Clemson lefthander Zack Erwin (Aaron Fitt)

Conference Tournament Madness: May 21

Illinois has been one of the best stories in college baseball, assembling a ridiculously impressive Big Ten regular-season record and entering the conference tournament with the nation’s longest winning streak.

That 27-game winning streak, though, came to an end Thursday night in a 2-1 setback against Maryland. The loss was Illinois’ first since losing to Michigan State on March 29th.

Maryland starting pitcher Brian Shaffer silenced the Fighting Illini’s productive offense, allowing a run on six hits in seven innings, while Kevin Mooney closed out the contest with good[…]