| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Minnesota |
| Thu. 9 p.m. CT |
LHP Andy Fisher (6-2, 3.97) |
RHP Reggie Meyer (6-3, 3.03) |
PREVIEW
OMAHA, Neb. -- After a late-night 7-1 win Wednesday over No. 5-seed Indiana, the No. 4-seed Illinois baseball team will take on Big Ten champion Minnesota at 9 p.m. CT at TD Ameritrade Park. The game will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
Illinois (32-18) bumped up four spots in the RPI last night to No. 46 with its important victory. It set up the Illini with a chance for another resume-boosting win against Minnesota, which is ranked No. 11 in the country.
"Illinois still needs to continue taking care of business in Omaha to get in the field, but a win over Indiana was a step in the right direction," wrote D1Baseball.com's Kendall Rogers.
Illinois may have played its best defensive game of the season and held Indiana to tying season lows in runs (1) and hits (2). Michael Massey boosted the lead with a seventh-inning three-run homer, letting closer Joey Gerber stay seated in the bullpen and saved for another night.
"We're trying to build our resume for the NCAA tournament," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "You look at what we did against a very, very good team, it was convincing fashion."
A win over Minnesota would get Illinois the day off Friday before a 9 a.m. CT game Saturday against a team with one loss. A loss against Minnesota would put Illinois in the 7:30 p.m. CT game Friday against Indiana, which beat Michigan State 6-5 in 10 innings Thursday.
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 is 2-12 against Minnesota all-time in the Big Ten Tournament
• Illinois and Minnesota have not met in the Big Ten Tournament since 2013
• Illinois is 0-8 against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament since 1999.
• Illinois moved up four spots to No. 46 in the RPI. The Illini have been as high as No. 27 on April 16.
• Illinois is 6-6 against the RPI top 50 and 12-11 against the top 100.
• Michael Massey hit a three-run homer off of LHP B.J. Sabol, who entered the game with a .059 (2-34) batting average against when facing lefties.
• Illinois only struck out twice against Indiana ace Jonathan Stiever, the Big Ten leader in punch outs, after he struck out six of the first eight batters in the teams' first meeting.
• Illinois retired eight of nine Indiana leadoff hitters and held the Hoosiers hitless with runners on (0-8).
• Bren Spillane's batting average dipped below .400 for the first time since March 14.
• Ryan Thompson won for the eighth time, one away from tying Minnesota's Brett Schulze for the Big Ten lead.
• The Illini are 30-35 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with four titles (1989, 1990, 2000, 2011).
• Illinois entered the week 12th 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 39, Minnesota 48).
• Illinois entered the week 21st in the nation in HRs per game (1.20) and 27th in doubles per game (2.08).
• Illinois is tied for the Big Ten lead in homers (60) and slugging (.448) with Indiana).
• Illinois is 24-0 when leading after seven innings, 23-1 when leading after four innings and 18-2 when leading after three innings.
• Illinois is 21-5 when scoring first.
• Illinois is 9-5 in one-run games.
• Illinois is 31-11 when scoring three or more runs.
• Ben Troike has reached base in all 50 games this season. His current reached base streak is 55 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 is the Big Ten leader in batting average, slugging, OBP, OPS, homers, RBIs and total bases. He ranks third in runs, third in doubles, 13th in steals and 14th in hits.
• Bren Spillane current ranks in Illinois single-season history: 1st slugging (.922), 2nd home runs (22), 2nd Big Ten home runs (10), 3rd on-base percentage (.502), 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 .922. The last NCAA player to finish a year with a slugging percentage over .900 was in 2009 when Bryce Brentz of Middle Tennessee State slugging .930.
• 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 20th in Illinois history in career batting average (.345) 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.
• Bren Spillane was the first player in history to win three straight Big Ten Player of the Week awards.
• Illinois was the first team in history to win five straight Big Ten Player of the Week awards.
• Michael Massey ended a 60-game errorless streak May 13 at Michigan.
• 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.
• Joey Gerber's 21 career saves are tied for third-best in Illini history (Tyler Jay 24, Jeff Richards 23, Jeff Innis 21).
UP NEXT
A win over Minnesota would get Illinois the day off Friday before a 9 a.m. CT game Saturday against a team with one loss. A loss against Minnesota would put Illinois in the 7:30 p.m. CT game Friday against Indiana, which beat Michigan State 6-5 in 10 innings Thursday.
