| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Maryland |
| Fri. 4 p.m. CT |
RHP Jack Crowder (3-1, 5.03) |
RHP Logan Koester (4-5, 6.44) |
| Sat. 1 p.m. CT |
LHP Cooper Omans (4-1, 3.55) |
LHP Omar Melendez (3-1, 4.78) |
| Sun. 12 p.m. CT |
TBA |
RHP Joey McMannis (0-1, 4.95) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball returns to Big Ten play as they hit the road to take on Maryland for a three-game set in College Park. First pitch from Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium in Friday's series opener is set for 4 p.m. CT.
The Orange and Blue are coming off midweek victory over Western Illinois, 12-1, at Illinois Field on Tuesday. The Illini also finished 8-0 during their season-long homestand and are now 15-1 in front of the home fans this season.
RHP Jack Crowder (3-1, 5.03) is set to get the ball in the series opener, with LHP Cooper Omans (4-1, 3.55) set to follow on Saturday. Sunday's start is to be determined.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Maryland
- Record: 10-12 (H: 5-7, A: 4-2, N: 1-3)
- Last: L, 7-4 (4/23/22 at Champaign, Ill.)
- Illinois has won both series played in College Park, Md.
- First series at Maryland since 2018
NOTES
WEEKEND ACTION AT MARYLAND
Illinois baseball returns to Big Ten play with a three-game weekend series at Maryland.
Friday's contest will be broadcast on Big Ten Network while Saturday and Sunday's games will be streamed on B1G+. Zach Mackey (play-by-play) and Danan Hughes (analyst) will have the call on Friday.
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
Maryland enters the weekend 26-16, coming off of a 6-4 victory over James Madison on Tuesday in College Park, Md. The Terrapins have gone 11-3 at home this season and have also posted a 6-9 record in Big Ten play.
INF Eddie Hacopian leads Maryland at the plate with a .391 average to go along with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBI. Among starters, RHP Kenny Lippman leads on the mound, going 2-3 with an 5.36 ERA (30 ER/50.1 IP) to go along with 45 strikeouts in 12 games, 9 starts.Â
The Terps went 42-21 last season, including a 17-7 record in Big Ten play, earning a regular season title. Maryland also won the Big Ten Tournament, which earned them in a berth in the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
Illinois trails in the all-time series 10-12 but hold a 4-2 advantage in games played in College Park. Illinois fell in the last meeting between the two programs, 7-4, on April 23, 2022.
This will be the first series between the teams at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium since 2018.
B1G WEEKEND ROUND-UP
Illinois captured its 18th win in the last 21 tries with an 11-7 victory over Northwestern on April 21 to secure a series sweep, pushing its winning streak to seven games.
Connor Milton led the team in average over the weekend, going 9-for-12 (.750) with five runs scored, two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI. Coltin Quagliano also posted a big weekend at the plate, going 7-for-12 (.583) with five runs, a double and five RBI.
The Illini posted an overall team slash of .380/.446/.610 against the Wildcats, scoring 23 runs and homering five times. Illinois has now won six-straight games against Northwestern played in Champaign.
Jack Crowder opened the series with his fourth quality start, second-straight overall, of the season on April 19, allowing two earned runs on four hits over 6.2 innings of work, tallying seven strikeouts. Cooper Omans picked up his fourth win of the season on April 20, also tossing a quality start. Omans worked a season-high 7.0 innings and picked up four strikeouts, while allowing one earned run on two hits. Regan Hall turned in a stellar outing in relief on April 21, allowing just two earned runs on one hit over 5.0 innings of work.
The Fighting Illini improved to 14-1 at Illinois Field this season and earned their fourth-straight sweep of a Big Ten opponent at home, dating back to last season.
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.
A MILLY
Connor Milton had a stellar three games against Northwestern, going 9-for-12 (.750) with five runs scored, two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI.
Milton began the series with 2-for-3 performance on April 19, collecting an RBI.
On April 20, the senior turned in the best game of his career, going 4-for-4 with three runs, a double, two home runs and four RBI. In the Illini's 7-1 victory, Milton set career-high marks in hits, runs, home runs, RBI and total bases (11). It was also the first time in his career that he had multi-hit performances in consecutive games.
In the series finale on April 21, Milton went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, a double, home run and three RBI. It marked the first time in the Champaign, native's career that he homered in consecutive contests and it is also the first time with back-to-back games with at least three hits.
After going 1-for-3 on Tuesday vs. Western Illinois, Milton now has a career-high four-game hitting streak.
GOOD OMANS
Cooper Omans turned in one of his best outings of the season on April 20Â vs. Northwestern, earning his fourth win of the season by tossing his second quality start of the season. Omans twirled 7.0 innings and allowed just one run on two hits to go along with four strikeouts.
After allowing a base hit to start the game, the graduate transfer retired 16-straight batters. Omans never allowed a runner to reach third base during his outing.
Omans has gone 3-1 with a 3.64 ERA (17 ER/42.0 IP) with 39 strikeouts in his eight starts, with the Illini going 5-3 in those games.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois improved to 15-1 at Illinois Field this season after going 8-0 during its season-long homestand.
The Orange and Blue have won 12-straight in Champaign, which is tied for the fourth-longest home winning streak in the country.
After sweeping Northwestern from April 19-21, the Illini have also now won 12-straight Big Ten home games dating back to last season, three series sweeps, which is the longest such streak since the Orange and Blue won 18-straight such games from May 2, 2014, to March 26, 2016.
Illinois went 11-8 at home during the 2023 campaign.
The Fighting Illini also won their home opener 12-2 over Eastern Illinois at Illinois Field on Feb. 27. Illinois is now 8-3 in its last 11 home openers and the 12 runs scored are the most since also scoring 12 in the 2021 home opener vs. Northwestern.
COMEBACK KIDS
During Illinois' series sweep over Northwestern, the Illini trailed at one point in two of the ballgames. In the series opener on April 19, Illinois overturned a two-run deficit. In the series finale on April 21, the Illini erased a 1-0 deficit.
Illinois has also overcome two 6-0 holes this season, on March 29 vs. Penn State and April 14 vs. Northern Illinois.
In total, the Illini have won 13 games this season in which they have trailed.
Q
Coltin Quagliano continued to dominate at the plate over the weekend vs. Northwestern, going 7-for-12 (.583) with five runs, a double and five RBI.
In the series finale on April 21, Quagliano recorded the first four-hit game of his career and also drove in three runs.
The Kewanee, Ill., native extended his career-long hitting streak to 16 games after going 1-for-4 with a run, home run and RBI on Tuesday vs. Western Illinois, and has gone 30-for-61 (.492) with six doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI during that span. He also has multi-hit performances in 10 of those 16 games to boost his season average from .229 to .340.
Quagliano leads the team with 41 RBI on the year, which is eighth-most in the Big Ten. During his current hitting streak, he has drove runs in 13 of 16 games, including 11 games with an RBI in his last 12.
CROWDER SHINES
Jack Crowder turned in his second-straight quality start on April 21 to help Illinois to a 5-3 win over Northwestern. Crowder worked 6.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out seven.
It is the second time this season that Crowder has whiffed at least seven batters in a start and it is the second time this season that he has worked into the seventh inning.
The Illini are 7-3 in games that he starts, including winners in six-straight straight.
CHASING HISTORY
The 2023 Fighting Illini slugged 89 home runs, just two shy of matching the program record of 91, set in 1998.
Through 37 games this season, Illinois has blasted 71 home runs, needing 21 home runs over 13 games (1.6 HR/G) to break the record.
The 1998 squad had 45 home runs after 36 games and the 2023 team had 59 home runs at the same mark.
UP NEXT
Illinois returns to Illinois Field for a midweek contest vs. No. 25 Indiana State on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
