| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Indiana State |
| Wed. 6 p.m. CT |
RHP Snarskis (0-1, 6.60) |
TBA |
WING WEDNESDAY
The specialty concession item of wings will be available for one game only at Illinois Field.
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team hosts Indiana State for its final midweek game of the season Wednesday. The game starts a run of seven straight home games, Illinois' final seven home games of the season.
Illinois (28-15) and Indiana State (32-9) are two of the top teams in the Midwest. The Illini come in at No. 24 in the RPI, the best in the Big Ten, and Indiana State is 10 spots back at No. 34.
Illinois has built its solid RPI with the No. 50 strength of schedule, exceptional play in nonconference games (No. 8 nonconference RPI) and the No. 6 winning percentage in the nation against top 50 teams at 8-4 (.667). Only UCLA, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Stanford and Oregon State have faired better against the top 50 among teams that have played 10+ games.
Indiana State got off to a quick start, winning 20 of its first 22 games including a 3-1 win over Illinois on March 26 in Terre Haute. The Sycamores held Illinois to five hits and scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to knock off the Illini in the teams' first meeting of the season.
After Wednesday, Illinois' final nine games are all against Big Ten opponents. No. 19 Indiana and Purdue visit Illinois Field over the next two weekends before the Illini finish the season at Michigan State.
Dave Loane and Jeff Huth have the radio call Wednesday on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. Illinois will provide a video stream via BTN Plus.
BEER HERE
Illinois announced that beer will be sold at the remainder of games at Illinois Field. Beer is $5 and $6 and sold from the concession stand.
NOTES
• Illinois has won six of its last eight 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. 23 in the RPI, ahead of Indiana for the best in the Big Ten. The Illini dropped three spots Tuesday.
• Illinois' bullpen is 15-10 with a .187 batting average against, 3.76 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 165 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .203 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (84/403).
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 35-7 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only four earned runs in the first inning for a 0.84 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten in fielding percentage at .981, slightly ahead of last year's single-season program record of .979.
• Illinois led the Big Ten and ranked fifth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.97) entering the week.
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .987 in Big Ten games (seven errors in 15 games).
• Illinois was second in the Big Ten in batting average (.282) and ranks third in ERA (3.72).
• Zac Taylor leads Illinois with seven homers despite missing 14 games with an injury. Entering the week, Taylor was one of only 17 players in the nation with 7+ homers and 15+ stolen bases. The other 16 players on the list all had at least 29 more at-bats than Taylor.
• Michael Massey is eighth in the Big Ten in batting average (.331).
• Garrett Acton leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation in saves (14). Acton tied the Illinois record for saves in a season held by Tyler Jay (2015) and Joey Gerber (2018).
• Ben Troike's three errors are tied for the fewest in the nation for shortstops with more than 90 assists.
• Jack Yalowitz did not play Tuesday due to an injury. Yalowitz is on a career-long-tying reached base streak of 13 games.
• Kellen Sarver is on a career-long reached base streak of 11 games.
• Hitting streaks: Sarver 5, Yalowitz 3
• Reached base streaks: Taylor 15, Yalowitz 13, Massey 11, Sarver 11
Best Winning Percentage vs. RPI Top 50
1. UCLA (.750, 12-4)
2. Stanford (.727, 8-3)
3. Arkansas (.700, 14-6)
4. Vanderbilt (.696, 16-7)
5. Oregon State (.667, 14-7)
5. Illinois (.667, 8-4)
5. Arizona State (.667, 6-3)
UP NEXT
Fri., May 3 at 6 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois (Bleacher Bum BBQ)
Sat., May 4 at 3 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois (Derby Day)
Sun., May 5 at 1 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois (GOAT Day)
