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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Willie Argo's career-high four hits paced a 19-hit attack as Illinois beat Michigan 11-5 Sunday.

Argo drove in three runs and Matt Dittman added three hits as Illinois sloughed off an early 2-0 deficit.

"This is two days in a row that we've been down early and had our backs against the wall a little bit, and we responded well both times," Illini coach Dan Hartleb said. "We swung the bats well and when we do that we're a tough team to beat. To me, the most important thing was that every time we scored, our pitchers went out and put up a zero to let us get back up to the plate."

Pete Cappetta, Aaron Johnson and Brandon Wikoff had three hits apiece for the Illini. Aaron Martin pitched three scoreless innings of relief for his second save. Bryan Roberts earned the win.

Illinois (21-8, 6-3 Big Ten) broke it open with four runs in the eighth.

In softball:

Pinchback shines in loss. Hollie Pinchback set a single-game school record with five hits but Illinois fell to No. 16 Ohio State 17-15 in Columbus, Ohio. Pinchback was 5 for 5 and drove in five.

"Hollie was unstoppable today," Illini coach Terri Sullivan said. "I thought she really grew as a player during today's game, as did the rest of our team. It was key after (Saturday) that we regrouped and got our timing down. Everyone did a good job of adjusting because we had been struggling at the plate, so they decided today that they were tired of it."

The 32 combined runs are the second-most ever in a Big Ten game, trailing an 18-15 Illini win against Penn State earlier this season. Kelley Wedel added a three-run homer for Illinois (22-12, 5-4).

In men's tennis:

Ohio State takes command. No. 3 Ohio State took sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a 6-1 victory against No. 11 Illinois at Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.

Dennis Nevolo (No. 3 singles) earned the Illinois point.

"Overall we have to do a better job of closing out our matches," UI coach Brad Dancer said. "As a team, we have to learn to focus and deal with our nerves better. We lost matches quickly today and that put pressure on the other guys that they had to win and we can't let that happen."

Illinois (18-6) dropped to 7-1 in the conference. Ohio State (25-1) is 8-0.

Nevolo's 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (11-9 in super tiebreaker) victory came at the expense of 18th-ranked Justin Kronauge.

In women's tennis:

Illini flourish late. Illinois claimed five singles victories – four in the decisive third set – to defeat No. 43 Ohio State 5-2 on the road.

"This was one of the most intense, dramatic and exciting college tennis matches that I've ever been a part of," Illini coach Michelle Dasso said.

Illinois (15-5, 7-1) remained in third place in the Big Ten behind third-set singles wins from Megan Fudge (No. 1), Leigh Finnegan (No. 2), Amy Allin (No. 5) and Kristina Minor (No. 6), while Chelcie Abajian (No. 3) won in straight sets.