| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Opponent |
| Wed. 9 p.m. CT |
RHP Quinn Snarskis (6-1, 3.06) |
IND - RHP Jonathan Stiever (5-4, 3.08) |
| Thu. TBD |
LHP Andy Fisher (6-2, 3.97) |
MINN/MSU - TBA |
PREVIEW
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Illinois baseball team begins postseason play Wednesday at 9 p.m. CT against Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park. The Illini are the No. 4 seed and are set to take on the No. 5-seed Hoosiers.
There is a lot on the line for Illinois, which is listed as one of the "Last Five In" in D1Baseball.com's latest NCAA Tournament projections. With an RPI of No. 50, The Illini are on the tournament bubble and looking to improve their resume.
"I think if the season were over today we'd be in, but we've got work to do," head coach Dan Hartleb told WCIA-3. "There's a lot of teams that are going to be fighting to get in and you can't sit there and just rest on your RPI and what you've done to this point. We need to go perform well in the tournament or we could be left out. They've put us in a great position and they'll put us in a great position by the time this coming week is over."
Illinois (31-18, 15-9 Big Ten) will get the benefit of playing a quality RPI opponent in Indiana, which sits at No. 23, giving the Illini a chance at another resume-boosting win. The Illini's second game in the double-elimination tournament will be against either RPI No. 16 Minnesota or RPI No. 188 Michigan State.
Quinn Snarskis (6-1, 3.06 ERA) is back in the rotation for Illinois after missing a week and will start Wednesday against Indiana right-hander Jonathan Stiever (5-4, 3.08 ERA). Illinois beat Stiever on April 27, although Indiana's ace was dominant the first time through the order, striking out six of the first eight batters before allowing three runs in 6 2/3 innings.
All Big Ten Tournament games will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Dave Loane and Jeff Huth will have the radio call on the Fighting Illini Sports Network and WDWS 1400-AM.
NOTES
• Illinois qualified as the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
• Illinois is appearing in the Big Ten Tournament for the 22nd time.
• The Illini are 29-35 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with four titles (1989, 1990, 2000, 2011).
• Illinois is at No. 50 in the RPI. The Illini have been as high as No. 27 on April 16.
• Illinois is 5-5 against the RPI top 50 and 13-12 against the top 100.
• Illinois is 12th in the nation in fielding percentage (.980). Michigan set the Big Ten fielding percentage record of .983 last season.
• Illinois has eight fewer errors than any other Big Ten team (Illinois 39, Minnesota 47).
• Illinois is 21st in the nation in home runs per game (1.20) and 27th in doubles per game (2.08).
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in homers (59) and slugging (.449) behind Indiana (60 and .454).
• Illinois is 23-0 when leading after seven innings, 23-1 when leading after four innings and 18-2 when leading after three innings.
• Illinois is 20-5 when scoring first.
• Illinois is 9-5 in one-run games.
• Illinois is 30-11 when scoring three or more runs.
• Ben Troike has reached base in all 49 games this season. His current reached base streak is 54 dating back to the final five games of last season, the second-longest active streak in the nation (66, D.J. Artis, Liberty).
• Bren Spillane ranks among the NCAA leaders in nearly every major category: 1st slugging (.944), 1st OPS (1.456), 3rd HRs (22), 5th total bases (153), 7th OBP (.512), 8th batting average (.407), 38th RBIs (57)
• Bren Spillane entered the week as the Big Ten leader in batting average, slugging, OBP, OPS, homers, RBIs and total bases. He ranks third in runs, third in doubles, ninth in hits and 13th in steals.
• Bren Spillane current ranks in Illinois single-sason history: 1st slugging (.944), 2nd home runs (22), 2nd Big Ten home runs (10), 3rd on-base percentage (.512), 4th total bases (153), 4th Big Ten total bases (67)
• Bren Spillane's 22 home runs are the second most in Illinois history behind Josh Klimek's 26 in 1996.
• Bren Spillane's 153 total bases are the fourth-most in Illinois history. Josh Klimek owns the record of 188 in 1996.
• Bren Spillane is currently slugging .944. The last NCAA player to finish a year with a slugging percentage over .950 was Rickie Weeks (Southern U.) .987 in 2003.
• Bren Spillane is on pace to break Illinois' single-season and career slugging percentage records.
• Bren Spillane is on pace to break the Big Ten record for slugging in a season (.913, Darrin Fletcher, Illinois, 1987).
• Bren Spillane ranks 16th in Illinois history in career batting average (.351) after entering the season with a career batting average below .300.
• Bren Spillane was named Perfect Game/Rawlings and D1Baseball.com Midseason National Player of the Year.
• Bren Spillane is one of 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
• Bren Spillane is the first player in Illinois history to win national player of the week honors twice. On March 26, he earned Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCAA.com and NCBWA awards. On April 2, he won the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper honor for the second straight week.
• Michael Massey ended a 60-game errorless streak May 13 at Michigan.
• Ryan Thompson is third in the Big Ten in wins (7-3).
• Joey Gerber, who has been up to 97 MPH, is t-7th in the nation with 14 saves. His 14 saves ranks are tied with Tyler Jay's 2015 season for the most in an Illinois season.
• Illinois beat three of the last six NCAA champions in a span of four games Feb. 24-March 3. Feb. 24 vs. Coastal Carolina (2016), March 2 vs. UCLA (2013), March 3 vs. Arizona (2012)
UP NEXT
Illinois will face Minnesota or Michigan State in its second game of the double-elimination Big Ten Tournament. A win Wednesday would keep the Illini in the 9 p.m. CT time slot, while a loss would set up a losers' bracket game at 1 p.m. CT.
