| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Coastal Carolina   |
| Fri., 3 p.m. CT |
RHP Cole Bellair (1-1, 9.45) |
RHP Alex Cunningham (2-0, 2.75) |
| Sat., 11Â a.m. CT |
RHP Ty Weber (1-0, 3.68) |
RHP Andrew Beckwith (0-1, 12.46) |
| Sat. Game 2 |
RHP Luke Shilling (1-0, 9.00) |
RHP Jason Bilous (1-0, 6.43) |
Schedule Note: Illinois and Coastal Carolina will play a doubleheader Saturday at 12 p.m. ET due to forecasted rain on Sunday.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Last year's College World Series champion Coastal Carolina will host the Illinois baseball team for a three-game series March 10-12 at Springs Brooks Stadium. The Illini and Chanticleers are scheduled for games Friday at 3 p.m. CT and a Saturday doubleheader at 11 a.m. CT.
Illinois (3-7) is looking for its first weekend series win after taking one game during each of the first three weekends on the road. The Illini are hitting .285 as a team, and hit .301 (34-113) at Florida Atlantic last weekend, but opponents are batting .324 on the season and getting on base at a .450 rate. Four Illini regulars are batting over .300 -- Jack Yalowitz (.425), Pat McInerney (.366), Bren Spillane (.323) and David Craan (.323) -- and seven players have hit a home run.
"I thought some guys did things well (last weekend) but we still aren't doing enough to win games," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "There are some things we need to talk about and get better at. You have to learn from the mistakes."
Walks have been an issue for the Illini pitching staff, as they have issued 66 free passes and hit another 16 batters through the season's first 10 games. A bright spot has been freshman Ty Weber, who allowed just one run on four hits in six innings last Saturday at FAU while the wind was howling out to right center. That was the Illini's first quality start of the season and a big reason why Weber leads the team with a 3.68 ERA.
Coastal Carolina (9-6) had a slow start but has won five of its last six. The Chanticleers snapped a five-game winning streak Wednesday with a 13-8 loss to Wake Forest.
Coastal beat Illinois twice last season on their way to the 2016 NCAA College World Series title. CCU went 55-18 and beat Arizona 2-1 in the best-of-three College World Series final with two one-run victories to finish the championship run.
This weekend finishes 13 straight games on the road for Illinois. The Illini's home opener is scheduled for Tuesday against Northern Illinois and is the first of 13 consecutive games scheduled for Illinois Field.
NOW TRENDING
Jack Yalowitz - @J_Yalo13
• Yalowitz leads Illinois in hits and is riding a career-long eight-game hitting streak.
Ty Weber - @Ty_Weber7
• The freshman leads the team in ERA (3.68), innings pitched (14.2) and strikeouts (12).
Pat McInerney - @pat_mac27
• McInerney is hitting .444 (11-25) with two home runs during his current six-game hitting streak.
NOTES
• Illinois is hitting .285 as a team, and hit .301 (34-113) at Florida Atlantic last weekend, but opponents are batting .324 on the season and getting on base at a .450 rate.
• Four Illini regulars are batting over .300 -- Jack Yalowitz (.425), Pat McInerney (.366), Bren Spillane (.323) and David Craan (.323).Â
• Seven Illini players have hit a home run in 2017, including four players with multiple homers -- McInerney (3), Doran Turchin (3), Yalowitz (2) and Craan (2). Turchin, Yalowitz and Craan all have multi-homer games.
• Illinois hit six home runs against Florida Atlantic last Saturday in a 14-4 win. The six home runs is tied for the most in a Division I game this season. It was the Illini's most since May 8, 2005 (7 vs. Northwestern).
• The Illini hit four homers the night before to total 10 over the first two games of the series. The Illini ranked 25th in the nation in home runs entering the week.
• Illinois leads the nation in double plays turned with 18 and 1.8 per game.
UP NEXT
The Illini's home opener is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT Tuesday against Northern Illinois. Toledo and Southern Illinois visit Illinois Field next weekend for a three-team, three-day double round robin.
