have every right to be there.”

There was a much tighter conclusion to the card’s Oaks Trial as You Got To Me, who had raced into a clear lead at an early stage, found more when challenged inside the final furlong to hold the late charge of Rubies Are Red by half a length.

“It wasn’t deliberate to go quite that quick [but] she likes to get on with things and if you get in an argument with her, she’s 10 times worse,” Hector Crouch, the winner’s jockey, said.

“She came down the hill beautifully. She’s a very big horse but she’s beautifully balanced.”

Ralph Beckett, You Got To Me’s trainer, saddled Look Here to win the Oaks after a ­second-place finish in this race in 2008 and You Got To Me is 16-1 to give him a third career success in the Epsom fillies’ Classic. Rubies Are Red, meanwhile, also caught the eye as she stayed on strongly from off the pace, and O’Brien’s filly is four points shorter than the winner to go one better on 31 May.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed his budget for the upcoming fiscal year in February, he sought authority from lawmakers to raise more than $1 billion in revenue through various changes to the state tax code.

Among other things, he sought to raise $526 million through extending an expiring cap on losses that corporations can claim on taxes, and $200 million by increasing the tax on sportsbooks’ revenues from 15% to 35%.

But, one of his lead lieutenants this week sent a letter to the head of the state’s agencies instructing them to identify $800 million in collective budget cuts if lawmakers don’t deliver on Pritzker’s tax requests.

“As we continue to work with our General Assembly partners to pass our sixth consecutive balanced budget, it has become clear that opposition to proposed revenue is significant enough to direct agencies to prepare for the possibility of reductions to proposed spending,” Deputy Gov. Andy Manar wrote in the letter to agency directors dated May 7.

While Manar’s letter was addressed to “Agency Directors,” it was just as much a message to rank-and-file lawmakers – particularly those within the supermajority Democratic party. While ideologically aligned on the major points, Democrats have not been immune to intraparty squabbles throughout Pritzker’s tenure.

The letter comes at a time when lawmakers are entering the final two-week negotiating stretch for the budget before their scheduled May 24 adjournment. (It’s a self-imposed deadline, and that date could be extended a week without changing the number of votes needed to pass a budget).

But it doesn’t mean cuts are definitely coming, or that revenues are cratering amid late-year tax season filings.

To the contrary, Manar’s letter came on the heels of positive news – the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget increased its base General Revenue Fund estimate for the upcoming fiscal year 2025 by $295 million, to $53.3 billion.

Normally, that type of revision, at this time of year – coupled with the GOMB’s $250 million increase for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 – would have lawmakers thinking about new spending.

But in noting there’s at least some question as to whether lawmakers would approve the governor’s February revenue proposals, Manar presented a scenario where the opposite could be true.

“And finally, as your agency prepares for the impact of $800 million in potential spending reductions, please focus on grant programs and other discretionary spending that has increased in recent years,” Manar wrote.

Grant programs are some of the most popular spending areas for lawmakers, many of whom are accustomed to celebrating the impact of the dollars in their districts through celebratory news conferences and media releases.

In other words, the letter lays out a dueling reality for lawmakers who are on the fence: curtail popular program spending or get in line with Pritzker’s proposed plan to make the money available.

Manar’s letter was a subject for discussion on the latest episode of “Illinois Lawmakers” – the longest-running Illinois government-focused program in the state’s history that is now a production of Capitol News Illinois.

Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, the lead budget negotiator in his chamber, told “Lawmakers” host Jak Tichenor Thursday that Manar’s letter was “a good plan” and not cause for alarm as the session nears its end.

“You always have to have contingencies A, B and C,” Sims said, adding that the governor’s plan is option A, but negotiations must also be a “reflection of the caucuses’ priorities.”

“So I just saw the memo as part of that process – part of the planning process to make sure as we get ready for the final passage, we have all the options before us,” he said.

House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, echoed Sims, noting Democrats have come together to pass a balanced budget each year since Pritzker took office, resulting in nine credit rating upgrades from the major New York-based rating agencies.

“So we have to continue to work to get that balanced budget,” Hoffman said. “Now – I don’t know that I agree with the deputy governor on having to have all these revenue enhancements in order to have a balanced budget. But we if we have to make some reductions, we’ll make them.”

Because Pritzker’s revenue generators would pull in an estimated $1.1 billion, there’s room for his plan to pass in part without requiring cuts as drastic as Manar outlined in his Tuesday letter.

Deputy Minority Leader Norine Hammond, R-Macomb, told Tichenor she’s unsurprised by Manar’s letter. The budget ask, she said, has been driven up by competing interest groups all vying for a limited pool of funds.

“And as we know, that becomes a Christmas tree and the revenue needs just become greater and greater,” Hammond said.

But the House GOP’s lead budgeteer also noted her caucus has not been intimately involved in any cross-party budget negotiations thus far.

There are other revenue generators in the governor’s plan as well. It seeks to generate $101 million by capping a sales tax discount claimed by retailers, and to transfer some mass transit costs to the state’s Road Fund to generate $175 million.



Read more: Pritzker agency heads questioned on $1.1 billion revenue proposals

The governor’s office gives far less fanfare to two other proposals: a cap on a widely used personal income tax deduction and a redirection of some tax revenue away from parks and recreation programing.

The former is a $2,550 cap on the standard deduction claimed by millions of Illinoisans to generate $93 million. It was scheduled to grow to $2,775 if lawmakers don’t change the law. The latter would move a portion of real estate transfer taxes to GRF instead of the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Fund – one of the most popular of all grant programs – to raise $25 million.

While Manar’s memo lays down a marker for the final two weeks of budget negotiations, it doesn’t drastically change the state’s fiscal landscape from where it was a week ago, when the legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability reported April revenues came in about as expected.

In fact, the GOMB’s new estimate is nearly identical to COGFA’s latest projection.

But the letter does indicate that Pritzker’s budget proposal appears to be facing some turbulence as the plane nears its landing – again, not an uncommon occurrence in Springfield.

Jerry Nowicki is the editor-in-chief of Capitol News Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.