Illinois at the Frisco Classic
When	February 28-March 1
Where	Frisco, Texas // Dr Pepper Ballpark
Tickets	Tickets
Television	None
Live Video	FloBaseball.tv ($)
Radio	Fighting Illini Sports Network | WDWS AM-1400
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Notes	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions | Publications
Social Media	@IlliniBaseball | #Illini | @IlliniBaseball | Facebook | YouTube

FRISCO CLASSIC SCHEDULE 

» Tournament Website

Friday
3 p.m. CT » UCLA vs. Oklahoma State
7 p.m. CT » Texas A&M vs. Illinois

Saturday
2 p.m. CT » Illinois vs. Oklahoma State
6 p.m. CT » UCLA vs. Texas A&M

Sunday
11 a.m. CT » Illinois vs. UCLA
3 p.m. CT » Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M

Home team listed as second team

PREVIEW

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team travels to Frisco, Texas, this weekend for the Frisco Classic, one of the top round robin tournaments in college baseball. The Illini are set to play No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 23 Oklahoma State, and No. 1 UCLA at the Frisco Roughriders' Dr. Pepper Ballpark. 

The Frisco Classic field has combined for over 10,000 wins, 687 MLB draft picks, 90 conference titles, 116 NCAA postseason appearances, 31 College World Series appearances, and two College World Series titles. Some of the top MLB Draft prospects in the nation will showcased, including Texas A&M ace Asa Lacy, who is the No. 3 overall pick in Baseball America's latest mock draft (Feb. 19) after starring for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team over the summer. Lacy is scheduled to throw against Illinois on Friday night.

Illinois (3-3) rebounded from a 1-3 start to the season by beating Coastal Carolina and West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday of last weekend. The Illini received shutdown innings on the mound, led by starters Ty Weber (W at Coastal) and Cole Kirschsieper (W vs. West Virginia), to get the Illini to .500 ahead of one of the toughest weekends on the schedule. 

All three games will be broadcast on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. FloBaseball will provide live video for a fee starting at $12.49 per month. FloBaseball is available on many platforms via the FloSports App, including Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. 

IN THE RANKINGS

SERIES HISTORY

vs. Texas A&M
• Record: 2-8 (Home: 0-0;  Away: 1-3;  Neutral: 1-5;)
• Last: L, 11-1 (3/16/06 at Texas A&M)

vs. Oklahoma State
• Record: 3-11 (Home: 0-0;  Away: 3-11;  Neutral: 0-0)
• Last: W, 4-2 (3/8/15 at Oklahoma State)

vs. UCLA
• Record: 2-1 (Home: 0-0;  Away: 1-1;  Neutral: 1-0)
• Last: W, 5-3 (3/2/18 in Minneapolis, Minn.)

BEADS TO PLAY BASEBALL

Members of Illinois' team will wear special beads produced by "Beads to Play Baseball," a charity run by six-year-old Maddox from Girard, Ohio, to help raise money for kids needing baseball and softball equipment. More information is available on Beads to Play Baseball's Facebook page.

NOTES

• Illinois is traveling to Texas for the first time since a 2017 trip to Lamar.

     » Illinois is traveling to the Dallas area for the first time since a 2013 trip to UT Arlington.

• Illinois has won its last two games after a 1-3 start. All three Illini wins have come when allowing two or fewer runs.

• CF Taylor Jackson, a junior college transfer, has hit safely in each of the first six games while hitting leadoff. 

     » Jackson has reached at a .538 clip (7-13) when leading off an inning.

• SS Branden Comia is slashing .412/.583/.588 through six games.

     » Jackson has reached at a .538 clip (7-13) when leading off an inning.» One of only two underclass shortstops hitting .400+ with an OPS of 1.150+ (St. John's freshman SS Jake Lazzaro)

• Illinois' 50-win 2015 season was sparked by winning two of three at then-No. 10 Oklahoma State. 2015 Big Ten Player of the Year David Kerian lifted then-No. 27 IIllinois to win the Sunday clincher with a two-run home run in the 10th of a 4-2 win, while Tyler Jay - who became the No. 6 overall pick - tossed three scoreless innings to earn his third win of the season.

• Illinois beat then-No. 11 UCLA on March 2, 2018 at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Minneapolis. Illinois rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to win, 5-3, at the Vikings' U.S. Bank Stadium. Grant Van Scoy had the game-winning hit, a two-run single with the score tied 3-3 in the eighth. Illinois went 3-0 in the Challenge by then beating Arizona and Washington.

     » None of Illinois' current players played in the 2018 win against UCLA.

• Four of Illinois' first nine games are against preseason top 25 teams: No. 18 Wake Forest, No. 20 Texas A&M, No. 22 Oklahoma State, No. 14 UCLA. Illinois also faced predicted conference champion and NCAA regional team Coastal Carolina.

• Dan Hartleb head coaching career vs. Top 25: 34-50
     » vs. Top 10: 4-5
     » vs. Top 5: 2-2
     » vs. No. 1: 2-1

• Illinois is 3-3 against No. 1 ranked teams (any poll) since 1995, with a series at Miami in 1995 and at LSU in 2009:

     » L 4-2 at No. 1 Miami 3/3/1995 ... L, 16-0 at No. 1 Miami 3/4/1995 ... W, 7-4 at No. 1 Miami 3/5/1995

     » W, 3-1 at No. 1 LSU 3/6/2009 ... Catcher Aaron Johnson hit a game-winning homer in the ninth.

     » L, 22-10 at No. 1 LSU 3/7/2009 ... Freshman Willie Argo homered three times.

     » W, 6-2 at No. 1 LSU 3/8/2009 ... Senior RHP Ben Reeser threw 8 2/3 shutout innings before allowing two runs.

• Illinois was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten by Perfect Game, fifth by D1Baseball, and eighth by Baseball America.

• Illinois is opening the new decade following its best decade in program history. 

     » Two Big Ten titles (2011, 2015) in the decade.

     » Four NCAA Regionals (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019), tied for the second-most in the Big Ten in the 2010s (IND 6, NEB 4).

     » Program record 50 wins in 2015 and the team's first ever Super Regional.

     » Head coach Dan Hartleb was named D1Baseball's Big Ten Coach of the Decade.

• Head coach Dan Hartleb has made as many NCAA tournaments in his first 14 seasons as head coach (4) as the previous 42 Illini seasons combined. 

• Illinois' new $8-million, 26,000-square foot Susan and Clint Atkins Baseball Training Center is set to open in 2022.

• D1Baseball Big Ten top 2020 MLB Draft prospects: No. 20 LHP Jimmy Burnette, No. 24 C/1B Kellen Sarver, No. 37 RHP Garrett Acton

• D1Baseball Big Ten top 2021 MLB Draft prospects: No. 4 RHP Aidan Maldonado, No. 14 IF/OF Cam McDonald, No. 19 LHP Nathan Lavender, No. 20 SS Branden Comia, No. 26 Ty Rybarczyk

• D1Baseball Big Ten Impact Freshmen: No. 19 INF Brody Harding, No. 37 LHP Cole Kirschsieper, No. 42 RHP Grant Leader, No. 44 OF Danny Doligale, No. 46 INF Xavier Watson

• RHP Garrett Acton preseason awards: NCBWA Preseason All-America first team, Perfect Game Preseason All-America second team, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason All-America second team, Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten, No. 26 MLB Draft prospect in the Big Ten by Perfect Game, No. 37 MLB Draft prospect in the Big Ten by D1Baseball

• Illinois regularly started four freshmen last season, who now make up the sophomore class: SS Branden Comia, 1B/C Kellen Sarver, C Jacob Campbell, IF/OF Cam McDonald. The class was ranked No. 22 in the nation by D1Baseball.com and No. 24 by Baseball America as recruits, Illinois' first-ever top-25 recruiting class. Campbell (No. 25) and RHP Aidan Maldonado (No. 49) were both among the top 50 freshman in the nation according to Baseball America in 2019.

• Illinois has 18 newcomers in 2020.

• Dr Pepper Ballpark has no period in its name.

UP NEXT

Illinois hosts Chicago State on March 3 for the Illinois Field opener before traveling to Elon for three games March 6-8.