University of Illinois
Michigan State
No. 23 Illinois Looks for Sixth Straight B1G Series Win
May 14, 2019 | Baseball
| No. 23 Illinois (34-16, 13-8 Big Ten) at Michigan State (19-31, 7-13 Big Ten) | |
|---|---|
| When | May 16-18 |
| Where | East Lansing, Michigan |
| Tickets | $5 |
| Television | Big Ten Network on Thursday |
| Live Video | BTN Plus ($) Friday-Saturday |
| Radio | Fighting Illini Sports Network | WDWS AM-1400 |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Notes | Illinois |
| Shop | Online Store | Auctions | Publications |
| Social Media | @IlliniBaseball  | #Illini | @IlliniBaseball  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| Probable Starting Pitchers | |||||||||
| Day | Illinois | Michigan State | |||||||
| Thu. 4:30 p.m. CT | LHP Fisher (6-1, 2.53) | RHP Erla (2-9, 5.40) | |||||||
| Fri. 5:35 p.m. CT | RHP Weber (4-1, 2.48) | LHP Tyranski (3-7, 4.04) | |||||||
| Sat. 12:05 p.m. CT | RHP Watson (4-2, 3.82) | RHP Sleeman (2-3, 4.68) | |||||||
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 23 Illinois baseball team finishes its regular season Thursday-Saturday at Michigan State in a three-game series. The Illini have won five straight Big Ten series and 12 of their last 15 games to climb to No. 23 in the D1Baseball poll and No. 21 in the RPI, both the highest marks in the Big Ten.
Illinois (34-16, 13-8 Big Ten) has already clinched a Big Ten Tournament spot and is still mathematically alive for a share of the Big Ten regular season title, although unlikely as at least seven game results must go Illinois' way to get to a tie. The Illini could end up anywhere from the No. 1 to No. 7 seed in the tournament.
Michigan State (19-31, 7-13 Big Ten) is coming off their best series of the season, a 2-1 series win at No. 24 Iowa last weekend. The Spartans have won three straight Big Ten series (Northwestern, at Purdue, at Iowa) and are tied for 11th in the Big Ten standings. Michigan State must win the series against Illinois and get help in order to extend its season to the Big Ten Tournament.
Another storyline to watch outside of the weekend's results is the race for the Big Ten regular season batting title. Grant Van Scoy is having a career year and ranks third in the Big Ten in batting average at .351, just 10 points behind Michigan's Jordan Brewer for the Big Ten lead.
Dave Loane will have the radio call for all three games on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. Big Ten Network will televise Thursday's game and Michigan State will provide a video stream via BTN Plus for the final two games of the series.
NOTES
• Illinois is ranked No. 23 by D1Baseball, its highest ranking this season.
• Illinois has won 12 of its last 15 games.
• Illinois is 12-3 in its last 15 Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois is now 13-8.
• Illinois is No. 21 in the RPI, the best in the Big Ten.
• Illinois is 11-5 against the RPI top 50, ranking No. 6 in the nation in top 50 winning percentage (.688). The Illini are t-15th in the nation in top 50 wins (t-5th outside the SEC).
• Illinois has won five straight Big Ten series (at Minnesota, Penn State, at Nebraska, Indiana, Purdue).
• Illinois has series wins against every top-five Big Ten team played (at Minnesota, at Nebraska, Indiana).
• Illinois is 5-2 against ranked teams (D1Baseball Poll). The five wins are tied for the most in the Dan Hartleb era (2009, 2015). Illinois has won two season series against ranked teams (Coastal Carolina, Indiana) for the third time in the Dan Hartleb era, joining 2009 (LSU, Minnesota) and 2015 (Oklahoma State, Ohio State).
• Illinois has won despite major injuries all season, with the top three hitters in the order all dealing with injuries.
• Gold Glove 2B Michael Massey did not play the field for 29 games (back).
• Big Ten steals leader and team home run leader CF Zac Taylor missed 14 games (ankle).
• SS Ben Troike has missed the last four games and is out for the season (thumb).
• Illinois' bullpen is 19-10 with a .185 batting average against, 3.72 ERA and 213 strikeouts in 191 1/3 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .198 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (88-445).
• Illinois is 31-5 when issuing fewer than seven walks. The Illini are 3-11 when walking seven or more (of those 14 games, 11 have been on the road and one has been a neutral site game.)
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 37-10 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only seven earned runs in the first inning for a 1.26 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois is second in the nation in fewest errors per game (0.66)
• Illinois is tied for second in the nation in fielding percentage at .982, slightly ahead of last year's single-season program record of .979. Only Xavier at .984 is ahead of the Illini. Nebraska set the Big Ten record of .981 in 2013.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.9).
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .986 in Big Ten games (11 errors in 21 games). Illinois set the Big Ten record of .986 in 1981.
• Illinois has played error-free in 11 of the last 16 games. Illinois has only seven errors in the last 16 games.
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in batting average (.281) and ERA (3.55).
• Zac Taylor is tied for the Big Ten lead in steals (19) and leads Illinois with eight homers despite missing 14 games with an injury. Taylor is one of only nine players in the nation with 8+ homers and 19+ stolen bases. The other players on the list all have more at-bats than Taylor. Michigan's Jordan Brewer (11 HR, 19 SB) is the only other Big Ten player on the list.
• Michael Massey, a Preseason All-American, was unable to play defense for the first 28 games of the season due to an injury. Massey started the first 28 games at DH and homered in three straight games 3/9-3/16/2019. He is now back in the lineup full time.
• Michael Massey is eighth in the Big Ten in batting average (.328).
• Michael Massey has only one error in his last 87 starts at second base dating back to April 23, 2017 (a dropped feed at second from shortstop on a fielder's choice at Michigan 5/13/2018).
• Grant Van Scoy is third in the Big Ten in batting average (.351). Van Scoy is six points behind Michigan's Jordan Brewer in the race for the Big Ten regular season batting title race.
• Andy Fisher was named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week two weeks ago after throwing eight shutout innings and striking out nine while allowing only three hits to No. 19 Indiana, the national leader in home runs.
• Andy Fisher is fourth in the Big Ten in batting average against (.200), fourth in innings (81.2), sixth in strikeouts (82) and 10th in ERA (2.53).
• Garrett Acton is tied for the national lead in saves (17) and has set the Illinois single-season record. Acton is one save away from tying the Big Ten record held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009 (18).
• Ty Weber is eighth in the Big Ten in ERA (2.48) and 10th in batting average against (.218).
• Illinois is 10-4 in one-run games and 17-7 in games decided by one or two runs.
• Illinois started the season 14-3, tied for the best start through 17 games in the last 60 years (Started 16-1 in 1959). The 14-3 start tied for the sixth-best 17-game start in program history.
• Illinois swept five of its first six weekends. The Illini swept three of its first four weekends for the first time since beginning to regularly play February games in 1982.
• Illinois has swept seven weekends on the year.
• Michigan State won the two teams' last series, a sweep in Champaign in 2017.
• Illinois and Michigan State split two nonconference games last season in Greenville, South Carolina.
• This is Illinois' first trip to Michigan State since 2015.
• Hitting streaks: Yalowitz 6, McDonald 5, Comia 3
• Reached base streaks: Massey 18, Michalak 8, Yalowitz 6, Taylor 5, McDonald 5, Van Scoy 3
UP NEXT
The Big Ten Tournament starts next Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. Seeds and schedules will be announced Saturday night once all Big Ten regular season games are completed.
