| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Nebraska |
| Thu. 6Â p.m. CT |
RHP Cyrillo Watson (1-1, 4.58) |
RHP Matt Waldron (6-3, 4.08 |
| Fri. 6 p.m. CT |
LHP Andy Fisher (5-2, 4.18) |
RHP Luis Alvarado (3-6, 4.61) |
| Sat. 3 p.m. CT |
RHP Ty Weber (4-3, 3.42) |
RHP Matt Warren (4-4, 5.81) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team hosts Nebraska for the final regular season series of the season Thursday-Sunday. There is a lot on the line for Illinois, which is on the NCAA tournament bubble and features Bren Spillane in the mix for national and conference awards.
The two best power hitters in the Big Ten are set to square off with Spillane and the Husker's Scott Schreiber as the frontrunners for Big Ten Player of the Year. Spillane is hitting .417 with 20 homers and a .954 slugging percentage, while Schreiber is hitting .385 with 18 homers and a .730 slugging percentage. No other Big Ten player is within five home runs of Spillane or Schreiber.
Illinois (29-17, 13-8 Big Ten) is in need of a series win to continue its momentum towards making the NCAA tournament. The Illini bumped up to No. 44 in the RPI after a series win at Michigan last weekend and moved from the "First Five Out" to the "Last Five In" in D1Baseball.com's NCAA tournament projections.
The Illini have clinched a spot in next week's Big Ten Tournament, a double-elimination format starting Wednesday, May 23 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Illini could qualify anywhere from second to seventh depending on this weekend's results.
Nebraska (23-26, 7-12 Big Ten) is in 10th place of the Big Ten standings needing help to qualify for the eight-team Big Ten Tournament. The Cornhuskers are one game back in the loss column from Maryland (at Indiana) and Michigan State (vs. Ohio State), which are both 9-11 in conference play.
The Thursday and Friday games will be broadcast on BTN2Go and Saturday's game will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network. Dave Loane has the radio call for all three games on the Fighting Illini Sports Network and WDWS 1400-AM.
PROMOTIONS
• Thursday 6 p.m. CT » Spring Cleaning Night / Illinois Agriculture Night
• Friday 6 p.m. CT » 9 Innings of Winning (at least one giveaway every inning)
• Saturday 3 p.m. CT » Senior Day honoring Mark Skonieczny and Jackson Douglas
NOTES
• Illinois could still finish anywhere from 2-7 in the Big Ten standings. The Illini have clinched a spot in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Omaha.
• Illinois is at No. 44 in the RPI. The Illini have been as high as No. 27 on April 16.Â
• Illinois is 7-7 against the RPI top 50 and 12-12 against the top 100.
• Illinois is 11th in the nation in fielding percentage (.980). Michigan set the Big Ten fielding percentage record of .983 last season.
• Illinois has nine fewer errors than any other Big Ten team (Illinois 37, Minnesota 46). Nebraska has the fifth-most errors in the Big Ten (58).
• Illinois is 25th in the nation home runs per game (1.15) and 29th in doubles per game (2.07).
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in homers (53) and slugging (.444) behind Indiana (54 and .448).
• Illinois is 21-1 when leading after four innings and 18-1 when leading after three.
• Illinois is 19-4 when scoring first.
• Illinois is 9-5 in one-run games.
• Illinois is 28-10 when scoring three or more runs.
• Ben Troike has reached base in all 46 games this season. His current reached base streak is 51 dating back to the final five games of last season, the second-longest active streak in the nation.
• Bren Spillane's 20 home runs are the second most in Illinois history behind Josh Klimek's 26 in 1996.Â
• Bren Spillane's 144 total bases are the eighth-most in Illinois history. Josh Klimek owns the record of 188 in 1996.
• Bren Spillane ranks among the NCAA leaders in nearly every major category: 1st slugging (.954), 1st OPS (1.475), 3rd HRs (20), 4th batting average (.417), 5th OBP (.521), 6th total bases (144), 30th RBIs (55), 63rd doubles (17)
• Bren Spillane entered the weekend as the Big Ten leader in batting average, slugging, OBP, OPS, homers and RBIs. He ranks second in total bases, third in runs, third in doubles, 11th in hits and 13th in steals.
• Bren Spillane is currently slugging .954. The last NCAA player to finish a year with a slugging percentage over .950 was Rickie Weeks (Southern U.) .995 in 2002.
• 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).Â
• Bren Spillane ranks 15th in Illinois history in career batting average (.353) after entering the season with a career batting average below .300.
• Bren Spillane was named Perfect Game/Rawlings and D1Baseball Midseason National Player of the Year.
• Bren Spillane is the only Big Ten Player on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
• 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.
• Bren Spillane was the first player in history to win three straight Big Ten Player of the Week awards.Â
• Michael Massey ended a 60-game errorless streak Sunday at Michigan.
• Ryan Thompson is 62nd in the nation and second in the Big Ten in wins (7-3).
• Joey Gerber, who has been up to 97 MPH, is t-4th in the nation with 13 saves. His 13 saves ranks second-most in an Illinois single season, one away from Tyler Jay's record of 14.
• Joey Gerber's 21 career saves are tied for third-best in Illini history (Tyler Jay 24, Jeff Richards 23, Jeff Innis 21).
• 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 leaves Monday for Omaha with the first game of the Big Ten Tournament starting Wednesday. Seeding and matchups will be announced Saturday at the conclusion of the Big Ten regular season.
