| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Northwestern |
| Fri. 6Â p.m. CT |
RHP Jack Crowder (2-1, 5.36) |
LHP Nolan Morr (1-4, 8.64) |
| Sat. 4 p.m. CT |
LHP Cooper Omans (3-1, 3.96) |
TBD |
| Sun. 1 p.m. CT |
TBD |
TBD |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball continues its season-long eight-game homestand with a Big Ten weekend series vs. Northwestern. First pitch from Illinois Field in Friday's series opener is set for 6 p.m. CT.
The Orange and Blue are coming off of a sweep of Northern Illinois last weekend and are winners in four-straight games. The Illini outscored the Huskies 52-21 in three games and slugged a total of 15 home runs.
RHP Jack Crowder (2-1, 5.36) is set to get the ball in Friday's opener with LHP Cooper Omans (3-1, 3.96) to scheduled to follow on Saturday. Sunday's starter is to be determined.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Northwestern
- Record: 179-92 (H: 93-34, A: 85-57, N: 1-1)
- Last: L, 7-4 (4/9/23 at Evanston, Ill.)
- Illini swept last series in Champaign in 2022
- Illinois has won 23 of last 30 dating back to 2011
NOTES
WEEKEND ACTION VS. NORTHWESTERN
Illinois baseball continues a season-long eight-game homestand with a weekend series vs. in-state rival Northwestern.
All three contests can be streamed on B1G+.
Scott Beatty will call the action for the Illini on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (1400 AM/93.9FM). Streaming, audio, and stats links are also available at FightingIllini.com.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Northwestern enters the contest 12-20, taking two of three contests in its weekend series vs. Maryland in Evanston. The Wildcats have gone 9-14 in road contests this season.
C/1B Bennett Markinson leads Northwestern at the plate with a .354 average to go along with five doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI. Among starters, RHP Kyle Potthoff leads on the mound, going 3-2 with an 4.64 ERA (22 ER/42.2 IP) to go along with 22 strikeouts in 11 games, eight starts.Â
The Wildcats went 10-40 last season, including a 4-20 record in Big Ten play.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
Illinois leads in the all-time series 179-92 and have gone 93-34 in games played in Champaign. The Illini swept the Wildcats in the last series at Illinois Field from April 15-17, 2022.
Illinois has won 23 of the last 30 matchups overall, dating back to 2011.
WEEKEND ROUND-UP
Illinois captured its 13th win in the last 15 tries with a 21-11 victory over Northern Illinois on April 14 to secure a series sweep.
Cameron Chee-Aloy led the team in average over the weekend, going 6-for-9 (.667) with seven runs scored, a double, triple, home run and three RBI. Ryan Moerman, Jacob Schroeder and Drake Westcott showed off their power, combining to hit 10 home runs and drive in 28 runs. Schroeder and Westcott each homered three times on April 14, marking the first time since at least 2004 that a pair of Illini teammates each homered in the same game.
Illinois posted an overall team slash of .439/.549/.904 against the Huskies, scoring 52 runs and homering 15 times. The 52 runs scored is the most in a three-game series in program history and second-most in a series in program history (59, Northwestern, 2005, 4 G).
Jack Crowder opened the series with his third quality start of the season on April 12, allowing three earned runs on four hits over 6.0 innings of work, tallying three strikeouts. Cooper Omans picked up his third win of the season on April 13, picking up seven punchouts over 5.2 frames. Ben Plumley held the Huskies scoreless over 1.2 innings in the series finale on April 14, whiffing two batters.
The Fighting Illini improved to 11-1 at Illinois Field this season and earned their first sweep of a non-conference opponent at home since 2022.
HAT TRICK DUO
Jacob Schroeder and Drake Westcott had huge days at the plate on April 14 vs. Northern Illinois, with the duo each going yard three times in the contest, the first time in program history that the Illini had teammates each hit three home runs in the same game.
They are also the first Big Ten teammates to perform such a feat since at least 2013.
The pair combined to go 6-for-8 with seven runs scored, six home runs, 13 RBI and two walks in the Illini's 21-11 victory.
FOUR IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Illinois slugged eight home runs in the series finale vs. Northern Illinois on April 14, the most in a single game in program history since 2004.
The Illini also hit four home runs on April 13 vs. the Huskies, giving them five games this season with four home runs or more.Â
Illinois had eight such games last season, going 7-1 in those contests. Since 2018, Illinois is 16-2 when they hit at least four homers in a single game.Â
SCHRO SHOW
Jacob Schroeder's offensive surge continued over the weekend vs. Northern Illinois, going 7-for-11 with seven runs, four home runs, 11 RBI and a walk for an overall slash of .636/.714/1.727.
Schroeder had his career-high 10-game hitting streak snapped in the doubleheader finale on April 6 at Minnesota, but the redshirt senior has still hit safely in 14 of his last 15, going 25-for-53 (.472) during that span with four doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI. During this 15-game stretch, the Chicago native has raised his season average from .174 to .372, which is the eighth-highest in the Big Ten.
Schroeder has also boosted his OPS to 1.292, which is the highest among Big Ten hitters. He also leads the conference in slugging (.808) and ranks fourth in home runs (10).
DRAKE RAKES
Drake Westcott homered three times in the series finale vs. Northern Illinois on April 14 for his third multi-homer game of the season and the sixth such performance of his career. It is also the second time in his career that he has homered three times in a game, last doing so on May 6, 2023, vs. Michigan State.
Westcott is tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs with 12 and also ranks among conference leaders in walks (31, 2nd), slugging (.669, 4th) and OPS (1.123, 6th).
Four of the Edwardsville, Ill., native's big flies this season have gone to the opposite field. Westcott hit eight of his 18 dingers last season the opposite way.
Westcott is also on a 26-game on-base streak, which is longest streak by an Illini since Branden Comia had his 60-game on-base streak snapped in 2023.
FEELING THE CHEE-SIEST
Cameron Chee-Aloy had another big weekend, going 6-for-9 with seven runs scored, a double, triple, home run, three RBI and three walks in the Illini's sweep of Northern Illinois. He had two hits in each game of the series, the three-game multi-hit streak his longest of the season.
Chee-Aloy extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games, which is the longest streak by an Illini this season and the longest since Branden Comia had a 16-game hitting streak during the 2022 season.Â
He has gone 26-for-63 (.413) during that span with four doubles, one triple, a home run and 14 RBI. He also has eight multi-hit games during his streak, including a career-high three hits three times.
In his first-nine career Big Ten games, Chee-Aloy has gone 15-for-40 (.375) with 10 runs scored, three doubles, six RBI and four walks for an overall slash of .375/.447/.450.
The Toronto native has reached base safely in 30 of 31 games to begin his career and is currently on a season-high 19-game on-base streak.
TOUGHEST OUT IN THE NATION
Camden Janik remains one of the toughest outs in the country, striking out just five times in 132 at-bats. His K AVG. of 26.4 is the best in the nation. His five strikeouts are the fewest among batters that have taken at least 132 at-bats this season. Janik is the highest ranked catcher in that category and the only one ranked in the Top 15.
BAD DAY TO BE A BASEBALL
In the series finale vs. Northern Illinois on April 14, the Illini mashed a season-high eight home runs to slug their way to a 21-11 victory.
It marked a new season high in long balls and it was also the most home runs hit by the Illini since also slugging eight on April 20, 1999, vs. Eastern Illinois.
The Orange and Blue fell just one home run shy of matching the program record of nine, which was set on April 30, 1991, vs. UIC, and did so in just six innings.
UP NEXT
Illinois wraps up its homestand with a midweek showdown vs. Western Illinois on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.
