| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Southern Illinois |
| Tue. 5 p.m. CT |
LHP Lavender (1-2, 4.18) |
RHP Steidl (2-1, 3.63) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team starts a five-game week Tuesday with a trip to Southern Illinois. Tuesday finishes up a five-game road swing before the Illini are home for the next seven games.Â
Illinois (28-14, 8-7 Big Ten) has won six of its last seven games, including a 2-1 series victory at Nebraska over the weekend. The Illini bumped to No. 20 in the RPI and a tie for fifth in the Big Ten standings.
Southern Illinois (17-22, 1-11 Missouri Valley) has lost 10 straight games after starting the season 17-12. SIU is sixth in the nation with 108 steals.
Illinois swept three games from Southern Illinois at Illinois Field in March. The Illini swept a doubleheader March 16 by two 5-4 scores and finished the three-game sweep March 17 with a 14-5 victory. Illinois is looking to sweep the season series against SIU for the first time since winning four times in 2013.
Dave Loane has the radio call on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. Southern Illinois will provide a video stream via ESPN+.
NOTES
• Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb played baseball at Southern Illinois. Hartleb is 24-14 as a head coach against SIU.
• Illinois is looking to sweep the season series against SIU for the first time since winning four times in 2013.
• Illinois has won six of its last seven games, including five wins by one run.
• Illinois is 7-2 in its last nine Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois is now 8-7.
• Illinois is No. 20 in the RPI, eight spots ahead of Indiana for the best in the Big Ten.
• Illinois' bullpen is 15-9 with a .182 batting average against, 3.31 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 160 1/3 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .200 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (77/385).
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 34-7 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only four earned runs in the first inning for a 0.86 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation in fielding percentage at .982, slightly ahead of last year's single-season program record of .979.
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .987 in Big Ten games (seven errors in 15 games).
• Illinois is tied for third in the nation in opponent batting average on balls in play (.267).Â
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in batting average (.284) and ranks third in ERA (3.51).
• Zac Taylor leads Illinois with seven homers despite missing 14 games with an injury (he has played in the last eight games). Taylor is one of only 17 players in the nation with 7+ homers and 15+ stolen bases. The other 16 players on the list all have at least 29 more at-bats than Taylor.
• Ben Troike's three errors are tied for the fewest in the nation for shortstops with more than 90 assists.
• Michael Massey is sixth in the Big Ten in batting average (.346).
• Andy Fisher is second in the Big Ten in batting average against (.203), eighth in innings (66.1), eighth in strikeouts (70) and 13th in ERA (2.98).
• Ty Weber is 11th in the Big Ten in ERA (2.85) and batting average against (.218).
• Grant Van Scoy snapped a career-long 24-game reached base streak Sunday at Nebraska. Van Scoy hit .377 (34-90) during the 24-game streak with six doubles, one triple, two homers and 13 RBIs.
• Hitting streaks: Massey 9, Sarver 4, Yalowitz 3
• Reached base streaks: Taylor 14, Yalowitz 13, Massey 10, Sarver 10, Campbell 5
UP NEXT
Wed., May 1 at 6 p.m. » Indiana State at Illinois (Wing Wednesday)
Fri., May 3 at 6 p.m. » Indiana at Illinois (Bleacher Bum BBQ)
Sat., May 4 at 3 p.m. » Indiana at Illinois (Derby Day)
Sun., May 5 at 1 p.m. » Indiana at Illinois (GOAT Day)
