– Indiana baseball (30-15, 11-5) dropped its series opener to the Illinois Fighting Illini (30-15, 9-7) on Friday night, 4-0.• Illinois got the scoring started in the bottom of the fifth. The Illini plated its first run on a Jeff Korte sacrifice fly. The bases did get loaded after that first run scored, but senior right handerkept things in check and escaped the jam.• The Illini used a two-run sixth to up the lead to three runs. Following a Grant Van Scoy RBI double, Korte had his second sacrifice fly in as many innings to give Illinois a 3-0 lead.• A ninth inning infield hit and errant throw led to an insurance run for the Illini.• Milto passed Kyle Hart (2012-16) for fourth all-time in IU history in strikeouts. He now has 239 for his career.• Milto allowed three earned runs in 5.1 innings with four strikeouts and two walks.• Juniorextended his hitting streak to 12 games (matching a career-high) and reached streak to 15 games (matching a career-high).Indiana and Illinois will play the second game of the series on Saturday at 3 p.m.