| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Opponent |
| Fri., 2 p.m., Milwaukee |
RHP Luke Shilling (0-0, 6.75) |
RHP Adam Reuss (2-4, 3.79) |
| Sat., 12 p.m., Milwaukee |
RHP Quinten Sefcik (0-0, 6.46) |
RHP Austin Schulfer (2-4, 7.43) |
| Sat., 4 p.m., Lamar |
RHP Cole Bellair (2-3, 3.34) |
RHP Carson Lance (JC transfer) |
| Sun., 10 a.m., Lamar |
RHP Ty Weber (Fr.) |
TBA |
|
|
stats from 2016 season |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team opens its 138th season Feb. 17-19 in Beaumont, Texas, against Milwaukee and Lamar. The Illini are scheduled to play each opponent twice during the Lamar Cardinal Classic with one game Friday, two Saturday and the finale Sunday.
Illinois will start three sophomores and one freshman on the mound during the four-game weekend hosted at Lamar. Sophomore right-hander Luke Shilling will get the ball on opening day in his first collegiate start, followed by redshirt-sophomore Quinten Sefcik, sophomore Cole Bellair and freshman Ty Weber.
"These are uncharted waters because we are so young," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "The few upperclassmen that we have have been great leaders. Their attitude and culture have been tremendous. I'm really excited about the team and the building process, the capabilities that we have this year and in the future."
One of those leaders is senior first baseman Pat McInerney, who returns to the Illini after hitting .301 with a team-leading seven home runs in 2016. McInerney is the key to Illinois' offense that is returning 66% of its hits, 82% of its homers and 73% of its RBIs from a year ago.
All four games will be broadcast by WDWS and Learfield through FightingIllini.com with Scott Beatty on the call. Friday's and Sunday's games can be heard on WDWS 1400-AM. Lamar also plans to provide a live video stream and links will be available on FightingIllini.com when available. Check the schedule page for more information.
This weekend is the first of 13 straight road games for Illinois, which is followed by 13 straight home games March 14-April 2.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Milwaukee
• Record: 3-1 (Home: 3-0, Away: 0-0, Neutral: 0-1)
• Last: L, 4-1, 3/24/2005, Bradenton, Fla.
• Illini assistant Adam Christ played at Milwaukee from 2001-03
vs. Lamar
• Record: 5-0 (Home: 0-0, Away: 4-0, Neutral: 1-0)
• Last: W, 9-3, 2/15/2015, Beaumont, Texas
• Illini beat Lamar in 2008, 2012 (twice), and 2015 (twice)
NOW TRENDING - #ILLINI
LUKE SHILLING - @ShillPickle
• Shilling, who had a great summer in the Northwoods League, will get his first career start Friday as Illinois' Opening Day starter.
PAT McINERNEY - @pat_mac27
• McInerney was named to Perfect Game's Preseason All-Big Ten team and is ranked as the No. 32 first baseman in the nation by D1Baseball.com.
TY WEBER - @Ty_Weber7
• In June, Weber was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. Eight months later he will get his first collegiate start.
NOTES
• Illinois has won 66.1-percent of its games over the last four years, the program's best four-year winning percentage since 1960-1963 (.695).
• Cole Bellair was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after pitching in 16 games last season with a 2-3 record and 3.34 ERA. Bellair was third on the team in ERA (3.34), fourth in innings (59.1), fourth in strikeouts (35) and fourth in batting average against (.241).
• 40% (175/434) of Illinois' hits in 2016 were by players that had never started a game before last season.
• Illinois has had 13 MLB Draft selections in the last two years (Four in 2016, nine in 2015).
UP NEXT
Illinois travels back to Texas next weekend for a three-game round robin series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Houston and Missouri. The event is hosted at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros), in Corpus Christi, Texas.
