| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Ohio State |
| Fri., 6 p.m. |
RHP Cody Sedlock (4-1, 3.49) |
LHP Tanner Tully (4-3, 3.18) |
| Sat., 3 p.m. |
LHP Doug Hayes (5-2, 3.25) |
LHP John Havird (3-1, 2.80) |
| Sun., 1 p.m. |
RHP Cole Bellair (1-2, 3.05) |
RHP Adam Niemeyer (3-1, 3.23) |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It will be an important weekend on and off the diamond for the Illinois baseball program when Ohio State visits Friday-Sunday. Both teams are trying to make moves in the Big Ten standings, where they are tied for ninth at 4-5, starting with the annual Bleacher Bum BBQ game on Friday.
Illinois (18-16, 4-5 Big Ten) has averaged over 3,000 fans at its past Bleacher Bum games, which offer free BBQ for the first 500 fans. The team is expecting more good crowds after Illini fans set program nonconference attendance records during last weekend's sweep of Saint Louis.
The Fighting Illini have won five straight, the longest current winning streak in the Big Ten, after dropping two straight Big Ten series. Illinois is 8-4 in April after entering the month with a 10-12 record.
Ohio State (24-12-1, 4-5 Big Ten) and Illinois sit a half-game back of Iowa for eighth place in the Big Ten and one game back of seventh-place Maryland with five weeks left of the season. The Buckeyes have won two of their three Big Ten series, but were swept in College Park, Maryland, two weeks ago, before winning five of their last six games.
Friday and Sunday's game will be aired on BTN Plus, while Saturday will be streamed for free on FightingIllini.com. Dave Loane and Jeff Huth will have the radio call for all three games on WDWS AM-1400 and FightingIllini.com.
After free food and free mini helmets on Friday, Illinois will continue the series with As-Seen-On-TV Day on Saturday and Super Hero Day on Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY
• Record: 99-101-2
• Last: W, 6-2 (5/3/2015 at Ohio State)
• First: W, 5-4 (6/14/1904 at Ohio State)
• Illinois has won seven of the last 10 games against Ohio State
• Illini are 52-45 vs. Ohio State in Champaign
NOW TRENDING - #ILLINI
MICHAEL HURWITZ
• Hurwitz is batting .488 (20-41) with six RBIs and 11 runs scored during his current 10-game hitting streak.
JASON GOLDSTEIN
• Goldstein had three hits on Tuesday at Eastern Illinois to increase his team-best batting average to .358 (38-106).
COLE BELLAIR - @CBellair
• The freshman set a career high with six strikeouts last Sunday vs. Saint Louis, earning his first career win. He will get the start this weekend on Super Hero Day.
NOTES
• The Illini are 15-1 when leading after five innings, but 1-9 in one-run games.
• Illinois ranks 26th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.65).
• Nearly half (49%) of the Illini's hits have been by players that had not started a game before this year.
• Cody Sedlock is the Big Ten's strikeout leader with 70.
UP NEXT
Illinois hosts Minnesota next weekend for a three-game series. The Gophers are tied for second in the conference and ranked No. 25 in the nation by D1Baseball.com.
