| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Iowa |
| Fri. 6:05 p.m. CT |
RHP Andrew Hoffmann (2-0, 3.27) |
LHP Trenton Wallace (5-1, 2.83) |
| Sat. 2:05 p.m. CT |
LHP Nathan Lavender (5-2, 4.79) |
RHP Duncan Davitt (4-1, 4.20) |
| Sun. 1:05 p.m. CT |
RHP Riley Gowens (1-3, 5.59) |
LHP Cam Baumann (4-4, 3.86) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois baseball team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the Hawkeyes this weekend. The Illini have two series remaining on the road this season.
Illinois (16-18) played a three-game series at Illinois Field against Maryland last weekend. The highlight of the weekend was a 2-0 Illini shutout victory on Friday night. The shutout was the third of the season from the pitching staff (April 25 at Purdue and March 7 vs. Ohio State).
RHP Andrew Hoffmann (W, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, career-high 12 SO) led the Illini in the Friday night matchup. He pitched his best game of the season. LHP Cole Kirschsieper came in for the final 1.2 innings and was able to nail it down. Kirschsieper has an active 13.0-inning scoreless streak over his last six relief appearances.
Justin Janas has been swinging the bat well all season. He currently has a career-best 16-game on-base streak. He has reached base safely in 31 of his 32 appearances this season. His consistent approach at the plate has him on the conference leaderboards for batting average (.361-3rd) and on-base percentage (.478-4th).
This weekend, the Illini will have Hoffmann take the mound on Friday, LHP Nathan Lavender on Saturday and RHP Riley Gowens on Sunday in the series finale.
Fifty percent capacity (approximately 1,200 people) will be allowed at Duane Banks Field this weekend. Tickets must be pre-purchased online at https://bit.ly/33Dxfk3 as no walk-up tickets will be sold.
All three games this weekend will be broadcast on BTN+. Scott Beatty will have the radio call all weekend on the Fighting Illini Sports Network.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Iowa
• Record: 131-88-2 (Home: 69-39-1; Away: 58-49-1; Neutral: 4-0)
• Last: L, 3-1 (3/31/19 at Iowa)
• Iowa swept Illinois March 29-31, 2019
• Iowa has won four straight series
NOTES
• Illinois will travel to Iowa City to play a three-game series against the Hawkeyes at Duane Banks Field.
• Illinois' offensive rankings in the Big Ten through 34 games...
» 2nd batting average (.275)
» 3rd hits (316)
» 4th scoring (6.4 runs/game)
» 5th runs (218)
» 5th on-base percentage (.372)
• Illinois is currently averaging 6.41 runs/game, the most in a season since 2010 when they averaged 6.58 runs/game (342 R/52 G).
• Illinois recorded their third shutout of the season last Friday in a 2-0 win over Maryland. They have three shutouts in conference play in a single season for the first time since 2016 (April 29, 2016 vs. Minnesota, April 22, 2016 vs. Ohio State, March 25, 2016 vs. Penn State).
• Illinois has hit 26 home runs in their last 22 games after only four home runs in their first 12 games.
• Illinois has scored at least six runs in 13 of their 16 wins. The Illini are 13-6 when scoring six runs or more in a game this season.
• Illinois has been leading or tied over the course of the game in 13 of their 18 losses this season (ten leading, three tied).
• Illinois has five saves over their last 13 games after 0 saves in their first 21 games.
• 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 Andrew Hoffmann led the Illini to a 2-0 win last Friday over Maryland (W, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, career-high 12 SO).
» The last Illinois pitcher to have at least 12 strikeouts in a game was Cody Sedlock on May 13, 2016 at Indiana (12 SO).
» Big Ten rankings: 1st – SO/BB Ratio (5.10), 4th – WHIP (0.98), 5th – BAA (.201), 5th – H/9 inn. (6.75), 5th – BB/9 inn. (2.05)
• SS Branden Comia is hitting .402/.517/.576 (37-for-92), with 7 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBIs, 25 R and 15 BB over his last 26 games.
» Big Ten rankings: 3rd – on-base percentage (.484), 9th – batting average (.339), T-9th – runs (31)
» 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 Cole Kirschsieper has a 13.0-inning scoreless streak spanning over his last six appearances out of the bullpen.
• 1B/DH Justin Janas has reached base safely in a career-high 16 straight games. He has a .361 batting average (3rd in the Big Ten) and a .478 on-base percentage (4th in the Big Ten) this season.
• LHP Nate Lavender started the season 5-0 to become the first Illini to do so since RHP John Kravetz finished the 2015 season with a 5-0 record (3.35 ERA) in 14 starts.
» Big Ten rankings: T-2nd – wins (5), 2nd – SO/BB Ratio (4.82), 7th – SO/9 inn. (11.54)
• 3B Jackson Raper hit for the cycle on May 2 against Michigan. Raper went 4-for-5 (home run, single, triple, double) with a career-high 7 RBI and two runs scored in the first game of the doubleheader.
» He is only the 4th Illinois batter in the last 32 seasons (since 1990) to hit for the cycle and the first since Justin Parr vs. Purdue on April 14, 2013. Brandon Wikoff vs. Bradley on April 7, 2009 and Sean Mulligan vs. Michigan on February 25, 1990 were the others.
» Big Ten rankings: 3rd – RBIs (36), 5th – slugging percentage (.634), T-7th – home runs (9), T-8th – doubles (10)
• 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 (470) is five wins away from passing Illini legend Itch Jones (474) for second place on the all-time wins list.
• Illinois completed their only sweep of the season at Purdue (April 23-25) and it was their 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 recorded their second shutout of the season on April 25 at Purdue in the 1-0 combined no-hitter (March 7 vs. Ohio State).
• 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 at Purdue on April 25.
• Illinois had a season-high 11 walks on April 24 at Purdue. It was the most by the Illini in a game since April 14, 2019 at Minnesota (11 BB).
• 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.
» 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 travel to Bloomington, Indiana, next Tuesday to play a makeup game against the Indiana Hoosiers at 2 p.m. CT.
