Illinois at Winston-Salem, N.C.
When	February 15-17
Where	Winston-Salem, N.C | David F. Couch Ballpark
Tickets	Wake Forest
Live Video	None
Radio	Fighting Illini Sports Network | WDWS AM-1400
Live Stats	Schedule Page
Notes	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions | Publications
Social Media	@IlliniBaseball | #Illini | @IlliniBaseball | Facebook | YouTube

PREVIEW

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team begins its 140th season of play Friday against Georgetown in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the first of three weekend games. The Illini play host No. 20 Wake Forest on Saturday before finishing the weekend Sunday against Sacred Heart. 

Illinois has high expectations for the 2019 team, a group that returns 98% of its pitching starts, 97% of its pitching wins, 75% of its hits and 69% of its RBIs from last year's team. The Illini open the season ranked No. 29 in the nation by Perfect Game, No. 34 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and were picked to finish in third place of the Big Ten by the league's coaches.

Highlighting the returners is preseason All-American Michael Massey, last year's ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner as the best defensive second baseman in the nation. Massey has started every game of his career at Illinois (104 games) and is projected to be a top-5 round pick in this summer's MLB Draft. 

Illinois returns one of the deepest pitching staffs in the nation with all three of last year's weekend starters - Quinn Snarskis, Andy Fisher and Ty Weber - returning in 2019. Snarskis and Fisher will start the first two games of the season, respectively, with Cyrillo Watson getting the ball Sunday. 

The veterans will be helped by Illinois' first-ever top-25 recruiting class which are now freshmen. Catcher Jacob Campbell was rated the No. 1 newcomer in the Big Ten and pitcher Aidan Maldonado was No. 4 on the list. 

Scott Beatty has the radio call for all three games on the Fighting Illini Sports Network and WDWS 1400-AM. 

OPPONENTS

Georgetown (Friday, 11 a.m. CT)
• Picked to finish sixth in the Big East by the conference's coaches.
• Last season, Georgetown (25-30, 8-9 Big East) produced its fourth straight 25-win season despite losing its first 10 games of the year.

Wake Forest (Saturday, 3 p.m. CT)
• Ranked No. 20 in the nation by D1Baseball.com and No. 28 by NCBWA.
• Projected No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament by D1Baseball.com.
• Picked to finish fifth in the ACC Atlantic Division by the conference's coaches.
• RHP Colin Peluse, who Illinois will face Saturday, is the No. 88 MLB Draft prospect by D1Baseball.com.
• Last season, Wake (25-32, 13-17 ACC) had series wins over NCAA Tournament teams Duke, Louisville and Florida State.

Sacred Heart (Sunday, 9 a.m. CT)
• Picked to finish fifth in the NEC by the conference's coaches.
• Last season, SHU (17-35, 12-16 NEC) failed to reach the program's NEC Tournament for the first time in 10 years.

PREVIEW VIDEOS

• Lineup

• Pitching Staff

NOTES

• Illinois went 33-20 and 15-9 in the Big Ten in 2018, finishing fourth in the conference and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal. The Illini were one of the "Last Four Out" to miss the NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois returns a huge portion of its 2018 team, including nearly its entire pitching staff. The main departures from 2018 were draft picks 1B Bren Spillane (.389, 23 HR), LF Doran Turchin (.272, 9 HR) and closer Joey Gerber (1-1, 3.14 ERA, 14 SV).
• Illinois returns 80+ career starts at seven of 10 positions: center field (123), right field (120), shortstop (104), second base (104), pitcher (91), designated hitter (91), and catcher (82).
• Illinois starts the season ranked No. 29 by Perfect Game and No. 34 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Illini also received votes in the NCBWA and USA Today/Coaches polls. 
• Illinois was picked to finish third in the Big Ten by the conference's coaches, behind Minnesota and Michigan. The Illini were predicted to finish in fourth place of the Big Ten by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com. Both publications picked Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana to finish 1-3. 
• Illinois' freshman class is ranked No. 22 in the nation by D1Baseball.com and No. 24 by Baseball America. It is Illinois' first-ever top-25 recruit class. Jacob Cambell (No. 25) and Aidan Maldonado (No. 49) are both among the top 50 freshman in the nation according to Baseball America.
• Illinois and Mississippi State are the only two programs in the nation with a Super Regional appearance, conference championship, multiple first round picks, National Player of the Year and Gold Glove winner in the last four seasons.
• Illinois went on a six-game foreign trip to Curaçao and Aruba over Thanksgiving Break in November. The Illini went 0-2-1 against the Curaçao National Team before winning the Aruba Cup with two wins in three games against a group of Aruba amateur and professional players. 

UP NEXT

Illinois' challenging early-season schedule continues next weekend with a three-game series at Florida Atlantic.