Sunday’s matinee contest against Penn State was the type of game the Illinois baseball team had to have if it wants to compete in the upper echelon of the Big Ten. With head coach Dan Hartleb challenging them, the Illini came through with what the skipper called one of the squad’s most complete games of the year.

Illinois rolled past Penn State, 15-3, in the rubber match of both teams’ first Big Ten series. The Illini suffered an ugly 16-9 loss Friday and hung on for a 10-8 win Saturday.

“It was a tough night on Friday night. I got after the guys a little bit, wasn’t real nice to them,” Hartleb said. “And they responded well. I think that’s the sign of a good team. Some teams would fold their tent after things didn’t go well, especially the way we did things on Friday. To see us come back and win (Saturday) and then play as good of a game as we did (Sunday), as clean as it was, I’m very proud of the guys.”

Along with a season-opening win against Notre Dame on Feb. 26 and a victory against Ball State on March 14, Hartleb thought Sunday’s performance was as good as the Illini (11-10, 2-1) have played all year. The box score backs his belief up, as Illinois pounded out 18 hits — seven of which went for extra bases — while striking out just twice. The defense was solid too, making just one error and several nice plays, highlighted by center fielder Willie Argo’s diving catch in the seventh to help hold off a Penn State rally.

But it was the work of the bullpen that might have been most important Sunday. After Penn State tied the score with three runs off Illinois starter Lee Zerrusen in the top of the fourth inning, Corey Kimes (1-1) followed with three innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win before Kevin Manson threw a final two perfect innings.

“I just came out there and just tried to go after them best I could,” Kimes said. “For lefties, I was using a 2-seam (fastball) in and to righties, I was just mixing it up — changeup, cutter, all that stuff. You just to have to really want it more than the other guys.”

In Friday’s loss, starter Will Strack (1-1) gave up seven runs in four innings, and the Illini trailed 8-3 before a four-run fifth inning cut the deficit to one. But the bullpen didn’t do its job, with Brian de la Torriente, John Anderson and Wes Braun each giving up three runs as the Nittany Lions (11-15, 1-2) pulled away with multi-run frames in the sixth, seventh and ninth.

Hartleb stressed how vital it is to have a bullpen to rely on as the season progresses.

“You have struggles out of the bullpen, you’re going to struggle as a team,” he said. “The bullpen is so important. There’s not many games that are complete games. Whether it’s in college or professional baseball, it always goes to the bullpen. So you need to have guys out of the bullpen you can count on.”

Illinos rode a six-run first inning to victory Saturday. Aaron Johnson had three runs and Craig Lutes had three RBIs.

Freshman Kevin Johnson (2-0) picked up the win, allowing six runs in six innings. The Nittany Lions cut the lead to 9-8 in the seventh, but Bryan Roberts struck out three in two scoreless innings to pick up the save.

In Sunday’s win, Illinois led 4-3 before exploding for five runs in the sixth inning and five again in the eighth. Leading the charge on the day was left fielder Casey McMurray, who went 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs. He got help from the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters in the order, with second baseman Pete Cappetta going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and designated hitter Adam Davis adding two homers and four RBIs.

“I think we’re starting to hit our groove swinging-wise,” Davis said.

With a 2-1 conference mark, the Illini are part of a five-way tie for first place in the Big Ten.

“Winning series, especially winning at home, it’s really important,” Hartleb said. “There’s things we have to do to continue to get better. The great teams are the teams that get better every day of the year.”