| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Indiana |
| Fri. 6 p.m. CT |
LHP Fisher (5-1, 2.98) |
RHP Milto (6-4, 2.90) |
| Sat 3 p.m. CT |
RHP Weber (3-1, 2.85) |
RHP Gordon (4-3, 3.36) |
| Sun. 1 p.m. CT |
RHP Watson (4-1, 3.38) |
LHP Saalfrank (6-1, 2.31) |
SCHEDULE
Fri., May 3 at 6 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois // Bleacher Bum BBQ (free BBQ first 500 fans) / Postgame fireworks
Sat., May 4 at 3 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois // Derby Day / Horse-on-a-Stick Race / Mocktail Illini Juleps
Sun., May 5 at 1 p.m. » No. 19 Indiana at Illinois // GOAT Day / Petting zoo / Trading card giveaway
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team welcomes No. 19 Indiana to Illinois Field this weekend for three games Friday-Sunday. The two teams are at the top in the Big Ten in RPI with Illinois at No. 21 and Indiana at No. 29.
Illinois (29-15, 8-7 Big Ten) is coming off a win Wednesday over Indiana State, the Illini's ninth top-50 RPI win in 13 tries. Illinois' .692 winning percentage against the top 50 is No. 5 in the nation behind only UCLA, Stanford, Arkansas and Vanderbilt.Â
Indiana (30-14, 11-4 Big Ten) is in the race for the Big Ten regular season title, sitting only a 1/2 game back of 11-3 Michigan for the top spot in the conference. The Hoosiers have been one of the hottest teams in the nation since March 15 with wins in 23 of their last 29 games. Indiana has won all of their Big Ten series ahead of the next two crucial weekends against Illinois and Michigan (May 10-12).
Indiana is ranked 19th by D1Baseball and Perfect Game, 22nd by Baseball America and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and 23rd by the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball. The Hoosiers lead the nation in home runs with 77, eight behind their program record (85 in 2010).
Dave Loane and Jeff Huth have the radio call for all three games on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. Illinois will provide a video stream via BTN Plus for all three games.
NOTES
• Illinois won three of five against Indiana last season. Indiana won a three-game series 2-1 in Bloomington. Illinois won twice in the Big Ten Tournament.
• Illinois is 10-9 against Indiana since 2012.
• This will be Indiana's first trip from Bloomington to Champaign since 2015.
• Illinois has won seven of its last nine 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. 21 in the RPI, ahead of Indiana at No. 29 for the best in the Big Ten.Â
• Illinois' bullpen is 16-10 with a .183 batting average against, 3.73 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 169 innings
• Opponents are hitting .201 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (82/408).
• Illinois is outscoring opponents 36-8 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only five earned runs in the first inning for a 1.05 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois is tied for third in the nation in fielding percentage at .982, slightly ahead of last year's single-season program record of .979. Only Xavier and Omaha at .983 are ahead of the Illini.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.94).
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .987 in Big Ten games (seven errors in 15 games).
• Illinois has played error-free in seven of the last 10 games.
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in batting average (.281) and third in ERA (3.68).
• Reached base streaks: Zac Taylor 16, Michael Massey 12
• Garrett Acton the Illinois single-season saves record with his 15th save Tuesday vs. Indiana State. Acton leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation in saves (15) and is three away from tying the Big Ten record held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009.
• Zac Taylor leads Illinois with seven homers despite missing 14 games with an injury. Taylor is one of only 15 players in the nation (and the only one in the Big Ten) with 7+ homers and 16+ stolen bases. The other 14 players on the list all have at least 24 more at-bats than Taylor.
• 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.Â
• Michael Massey, is eighth in the Big Ten in batting average (.331).
• Ben Troike's three errors are tied for the second-fewest in the nation for shortstops with more than 90 assists, behind only Georgia's Cam Shepherd (two errors).
• 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).
• Illinois is 28-6 when allowing six or fewer runs and 1-9 when allowing seven or more runs.
• Illinois is 28-7 when scoring four or more runs and 1-8 when scoring three or fewer runs.
• Illinois is 13-3 at home and 13-10 on the road.
• Illinois is 26-8 when leading or tied after four innings.
• Illinois is 9-4 in one-run games and 14-7 in games decided by one or two runs.
• Illinois is 3-1 against ranked teams (D1Baseball Poll). Indiana is ranked No. 19 by D1Baseball.com.
• Winning Percentage vs. RPI Top 50
    1. UCLA (12-4, .750)
    2. Stanford (8-3, .727)
    3. Arkansas (14-6, .700)
    4. Vanderbilt (16-7, .696)
    5. Illinois (9-4, .692)
UP NEXT
Fri., May 10 at 6 p.m. » Purdue at Illinois (90s Night)
Sat., May 11 at 3 p.m. » Purdue at Illinois (Honor and Serve Day)
Sun., May 12 at 4 p.m. » Purdue at Illinois (Senior Day)
