| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Illinois State |
| Tue. 6 p.m. CT |
LHP Sam Reed (1-1, 11.49) |
RHP Thomas Harper (3-0, 6.46) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball is set to begin a season-long nine-game homestand with a midweek tilt vs. Illinois State. First pitch from Illinois Field is set for 6 p.m. CT.
The Orange and Blue are coming off their fourth-straight series win, taking two of three from Minnesota at Siebert Field in Minneapolis. Illinois took the first two games of the series to push its winning streak to seven before falling in the finale on Saturday.
LHP Sam Reed (1-1, 11.49) is set to make the start for the Illini.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Illinois State
- Record: 58-35 (H: 33-18, A: 25-17, N: 0-0)
- Last: W, 16-5 (4/11/23 at Normal, Ill.)
- Illini have won 11 of the last 14 matchups, dating back to 2015
- Illini have won 10 of the last 11 at Illinois Field
NOTES
MIDWEEK ACTION VS. ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois baseball begins a season-long nine-game homestand with a midweek contest vs. in-state rival Illinois State.
The game 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
Illinois State enters the contest 17-11, coming off of a weekend series sweep of Valparaiso, including a 6-0 victory on Sunday. The Redbirds have gone 10-7 in road games this season.
INF Luke Cheng leads Illinois State at the plate with a .373 average to go along with three doubles and 11 RBI. Among starters, RHP Tanner Perry leads on the mound, going 4-3 with a 4.26 ERA (18 ER/38.0 IP) to go along with 41 strikeouts.
Illinois State went 20-30 last season, including a 9-18 record in Missouri Valley play.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
Illinois leads in the all-time series 58-35 and have gone 33-18 in games played in Champaign. The two teams split the season series last year, with the road team victorious in each matchup. The Illini took home a 16-5 win at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., in the last meeting between these two programs on April 11, 2023.
Illinois has won 11 of the last 14 matchups overall, dating back to 2015.
B1G WEEKEND IN MINNEAPOLIS
Illinois continued its hot start to Big Ten play by taking two of three games at Minnesota to improve to 7-2 in conference play. The Illini have won eight of the last 10 matchups overall and have won seven-straight series between the programs in Minneapolis.
The Illini batted .348 as a team, tallying five doubles and a home run. Three different Illinois batters hit at least .500 over the weekend with five posting batting averages over .300.
Cal Hejza led the way going 6-for-12 (.500) at the dish with two runs scored, a double, three RBI and four walks. Hejza posted an overall slash of .500/.625/.583 and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games after the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Cooper Omans tossed 5.0 innings of one-run ball in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader to lower his ERA of a starter to 3.68 in six starts. Payton Hutchings tossed 3.2 shutout frames out of the bullpen on Friday and Joe Glassey picked up his third save of the season after 2.0 scoreless innings in Saturday's twin bill opener.
ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS
During the Illini's season-high seven-game winning streak, the offense scored 10 or more runs in six-straight games to begin the winning run.
It was the first time the Illini had 10+ in six-straight contests since a seven-game game stretch from May 27, 1895, to April 4, 1896.
Following an 8-3 defeat to Southern Indiana on March 17, the Illini have scored 102 in their last 11 games, an average of 9.2 per game.
JANIK JAMS
Camden Janik put together another solid weekend, going 6-for-16 (.375) with a run and a double, tallying multi-hit performances in the first two games of the series.
Janik enters the matchup vs. Illinois State on an eight-game hitting streak and has gone 17-for-38 (.447) during that span with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Janik raising his batting average from .341 to .359. The junior has five multi-hit games during that span, which included a season-high four hits on March 24 at Indiana.
Janik leads the Illini in batting average (.359), which is also tied for the 11th-highest average among Big Ten hitters. His 1.010 OPS is second-highest on the team among qualifies and 19th-highest among conference batters.
The Wauconda, Ill., native, is also one of the toughest outs in the country, striking out just five times in 117 at-bats. His K AVG. of 23.4 ranks third-best in the nation. His five strikeouts are also second-fewest among batters that have taken at least 117 at-bats this season. Janik is the highest ranked catcher in that category.
SCHROEDER SURGING
Jacob Schroeder's offensive surge continued over the weekend. Going 4-for-10 with four runs and three walks for an overall slash of .400/.538/.400.
Schroeder had his career-high 10-game hitting streak snapped in Saturday's finale, but the redshirt senior has still hit safely in 10 of his last 11, going 17-for-38 (.447) during that span with four doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI. During that span, the Chicago, native, has raised his season average from .174 to .333.
Schroeder has also boosted his OPS to 1.130, which ranks fourth-highest among Big Ten hitters.
CALIFORNIA HEJZA
Cal Hejza continues to put together his best season at the plate in his career, going 6-for-12 (.500) with two runs scored, a double, three RBI and four walks. Hejza posted an overall slash of .500/.625/.583 and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games after the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.
Hejza has improved his batting average by 77 points from last year, his on-base percentage by 77 points and slugging by 54. The senior has 36 hits this season, six away from matching his best single-season mark (42, 2022).
The Oswego, Ill., native, leads the Illini with six three-hit games and ranks tied for second on the team with nine multi-hit performances overall.
MEAN JOE GLASSEY
Joe Glassey earned his third save of the season in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader by tossing 2.0 shutout frames and striking out two batters.
Glassey has earned a save in each of his last two relief appearances, both multi-inning efforts. He allowed one run over 3.2 innings of work in the doubleheader finale on March 30 vs. Penn State, whiffing six batters.
The Lindenhurst, Ill., native, has lowered his season ERA from 7.07 to 5.49 during that span.
UP NEXT
Illinois continues its homestand with a three-game weekend series vs. Northern Illinois. First pitch in Friday's series opener is set for 6 p.m. CT.
