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The Nebraska baseball team kept its postseason hopes alive with an 11-2 win over Illinois on Saturday in Champaign, Illinois.

After Illinois pitchers in one stretch retired 15 straight Nebraska batters on Friday, the Huskers scored in five straight frames Saturday, starting with Max Anderson's two-run home run to open the scoring in the top of the third inning.

"We did a good job covering the plate," NU coach Will Bolt said during his postgame radio show. "Obviously Max's swing was a huge one there; one of the bigger swings of the year."

Huskers' Big Ten Tournament hopes take another hit after Illinois turns game on 3-run blast

Anderson's shot came after a slow start for Nebraska. After Cam Chick led off the game with a single, the Huskers struck out four straight times before finally starting to get to Illinois starter Riley Gowens.

Colby Gomes blasted a solo homer to lead off the fourth inning, and Chick added a two-run shot in the sixth inning to sandwich Anderson's two-run double in the fifth.

"I told the team after the game, we obviously had a lot of good swings," Bolt said. "I thought the second inning when Colby and Core (Jackson) both had hit by pitches, made (Gowens) throw out of the stretch, kind of extend some innings when he had started to get on a roll, I think that set us up for the next three innings in a row that we scored."

Anderson finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs for NU (20-28, 8-12 Big Ten) as the Huskers pounded out 12 hits. Six of those hits went for extra bases.

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That was more than enough for starter Emmett Olson. The Illinois native worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs while scattering seven hits and striking out six against one walk. Olson held Illinois scoreless until the sixth inning.

"There’s no coincidence that when Emmett’s on the mound we tend to do that, because the innings are fairly quick," Bolt said. "He gets on the mound, he works fast, he’s not walking a lot of guys. He gets us back in the dugout."

The victory moved Nebraska into a tie for ninth place in the Big Ten with Northwestern, one game behind Purdue for eighth in the league. Northwestern and Purdue are playing each other this weekend.

The top four batters in Nebraska's lineup combined to go 9-for-19 with six RBIs and seven runs scored.

Griffin Everitt was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Cam Chick and Garrett Anglim each had two hits. Seven of NU's nine starters finished with at least one hit.

Illinois (26-20, 13-7) saw a school record fall in the eighth inning, when right fielder Cam McDonald singled to extend his on-base streak to 58 games dating back to last season.

But that effort went for naught as Nebraska put itself in position for its second conference series victory of the season.

Jackson Brockett will get the start on the mound for NU.

"It's all hands on deck tomorrow," Bolt said. "We need to find a way to win the series."

Contact the writer at cbasnett@journalstar.com or 402-473-7436. On Twitter @HuskerExtraCB.

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"There’s not a single ounce of me that has taken a step back in terms of the belief I have in what it takes to win. Like, zero," NU coach Will Bolt said.

Nebraska added a slugger to its roster, which churned in a big way Wednesday when five players entered the transfer portal.

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