| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Michigan |
| Sat. 11:30 a.m. CT |
RHP Andrew Hoffmann (1-0, 3.77) |
LHP Steve Hajjar (2-0, 2.78) |
| Sat. TBD |
LHP Nathan Lavender (5-0, 3.55) |
RHP Cameron Weston (4-2, 3.00) |
| Sun. 11:30Â a.m. CT |
RHP Riley Gowens (1-2, 4.60) |
LHP Jacob Denner (3-1, 4.00) |
| Sun. TBD |
TBA |
LHP Ben Dragani or RHP Blake Beers |
SCHEDULE
Saturday (Game 1), 11:30 a.m. CT » Michigan vs. Illinois (7 inn.)
Saturday (Game 2), approx. 40 minutes after the final out of game one » Michigan vs. Illinois (9 inn.)
Sunday (Game 1), 11:30 a.m. CT » Michigan vs. Illinois (7 inn.)
Sunday (Game 2), approx. 40 minutes after the final out of game one » Michigan vs. Illinois (9 inn.)
This weekend's pod at Northwestern has been adjusted as Northwestern is pausing team activities for at least one week due to health and safety concerns within the program.
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois baseball team will travel to Evanston, Illinois, to face Michigan four games this weekend. Originally, it was scheduled as a pod with Northwestern included and each team scheduled to play twice.
Illinois (13-14) is coming off a series sweep of Purdue, including a no-hitter on Sunday. The sweep of Purdue was the first of the season for the Illini. It was the first since May 10-12, 2019 vs. Purdue and first Big Ten series sweep on the road since March 23-25, 2018 at Northwestern.
RHP Riley Gowens (7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 SO), LHP Ryan O'Hara (W, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and LHP Cole Kirschsieper (S, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) combined to throw the 11th no-hitter in Illinois' 142-year program history, first ever on the road, and first since 1985.
Gowens was named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week and Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for his contributions in the no-hitter.
The Illini and Michigan (19-9) already met in Ann Arbor back in March. The teams split a two-game set. In the first game, the score was tied 3-3 heading into the eighth inning before the Illini unloaded four runs to claim the lead and go onto a 7-4 win. The second game was controlled by Michigan early after they put up four runs in the first inning on their way to an 8-1 win.
RHP Andrew Hoffmann will go for the Illini in game one on Saturday, while LHP Nathan Lavender is scheduled to get the ball in the second game. On Sunday, RHP Riley Gowens will return to the mound to throw the first game.
No general public admission will be allowed at the games this weekend.
All games this weekend will be broadcast on BTN+. Scott Beatty will have the radio call on the Fighting Illini Sports Network for Illinois' games.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Michigan
• Record: 106-142-2 (Home: 55-67-2; Away: 47-70; Neutral: 4-5)
• Last: L, 8-1 (3/20/21 at Michigan)
• Split first two games at Michigan in 2021
• Michigan eliminated Illinois from 2019 BTT
• Illinois won two of three in 2016 and 2018
• Michigan won two of three in 2017
NOTES
• Illinois will head to Evanston this weekend to play a four-game series against Michigan, following a pause in the Northwestern program.
• RHP Riley Gowens (7.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 SO), LHP Ryan O'Hara (W, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and LHP Cole Kirschsieper (S, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) combined to throw the 11th no-hitter in Illinois' 142-year program history and first ever on the road. It was the first since "Boo" Champagne vs. Bradley on April 24, 1985.
• Illinois has now thrown three no-hitters on April 25 (Gowens/O'Hara/Kirschsieper at Purdue on April 25, 2021, Sanford/Foss/Gregory vs. St. Joseph's (Ind.) on April 25, 1967, Charles Schiller vs. Chicago on April 25, 1942).
• The no-hitter was the second combined no-hitter in program history (Sanford/Foss/Gregory vs. St. Joseph's (Ind.) on April 25, 1967).
• It was the fourth no-hitter Illinois has recorded in a conference game (Doug Mills vs. Wisconsin on April 29, 1961, Charles Schiller vs. Chicago on April 25, 1942, Woodward "Red" Gunkel vs. Ohio State 5/5/1916).
• Illinois' offensive rankings in the Big Ten through 27 games...
   » 1st hits (267)
   » 2nd batting average (.285)
   » 4th on-base percentage (.379)
   » 5th runs (179)
• Illinois' starting pitchers in three games at Purdue last weekend: 2-0, 1.47 ERA (18.1 IP, 3 ER), 5 H, 8 BB, 16 SO.
• Illinois completed their first sweep of the season and first since May 10-12, 2019 vs. Purdue. It was their first Big Ten series sweep on the road since March 23-25, 2018 at Northwestern.
• Illinois has won five of their last seven games following a stretch where they lost six of seven games.
• Illinois recorded their second shutout of the season in Sunday's 1-0 combined no-hitter (March 7 vs. Ohio State).Â
   » The last time the Illini had multiple shutouts in conference play in a single season was in 2016 when they did it on three occasions.
• Illinois had a season-high 11 walks last Saturday. It was the most by the Illini in a game since April 14, 2019 at Minnesota (11 BB).
• Illinois has recorded a save in four of their last six games after zero saves through the first 21 games.
• Illinois has hit 18 home runs in their last 15 games after only four home runs in their first 12 games.
• Illinois has scored at least six runs in 12 of their 13 wins. The Illini are 12-5 when scoring six runs or more in a game this season.
• Illinois has been leading or tied over the course of the game in 10 of their 14 losses this season (seven leading, three tied).
• Illinois has 24 returning players and 11 newcomers. 86% of last season's hits and 83% of runs are back in the lineup.
   » Three of the four transfers on the team this season are coming from John A. Logan CC (RHP Andrew Hoffmann, C Ryan Hampe, INF Zak Hartleb). INF Jackson Raper transferred from Catawba College.
• RHP Riley Gowens was named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week & Big Ten Pitcher of the Week following his seven hitless innings in his start on Sunday at Purdue.
• SS Branden Comia is hitting .443/.540/.671 (31-for-70), with 7 2B, 3 HR, 17 RBIs, 22 R and 10 BB over his last 19 games.
   » Big Ten rankings this season: 1st – on-base percentage (.492), 6th – runs (28), 6th – batting average (.354)Â
   » Comia snapped his career-long 37-game on-base streak that dated back to May 18, 2019 at Michigan State on April 10 at Indiana. It was the third longest on-base streak by an Illini hitter since 2004 (Ben Troike-57 games in 2017-18, Kyle Hudson-38 games in 2008).
• SS Branden Comia was the only underclassmen shortstop in the nation who hit .400+ with an OPS of 1.200+ in 2020.
• LHP Nate Lavender is the first Illinois pitcher to start a season 5-0 since RHP John Kravetz finished the 2015 season with a 5-0 record (3.35 ERA) in 14 starts.Â
   » Big Ten rankings: T-1st – wins (5), 2nd – SO/BB Ratio (5.88), 5th – SO/9 inn. (12.82), 5th – WHIP (1.06)
• 3B Jackson Raper is hitting .313/.437/.625 (30-for-96), with 9 2B, 7 HR, 26 RBIs, 23 R, 20 BB in 27 games this season.
   » Big Ten rankings: T-3rd – BB (20), T-6th – RBIs (26), 7th – slugging percentage (.625), T-10th – home runs (7)
• 1B/DH Justin Janas has a .379 batting average (1st in the Big Ten) and a .481 on-base percentage (2nd in the Big Ten).
• Dan Hartleb won his 450th game as a head coach on Feb. 28, 2020 against #13 Texas A&M to become the third coach in Illinois history to reach the milestone. Hartleb (467) is eight wins away from passing Illini legend Itch Jones (474) for second place on the all-time wins list.
• Illinois scored 13 runs on April 16 and a season-high 15 runs on April 17 against Michigan State. The last time the Illini had at least 13 runs in back-to-back games was March 9-10, 2018 vs. Michigan State/at Furman.
   » It is the first time they have scored 13+ runs in a conference game on consecutive days since March 27-28, 1998 vs. Michigan.
• The combination of RHP Andrew Hoffmann, LHP Nate Lavender and RHP Jack Crowder struck out 17 Northwestern batters on March 26, the most in a game since the Illini set a program record on April 22, 2016 vs. Ohio State (15 inn., 23 SO).
   » It was the most in a 9-inning game since at least the 2004 season.
• Illinois won both games of their doubleheader on March 13, their first DH sweep since April 14, 2019 at Minnesota.
• On March 7, the Illini pitched a three-hit shutout. It was their first shutout in a conference game since May 3, 2019 vs. Indiana (4-0) and the first in a conference game away from Illinois Field since May 22, 2015 vs. Michigan State (2-0) in the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis.
   » The three hits allowed were the least in a conference game since May 4, 2019 vs. Indiana (3) and the least in a conference game away from Illinois Field since May 7, 2016 at Maryland (3).
• Illinois returned to play on March 5 against Ohio State for the first time in 362 days (8-7 win on March 8, 2020 at Elon).
   » The Big Ten suspended all sports beginning March 12, 2020 due to COVID-19. The fast-spreading virus was deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, prompting most collegiate and professional leagues in the United States to suspend all activities. The suspension of Big Ten sports ended Illinois' baseball season after only 13 games.
• Head coach Dan Hartleb has made as many NCAA tournaments in his first 15 seasons as head coach (4) as the previous 42 Illini seasons combined.
• Illinois is picked to finish fifth in the conference by Baseball America, sixth by D1Baseball and sixth in the Big Ten preseason coaches poll.
• 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 2021 MLB Draft prospects: No. 11 SS Branden Comia, No. 17 RHP Aidan Maldonado, No. 27 C Ryan Hampe
• D1Baseball Big Ten Impact Freshmen: No. 17 LHP Payton Hutchings and No. 21 RHP Jack Crowder
• Baseball America Big Ten top 2021 MLB Draft prospects: No. 10 RHP Aidan Maldonado, No. 13 C Jacob Campbell, No. 17 SS Branden Comia, No. 20 RHP Andrew Hoffmann
• Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten team: SS Branden Comia and C Ryan Hampe
• Perfect Game Big Ten top 2021 MLB Draft prospects: No. 19 C Jacob Campbell, No. 22 RHP Andrew Hoffmann, No. 24 RHP Aidan Maldonado, No. 25 C Ryan Hampe, No. 29 SS Branden Comia, No. 32 INF Jackson Raper
• SS Branden Comia preseason awards: Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten team, No. 4 shortstop in the nation by D1Baseball, No. 11 MLB Draft prospect in the Big Ten by D1Baseball, No. 17 MLB Draft prospect in the Big Ten by Baseball America, "Best Defensive Infielder" in the Big Ten by Baseball America, Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award watch list
• Illinois opened the new decade last season following its best decade in program history.Â
   » 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.
UP NEXT
Illinois will return home to play Maryland in a three-game series at Illinois Field.
