| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Purdue |
| Fri. 6 p.m. CT |
LHP Fisher (6-1, 2.66) |
RHP Johnson (3-2, 2.54) |
| Sat 3 p.m. CT |
RHP Weber (4-1, 2.56) |
TBA |
| Sun. 4 p.m. CT |
RHP Watson (4-2, 3.69) |
TBA |
SCHEDULE
Fri., May 10 at 6 p.m. » No. 25 Illinois vs. Purdue // 90s Night
Sat., May 11 at 3 p.m. » No. 25 Illinois vs. Purdue // Honor & Serve Day // Jersey auction // First pitch from Vietnam veteran Jeff Crowe
Sun., May 12 at 4 p.m. » No. 25 Illinois vs. Purdue // Senior Day // Mothers Day // Senior moms first pitch
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 25 Illinois baseball team hosts Purdue for three games Friday-Sunday to finish its home schedule. Illinois has won nine of its last 12 games to jump back in the D1Baseball top 25 at No. 25.
Illinois (31-16, 10-8 Big Ten) has great at Illinois Field this season with a 15-4 record. The Illini won two of three against then-No. 19 Indiana at home last weekend to get to 10-8 in the league, two games back of second place.
Illinois improved its already-good RPI situation last weekend and moved up to No. 19 in the nation. The Illini are 12-5 against the RPI top 50, the 12th most top 50 wins and the No. 4 winning percentage against the top 50 for teams that have played 10+ games.Â
Purdue (19-28, 7-10 Big Ten) dropped a Big Ten series to Michigan State last weekend. The Boilermakers shut out Michigan State last Friday behind 6 1/3 strong innings from Trent Johnson, before dropping Saturday and Sunday games. Purdue has used 10 starting pitchers this season and has yet to announce a starter for Saturday and Sunday following another Friday start from Johnson.
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 the first two games and Big Ten Network will televise Sunday's game.
NOTES
• Purdue has won four straight games against Illinois.
• Illinois has won three of the last four series against Purdue.
• This is Purdue's first trip to Illinois since 2015.
• Michael Massey career vs. Purdue: .400 (6-15)
• Illinois is ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball for the third time this season. Illinois was ranked Feb. 25 and March 25.
• Illinois has won nine of its last 12 games.
• Illinois is 9-3 in its last 12 Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois is now 10-8.
• Illinois is No. 18 in the RPI, ahead of Indiana at No. 31 and Michigan at No. 35 for the best in the Big Ten.Â
• Illinois is 12-5 against the RPI top 50, ranking fourth in the nation in top 50 winning percentage (.706).
• Andy Fisher was named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after throwing eight shutout innings and striking out nine while allowing only three hits to No. 19 Indiana, the national leader in home runs.
Illinois' bullpen is 16-10 with a .185 batting average against, 3.86 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 177 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .201 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (85/422), including 26-149 (.174) with runners in scoring position at Illinois Field.
• Illinois is 28-5 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 36-8 in the first inning. Illinois has allowed only five earned runs in the first inning for a 0.96 team ERA in the opening frame. Andy Fisher has yet to allow a first inning earned run.
• Illinois leads the nation in fewest errors per game (0.638).
• 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 Cal State Fullerton at .983 are ahead of the Illini. Nebraska set the Big Ten record of .981 in 2013.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (6.84).
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .988 in Big Ten games (eight errors in 18 games). Illinois set the Big Ten record of .986 in 1981.
• Illinois has played error-free in nine of the last 13 games. Illinois has only four errors in the last 13 games.
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in batting average (.279) and third in ERA (3.65).
• Garrett Acton leads the nation in saves (16) and has set the Illinois single-season record. Acton is two saves away from tying the Big Ten record held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009 (18).
• Zac Taylor leads Illinois with seven homers despite missing 14 games with an injury. Taylor is one of only 23 players in the nation (and the only one in the Big Ten) with 7+ homers and 16+ stolen bases. The other 22 players on the list all have at least 20 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 seventh in the Big Ten in batting average (.337).
• Grant Van Scoy is fourth in the Big Ten in batting average (.354). Van Scoy is hitting .463 (31-67) at home.
• Andy Fisher is second in the Big Ten in batting average against (.193), sixth in innings (74.1), sixth in strikeouts (79) and 11th in ERA (2.66).
• Ty Weber is eighth in the Big Ten in ERA (2.56) and seventh in batting average against (.207).
• Illinois is 15-4 at home and 13-10 on the road.
• Illinois is 9-4 in one-run games and 15-7 in games decided by one or two runs.
• 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).
UP NEXT
Illinois finishes the regular season next weekend at Michigan State Thursday-Saturday. Thursday's game has been picked up by Big Ten Network.
The Big Ten Tournament runs May 22-26 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
