Illinois
Hawkeyes overpower Illinois, force a Sunday rubber match
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.
Illinois
Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL
A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.
Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.
Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA
“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”
In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”
Illinois
Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.
But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.
Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.
And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.
The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.
Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.
Man, that’s just downright pathetic.
But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.
The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.
Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.
The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.
Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.
In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Illinois
Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur
BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.
Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.
Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.
Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.
Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th).
The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
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