Feb. 24, 2011

Chicago, Ill. - Two weeks after releasing its over-the-air baseball and softball schedules, the Big Ten Network has announced its 2011 baseball and softball streaming schedules for Illinois Field and Eichelberger Field.

The baseball schedule for bigtennetwork.com begins March 30 when the Illini host in-state rival Illinois State. The rest of the schedule includes home dates with Iowa (April 10), Southern Illinois (April 13), Michigan State (April 24) and Bradley (April 27).

Streamed softball games start April 2 and 3 with both games of a key early Big Ten series with Penn State. It includes dates with Illinois State (April 6), DePaul (April 20), whom the Illini have played in the last two NCAA Regional tournaments, perennial Big Ten power Northwestern (April 30 and May 1) and both ends of a twinbill with Western Illinois (May 7) as part of the World's Largest Softball Tailgate.

Many of those games will be shown tape delayed on the Big Ten Network as part of its Student U initiative. That gives Illinois a potential of eight appearances in baseball and 12 in softball on the network. Illinois' Big Ten road games also could be streamed by the host school.

"I'm very pleased that the Big Ten Network has chosen to stream these additional games online," Illinois baseball coach Dan Hartleb said. "The streamed games are another great way for our fans to follow our team. We have a large number of fans who aren't able to make it to all of our games, so this will allow them to watch us play from their homes. The Student U initiative is a very positive learning tool for our students because it gives them an opportunity to gain professional broadcast experience while they're still in school."

"The news of the expanded coverage our softball program will have this year on the Big Ten Network is awesome," Illinois softball coach Terri Sullivan said. "Our players' families, friends and fans from all over the country will be able to follow the Illini in action throughout the Big Ten and non-conference season. Our association with the Big Ten Network has given us a leg up in recruiting. The coverage gives prospective Illinois players the opportunity to watch the Fighting Illini compete for a championship."

Bigtennetwork.com streamed baseball games from Illinois Field
March 30 vs. Illinois State, 6:05 pm
April 10 vs. Iowa, 1:05 pm
April 13 vs. Southern Illinois, 6:05 pm
April 24 vs. Michigan State, 1:05 pm
April 27 vs. Bradley, 6:05 pm

Bigtennetwork.com streamed softball games from Eichelberger Field
April 2 vs. Penn State, 2 pm
April 3 vs. Penn State, 11 am
April 6 vs. Illinois State, 6 pm
April 20 vs. DePaul, 6 pm
April 30 vs. Northwestern, 2 pm
May 1 vs. Northwestern 2 pm
May 7 vs. Western Illinois (DH), TBA