Nebraska outfielder Jett Buck in action at Illinois April 24, 2026. (Photo courtesy of NU Athletics)LINCOLN–(NU Athletics Apr. 24)–Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 lead through three innings and never looked back, as No. 20 Nebraska fell 10-5 to the Fighting Illini at Illinois Field on Friday night. Nebraska (31-11, 15-4 Big Ten) scored five runs on 10 hits and one error, while Illinois (21-19, 9-10 Big Ten) totaled 10 runs, 10 hits and one error. Jett Buck paced the Huskers with a 2-for-4 night with a double and an RBI, while Jeter Worthley was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Dylan Carey, Case Sanderson and Joshua Overbeek had one hit and an RBI each, and Mac Moyer, Will Jesske and Rhett Stokes recorded one hit. Cooper Katskee took the loss, dropping to 5-1 after allowing seven runs, two earned, on six hits over 2.2 innings. Jalen Worthley gave up a pair of runs on one hit with four strikeouts and three walks across 2.2 innings of relief. Ty Horn allowed a run in 1.2 frames, and Kevin Mannell tossed a scoreless final inning. Illinois struck first in the opening inning with a solo homer, and the Illini blew it open in the bottom of the third. An RBI single doubled Illinois’ lead to 2-0 before a walk loaded the bases with one out. Katskee drew a swinging strikeout for the second out and appeared to get out of the inning on the next batter, but a fielding error allowed another run to score and kept the inning alive. The Illini blew the game open with a grand slam in the next at-bat to enlarge the lead to 7-0. Nebraska got on the board in the top of the fifth when Drew Grego lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jesske, who had singled and moved to third on a double from Buck. The Huskers rallied for three more in the sixth with RBI singles from Sanderson and Buck and an Overbeek sacrifice fly to pull the Big Red within 7-4. Illinois answered immediately in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on a pair of RBI singles and an RBI fielder’s choice, stretching the lead back to 10-4. Nebraska added a run in the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of Carey but could get no closer, managing just one baserunner in each of the final two innings. Nebraska and Illinois continue the series tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. on B1G+. ...read more read less