Lucas Gilbreath gave up only two runs and three hits in 6⅓ innings and Toby Hanson hit a three-run homer as the Gophers edged Illinois 5-4 on Friday in Big Ten baseball at Siebert Field.
Gilbreath struck out seven and walked three for Minnesota (25-12, 9-4 Big Ten), improving to 5-0. Brian Glowicki gave up two unearned runs in the ninth but got his 15th save to tie the program single-season record.
Hanson, a junior first baseman, was 2-for-4 against the Illini (16-23, 3-10). The homer was his fourth of the season and he also had a run-scoring single giving him a team-high 35 RBI.
Matt Stemper drove in the Gophers' fifth run with a single in the seventh inning, putting Minnesota ahead 5-2.
The Gophers and the Illini will play a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
LB commits to U
The Gophers got their 13th verbal commitment for the recruiting class of 2018 on Friday night when Mariano Sori-Marin, a linebacker from New Lenox (Ill.) Providence Catholic, announced he was picking Minnesota.
The 6-3, 227-pound Sori-Marin had reported offers from Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Brown and Penn, among others.
Sori-Marin is rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.
