| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Purdue |
| Thur. 7 p.m. CT |
RHP Jack Crowder (5-1, 5.27) |
LHP Jordan Morales (7-4, 3.94) |
| Fri. 7 p.m. CT |
TBD |
LHP Luke Wagner (7-1, 5.12) |
| Sat. 2 p.m. CT |
TBD |
RHP Kyle Iwinski (2-2, 6.58) |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball wraps up its regular season with the final Big Ten series of the season at Purdue. The Illini enter the series in sole possession of first place in the conference at 15-6.
The Orange and Blue are coming off a weekend series victory over Iowa from May 10-12 at Illinois Field. The Illini went a perfect 6-0 in home series this season and have also won nine-straight series in Champaign, dating back to 2023.
RHP Jack Crowder (5-1, 5.27) is set to get the start on Friday. The Illini's Saturday and Sunday arms are to be announced.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Purdue
- Record: 172-86-1 (H: 97-40, A: 72-44-1, N: 3-2)
- Last: W, 11-8 (4/3/22 at Champaign, Ill.)
- First series in West Lafayette since 2021
- Illini have won six-straight matchups
NOTES
WEEKEND ACTION VS. PURDUE
Illinois baseball wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at Purdue at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Illini have already clinched a spot in the Big Ten Tournament next week and enter this weekend with a chance to win at their first Big Ten title since 2015.
All three contests will be broadcast nationally on Big Ten Network.
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.
Connor McKnight and Danan Hughes will have the call for all three games on BTN.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Purdue enters the weekend 33-19, coming off of a weekend series defeat at Michigan from May 10-12, dropping two of three games. The Boilermakers have gone 16-10 in home games this season and they currently have a 13-8 record in Big Ten play.
C/1B Luke Gaffney leads Purdue at the plate with a .375 average to go along with 14 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 63 RBI. Among starters, LHP Jordan Morales leads on the mound, going 7-4 with a 3.94 ERA (33 ER/75.1 IP) to go along with 65 strikeouts in 13 games, starts.
Purdue went 24-29 (11-13) last season, including 12-10 at this facility.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
The Illini are 172-86-1 all-time against the Boilermakers, including 72-44-1 on the road. The two programs are meeting in West Lafayette, Ind., for the first time since 2021.
The Orange and Blue have won nine of the last 11 contests, dating back to 2019.
B1G WEEKEND ROUND-UP
Illinois finished the 2024 season perfect in home series by taking two of three games from Iowa from May 10-12. By winning the series, the Illini emerged from the weekend in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
Connor Milton led the team in average over the weekend, going 4-for-9 (.444) with two runs scored, a home run, an RBI and two walks. He posted an overall slash of .444/.545/.778 and had at least one hit in each game of the series, including a two-hit game in the opener on May 10. Drake Westcott went 4-for-10 (.400) with three runs, a double, home run, two RBI and four walks.
The Illini posted an overall team slash of .247/.391/.548 against the Hawkeyes, scoring 20 runs and homering eight times. The Orange and Blue also drew 27 and were hit by a pitch four times.
Payton Hutchings, making his first start of the season in the series finale on May 12, turned 4.1 innings of three-run ball, yielding five hits and striking out three. Jake Rons, Ben Plumley and Joe Glassey followed out of the bullpen, blanking the Hawkeyes over the final 4.2 frames, allowing just one hit and punching out five. Will Lavin also turned in a solid relief out during the series, allowing just one run over 3.0 innings of work on May 11. Julius Sanchez twirled 2.0 shutout frames in the series opener on May 10.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois finishes the 2024 season 20-3 at Illinois Field after taking two of three games from Iowa. The Illini finished the final homestand of the season going 5-2.
The Illini also went 8-0 during its season-long homestand from April 9-23.
It is the first time since 2015 that Illinois won at least 20 home games. The Illini's .869 winning percentage is the highest mark in program history since 1940 (8-1, .889).
The Orange and Blue were victorious in all six home series this season, earning sweeps over Penn State, Northern Illinois and Northwestern. Illinois has won nine-straight home series, dating back to 2023.
Following the sweep of Northwestern from April 19-21, the Illini had won 12-straight Big Ten home games dating back to last season, four series sweeps, which was 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.
HISTORY MADE
On May 11 vs. Iowa, Vytas Valincius slugged a three-run home run, which was the team's 92nd round-tripper of the year, setting a new single-season program record. The previous record was 91, set by the 1998 squad.
The Illini needed just 46 games to set the record, whereas the '98 squad set their mark in the 63rd game of the campaign.
ILLINI PLAY LONG BALL
Illinois homered eight times during its three-game set vs. Iowa, bringing its season total to 96. The Illini lead the Big Ten in home runs and are the only team in the conference to hit more than 70 home runs this season. The Orange and Blue rank tied-for-17th nationally in dingers.
The Illini also have five players with double-digit home runs (Harding, Moerman, Schroeder, Valincius, Westcott) and are the only team in the conference with more than two players in double figures.
CALIFORNIA HEJZA
Cal Hejza continues to put together his best season at the plate in his career, after going 2-for-10 with two runs and two walks during Illinois' weekend series vs. Iowa.
He also had the first multi-home run game of the season on April 30 vs. No. 24 Indiana State, which was the second such game of his career. The senior has five home runs on the campaign, which matches his single-season high, set in 2022.
Hejza also went 4-for-12 (.333) with four runs scored, a double and three walks from April 26-28 at Maryland. Leading off in all three games of the series for what was then the second-straight weekend, Hejza reached base safely at a .467 clip.
Hejza has hit safely in 25 of his last 31 games overall, which features 10 multi-hit performances. He has also reached base safely in 32-consecutive games, which is the longest active streak on the team and longest by an Illini this season.
Hejza has improved his batting average by 77 points from last year, his on-base percentage by 113 points and slugging by 94. The senior has 55 hits this season, which is his best single-season mark.
The Oswego, Ill., native, is ranks second on the team with six three-hit games and ranks tied-for-third on the team with 15 multi-hit performances overall.
HOME RUN HARDING
Brody Harding continued his offensive surge by going 3-for-10 with three runs, two home runs, three RBI and two walks vs. Iowa from May 10-12, posting an overall slash of .300/.417/.900.
The Moline, Ill., native, has hit safely in 18 of his last 23 games, raising his season average from .222 to .305 during that span.
The redshirt senior is enjoying his best year at the dish, posting career-best marks in average (.305), runs (40), hits (53), home runs (10), RBI (34), slugging (.511) and OPS (.900).
With his second home run of the series on May 12, Harding became the fifth Illini to reach double figures in home runs. He had entered the season with just five home runs in 412 at-bats (138 games).
JANIK JAMS
Camden Janik continued his steady play at the plate from May 10-12 vs. Iowa, going 3-for-11 with two runs, two doubles, four RBI and three walks. Janik has hit safely in 26 of his last 29 games, raising his season average from .313 to a team-high .372.
In the series opener vs. Iowa, Janik had a pair of RBI-doubles, driving in a total of three runs in the contest. Janik also came up big again in the series finale vs. Iowa, Janik drove home a huge insurance run in the eighth to make it a three-run game against the Hawkeyes.
He had another big weekend at Maryland from April 3-5, going 7-for-12 with three runs, five RBI, a walk and was hit by a pitch twice. Janik posted an overall slash of .583/.667/.583 in College Park, collecting at least two hits in each contest.
The Wauconda, Ill., native remains the toughest out in the country, striking out just nine times in 188 at-bats. His K AVG. of 20.9 is the best in the nation. His nine strikeouts are the fewest among batters that have taken at least 188 at-bats this season and he is just one of four qualified batters in the country with less than 10 strikeouts. Janik is the highest ranked catcher in that category and the only one in the top 10.
THE RATTLESNAKE
In just his second-career start on May 12 vs. Iowa, Payton Hutchings turned in a massive outing Illinois, allowing three runs on five hits over 4.1 innings of work, striking out three batters.
Despite allowing a pair of solo home runs to lead-off the first and second innings, Hutchings faced just two batters over the minimum through three frames.
By keeping the Hawkeyes from putting crooked numbers on the board, the Illini were able to overturn the deficit with five runs in the home half of the third and keep the lead for good.
MEAN JOE GLASSEY
Joe Glassey worked one of his best outings of the season in the series finale vs. Iowa on May 12, spinning 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, yielding just one hit and striking out two batters.
Glassey entered the game in the seventh with runners on first and second and came up with a punchout to end the inning, ending the Hawkeye scoring threat.
Glassey then induced a double-play in the eighth to erase a lead-off single before turning in a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his team-leading sixth save of the season. His six saves are also tied for second-most among Big Ten arms.
V FOR VALINCIUS
Vytas Valincius continued his run producing surge during Illinois' series vs. Iowa from May 10-12, going 3-for-11 with four runs, two home runs, five RBI, two walks and was hit by a pitch during the three-game set.
On May 11, his three-run blast in the sixth was the Illini's 92nd of the campaign, setting a new single-season program record. The Lockport, Ill., native, also homered in the finale on May 12, a two-run shot, marking the first time this season that he has homered in consecutive games.
Valincius has extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games and has gone 12-for-32 (.375) during that span with two doubles, a triple, five home runs and 17 RBI. He has raised his season average from .269 to .290.
UP NEXT
Having already clinched a berth in the Big Ten Tournament, the Fighting Illini will travel to Omaha, Neb., where they will begin postseason play on Tuesday, May 21.
