University of Illinois
Rutgers
Illinois Closes Out 2021 Season with a Trip to Rutgers
May 27, 2021 | Baseball
Preview
| Illinois (21-20) at Rutgers (19-22) | |
|---|---|
| When | May 28-30 |
| Where | Piscataway, N.J. |
| Television | None |
| Live Video ($) | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Radio | Fighting Illini Sports Network | WDWS AM-1400 |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Notes | Illinois | Rutgers |
| Shop | Online Store | Auctions |
| Social Media | @IlliniBaseball  | @IlliniBaseball  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| Probable Starting Pitchers | |||||||||
| Day | Illinois | Rutgers | |||||||
| Fri. 10 a.m. CT | RHP Andrew Hoffmann (3-0, 2.89) | LHP Harry Rutkowski (2-4, 4.50) | |||||||
| Sat. 12 p.m. CT | LHP Nathan Lavender (6-2, 4.41) | RHP Brent Teller (4-3, 3.86) | |||||||
| Sun. 11 a.m. CT | RHP Riley Gowens (2-4, 6.13) | LHP Ben Wereski (5-2, 3.60) | |||||||
Note: Friday's game has been moved to a 10 a.m. CT first pitch.
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Illinois baseball team will play their final three games of the season at Rutgers this weekend. Prior to the start of the season, it was announced there would be no Big Ten Tournament.
Illinois (21-20) enters the weekend having won five of their last six games. A series win at Iowa, a midweek victory at No. 25 Indiana and taking two of three from Penn State at home last weekend has the Illini back above .500.
Head coach Dan Hartleb picked up his 475th win on Saturday moving him ahead of Illini legend Itch Jones (474 wins) for second on the program's all-time wins list. Lee Eilbracht (518 wins) holds the top spot.
Kellen Sarver was named Big Ten Player of the Week after an impressive showing at the plate against Penn State. Sarver hit .500/.538/1.417 (6-for-12), with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored in three games this weekend. His three home runs came in a span of four at-bats between Saturday and Sunday.
Justin Janas will have an opportunity to win the Big Ten batting title this weekend. Janas comes into the final weekend leading the conference in batting average (.372) and on-base percentage (.497). He has reached base safely in 35 of 37 games this season.
The Illini will throw RHP Andrew Hoffmann on Friday, LHP Nathan Lavender on Saturday and RHP Riley Gowens will go to the hill on Sunday.
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. Rutgers
• Record: 8-2 (Home: 6-0; Away: 1-2; Neutral: 1-0)
• Last: W, 10-4 (4/15/18 at Illinois Field)
• Illini swept three games in 2015 and 2018
• Rutgers won two of three in 2017
• First met 3/20/89 (W, 4-0 at Coral Gables, Fla.)
NOTES
• Illinois enters this weekend having won five of their last six games as they play their final series of the season at Rutgers.
• Illinois' offensive rankings in the Big Ten through 41 games...
» 3rd hits (385)
» 3rd batting average (.276)
» 3rd scoring (6.6 runs/game)
» 3rd runs (272)
» 5th on-base percentage (.375)
» 5th walks (186)
» 5th doubles (74)
• Illinois is currently averaging 6.63 runs/game, the most in a season since 2009 when they averaged 7.46 runs/game (403 R/54 G).
• Illinois recorded their fourth shutout of the season last Friday. The last time the Illini had at least four shutouts in a single season was in 2014 when they had five shutouts. The last time the Illini had four shutouts in conference play in a single season was 1989.
• Illinois has won back-to-back series on the road (May 14-16 at Iowa & April 23-25 at Purdue).
• Illinois has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 15 games this season. They had three consecutive games with 10+ SO (May 15-18) for the first time since April 2-5, 2019 vs. Coastal Carolina/Maryland (3g).
• Illinois had a season-high 13 walks on May 15 at Iowa. It was the most by the Illini in a game since March 11, 2016 vs. UNC Greensboro (15 BB).
• Illinois has hit 38 home runs in their last 29 games after only four home runs in their first 12 games.
• Illinois has scored at least six runs in 17 of their 21 wins. The Illini are 17-6 when scoring six runs or more in a game this season.
• Illinois has been leading or tied over the course of the game in 14 of their 20 losses this season (11 leading, three tied).
• Illinois has seven saves over their last 20 games after 0 saves in their first 21 games.
• Dan Hartleb won his 475th game as a head coach on Saturday against Penn State passing Illini legend Itch Jones (474) to move into second place on the program's all-time wins list. Hartleb (475) is 44 wins away from passing Lee Eilbracht (518) for first place on the all-time wins list.
• 1B/DH Justin Janas leads the Big Ten in batting average (.372) and on-base percentage (.497). He has reached base safely in 35 of 37 contests this season.
» On May 16 at Iowa, Janas (5-for-5, 2B, RBI, R) became first Illinois batter with five hits in a game since Jason Goldstein on May 10, 2015 vs. Rutgers (5-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R). He is the first to do it on the road since Ryan Hastings on April 7, 2008 at Indiana (5-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R).
• 1B Kellen Sarver was named Big Ten Player of the Week following his performance last weekend. He hit .500/.538/1.417 (6-for-12), with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored in three games against Penn State.
» Sarver had his first career multi-home run game and a career-high 6 RBI on Saturday night vs. Penn State.
» His three home runs came in the span of four at-bats from the fourth inning Saturday to the second inning Sunday.
• 3B Jackson Raper had his second multi-home run game of the season on Friday vs. Penn State. One of his homers was an inside-the-park home run, the first by an Illini since Trent Hammond on April 18, 2017 vs. Western Michigan.
» Raper is the first Illini to have more than one multi-HR game in a season since National Player of the Year Bren Spillane in 2018.
» 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 (43), 3rd – slugging percentage (.634), 4th – home runs (12)
• SS Branden Comia is hitting .364/.470/.512 (44-for-121), with 9 2B, 3 HR, 25 RBIs, 26 R and 17 BB over his last 33 games.
» 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).
» Comia was the only underclassmen shortstop in the nation who hit .400+ with an OPS of 1.200+ in 2020.
• RHP Andrew Hoffmann threw seven scoreless innings last Friday. His two most recent starts at Illinois Field have been scoreless.
» Big Ten rankings: 2nd – WHIP (1.00), 3rd – SO/BB Ratio (4.69), 5th – ERA (2.89), 6th – BAA (.205), 6th – BB/9 inn. (2.09), 6th – H/9 inn. (6.91)
• 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 (6), 2nd – SO/BB Ratio (4.93), 7th – SO/9 inn. (12.18)
• 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.
• 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 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.
» At the time, 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.
