PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â The Illinois baseball team begins its 143rd season on Friday with a trip to Corpus Christi, Texas. The Illini are scheduled to play a three-game series against Kansas at Whataburger Field.
This season, the team has 24 players returning from the 2021Â roster and welcomes 13 newcomers. Four of the 13 newcomers are transfers.
Sophomore left-hander Cole Kirschsieper will get the start for the Illini on Friday. Kirschsieper went 3-4 overall in 2021 with a 5.82 ERA in 38.2 innings. Illinois will send sophomore righty Jack Wenninger to the mound for Saturday's contest, followed by sophomore LHP Payton Hutchings for the series finale on Sunday.
All three games will be broadcast on B1G+.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Kansas
• Record: 3-0 (Neutral: 3-0)
• Last: W, 11-9 (3/19/08)
• Illinois has won all three games of the series
• Illini won first ever meeting, 1-0 on 3/14/76
NOTES
• Illinois is opening its 143rd season in program history.
• Illinois will play their first three games of the season against Kansas at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Illinois has 24 returners and 13 newcomers on the 2022 roster.
  » Four newcomers are transfers: OF Tyler Thompson (Carson-Newman), RHP Johnny Czeslawski (North Iowa Area C.C.), RHP Tommy Green (Mercer), and RHP Jack Wenninger (Murray State)
• Illinois finished the season 22-22 and seventh in the Big Ten in 2021. Illinois has finished at or above .500 in 16-of-17 seasons under head coach Dan Hartleb.
• Illinois beat every Big Ten team at least once in 2021.
• Illinois threw a combined no-hitter on April 25, 2021 at Purdue.
• Illinois' Big Ten offensive rankings in 2021...
    » 1st batting average (.276)
    » 1st hits (411)
    » 3rd scoring (6.6 runs/game)
    » 3rd runs (290)
    » 5th on-base percentage (.374)
    » 5th slugging percentage (.429)
    » 5th walks (197)
• Illinois has had the Big Ten regular season batting champion the last three full seasons: 2021 – DH/1B Justin Janas, 2019 – INF Grant Van Scoy, 2018 – INF Bren Spillane.
• Illinois averaged 6.59 runs/game in 2021, their most in a season since 2009 when they averaged 7.46 runs/game (403 R/54 G).
• Illinois finished last season with a .974 fielding percentage (3rd-best in the conference). The Illini have had at least a .970 fielding percentage in nine of the last 11 seasons.
• Illinois recorded four shutouts in 2021. 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 had double-digit strikeouts in 16 games this season. They did so in three consecutive games from May 15-18 at Iowa/at Indiana for the first time since April 2-5, 2019 vs. Coastal Carolina/Maryland (3g).
• Illinois hit 43 home runs in their last 32 games after only four home runs in their first 12 games in 2021.
• Illinois scored at least six runs in 18 of their 22 wins. The Illini were 18-6 when scoring six runs or more in a game.
• Illinois was leading or tied over the course of the game in 16 of their 22 losses in 2021 (12 leading, four tied).
• Dan Hartleb won his 475th game as a head coach on May 22 against Penn State, passing Illini legend Itch Jones (474) to move into second on the program's all-time wins list. Hartleb (476) is 43 wins away from passing Lee Eilbracht (518) for first place on the all-time wins list.
• DH/1B Justin Janas won the Big Ten batting title with a .391 batting average. The next closest was Northwestern's Shawn Goosenberg (.358). Janas also led the conference in on-base percentage (.506) and the Illini in hits (54). He reached base safely in 40-of-42 appearances 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 was 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).
• Branden 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).
    » Final Big Ten rankings: 1st – SO/BB Ratio (5.27), T-1st – wins (1), 6th – SO/9 inn. (12.47)
• 1B Kellen Sarver was named Big Ten Player of the Week following his performance against Penn State May 21-23. He hit .500/.538/1.417 (6-for-12), with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored in three games.
• 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 18 student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big Ten in 2021.
• 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 2022 MLB Draft prospects: No. 5 LHP Cole Kirschsieper, No. 17 RHP Riley Gowens, No. 20 SS Branden Comia, No. 27 1B Justin Janas.
• Baseball America Big Ten top 2022 MLB Draft prospects: No. 4 LHP Cole Kirschsieper.
• Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten team: 1B Justin Janas and C/OF Jacob Campbell.
• Perfect Game Big Ten top 2022 MLB Draft prospects: No. 4 LHP Cole Kirschsieper, No. 22 C Jacob Campbell, No. 24 INF Branden Comia.
UP NEXT
Illinois will travel to Conway, South Carolina next weekend for games against Middle Tennessee and Coastal Carolina, followed by UNC-Wilmington in Wilmington, N.C. to wrap up the weekend.
