The Gophers baseball team secured the fourth seed in this week's six-team Big Ten tournament at Target Field with a 2-0 victory over Illinois on Saturday at Siebert Field.

Lefthander D.J. Snelten (5-1) pitched eight shutout innings in the Gophers' regular-season finale, and Billy Soule picked up his ninth save by getting three outs in the ninth.

Ryan Abrahamson had two hits and the game-winning RBI.

With the victory, the Gophers ended a three-game losing streak. They were 11-3 in the Big Ten before a 1-6 slump put their postseason hopes in jeopardy.

Minnesota (30-20, 13-8 Big Ten) will make its 28th conference tournament appearance, the most in Big Ten history. The Gophers also lead the conference with nine Big Ten tournament titles and 11 runner-up finishes.

Wednesday's tournament opener will be a rematch with Illinois.

Indiana (40-13, 17-7) won its first Big Ten championship since 1949 and is the No. 1 seed for the first time in the tournament's history.

Ohio State earned the No. 2 seed and will have the other first-round bye.

NEWS SERVICES