CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Interstat) — Sam Mommer pitched five innings of one-hit shutout relief and Collin Jennings delivered a three-run homer in the first inning as Illinois defeated Northwestern 10-3 on Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field.

The Fighting Illini improved to 26-23 overall and won the weekend series after taking two of three games from the Wildcats. Northwestern fell to 20-28-1.

Jennings put Illinois ahead for good with his home run in the bottom of the first. After Nick Groves tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, Jalen Zebig doubled and Aiden Putty walked. Jennings then drove a pitch over the right-field wall for a 4-1 lead. The inning started with Northwestern ahead 3-0 after a scoreless top half, but the Wildcats never recovered.

Illinois added three more runs in the second inning. Groves reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored on Michael Farina’s double. Zebig singled home Farina, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Farina scored on another wild pitch for a 6-1 lead.

Northwestern managed only one hit through the first five innings against Mommer. The Wildcats stranded two runners in the fourth when they loaded the bases on a walk, a fielder’s choice and a single, but a foul out and a lineout ended the threat.

Illinois stretched the lead to 9-1 in the fourth. Collin Jennings walked and later scored on a two-run single by Daniel Contreras that also plated Konnor Schupmann. The hit carried an error that allowed both runners to advance.

Mommer allowed one hit, struck out two and walked two in his five innings. He lowered his earned run average after a recent start at Iowa in which he gave up one earned run in two innings.

Garrett Shearer of Northwestern tossed four hitless innings of relief with two strikeouts, but the Wildcats offense could not overcome the early deficit.

Jack Lausch hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to trim the lead to 9-2. It was Lausch’s only hit of the game. Northwestern scored again in the ninth on a double by Yang and a single by Barron, but the rally fell short.

Illinois countered with a run in the eighth. Aiden Putty singled, advanced to third on a double by Schupmann and scored on a fielding error by the left fielder to make it 10-3.

Groves finished 3 for 4 with a triple, a double, a walk and a run batted in. Farina went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Michael Farina also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first.

Northwestern grounded into two double plays, one in the sixth and one in the seventh, ending potential scoring chances. The Wildcats had five hits total while Illinois collected 11.

Drew Dickson pitched two innings of relief for Northwestern, allowing one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout. Ben Plumley and Liam McKillop each tossed a scoreless inning for Illinois, and Ike Young gave up one run in 1⅔ innings.

The victory gave Illinois its second straight win over Northwestern following a 4-3 decision Saturday and a 12-0 blowout Friday.

Northwestern next hosts Rutgers for a three-game series starting Thursday, while Illinois travels to Indiana for a weekend set.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Northwestern 5, Illinois 4, while Interstat’s ELO system gave Illinois a 73.40 percent probability to win.