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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (March 20, 2015)—After nine straight wins, the Bulls' streak ended in a 13-1 loss to No. 18 Illinois Friday night at Illinois Field.

The Bulls (15-7-1) took an early lead in the third inning as Austin Lueck scored on an Illinois error. Lueck reached base to lead off the inning after being hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Portales, before coming around to third on a Zac Gilcrease groundout.

Kyle Teaf reached on an error by the Illini shortstop to score Lueck and put the Bulls on top early.

The lead didn't last long as the Illini (16-4-1) answered back in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Jimmy Herget gave up a single and hit a batter to put two on. Pat McInerney launched a two-strike double down the left field line to drive in both base runners and put Illinois up 2-1.

Illinois struck again in the fourth on a solo home run by David Kerian and again in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by Jason Goldstein.

USF looked as though it could tie the game in the top of the sixth inning. Teaf reached on an error for the second time in the game and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Merrell. Luke Borders drew a walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to put two on with two outs for the Bulls. A passed ball moved the runners 90 feet, but they were left in scoring position as Levi Borders went down swinging.

The Illini plated 5 runs on five hits in the seventh inning before tacking on another four runs in the eighth to push the game out of reach for the Bulls.

Herget took his first loss of the season as the Bulls dropped their first Friday game. The righty had an uncharacteristic outing, giving up seven runs on 10 ten hits, while striking out just three in 6.1 innings of work.

Lueck and Luke Borders had the most productive outings for the Bulls as they both reached base twice. Lueck went 2-for-3 with a run, while Borders went 1-for-2 with two walks.

The Bulls and Illini meet again for the second game of the series Saturday, March 21, at 2:00 p.m.

For more information on the USF baseball team, follow @USFBaseball on Twitter.

- #GoBulls -