| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Iowa |
| Fri. 6 p.m. CT |
RHP Jack Crowder (4-1, 5.07) |
LHPÂ Cade Obermueller (2-1, 3.11) |
| Sat. 3 p.m. CT |
TBD |
TBD |
| Sun. 1 p.m. CT |
TBD |
TBD |
PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois baseball concludes its seven-game homestand with its final home games of the season against Big Ten foe Iowa. The Illini enter the series in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten at 13-5.
The Orange and Blue are coming off a weekend series victory over Ohio State, defeating the Buckeyes in a run-rule walk off, 12-2, in eight innings in the series clincher on May 5. It was Illinois' fifth walk-off victory of the season.
RHP Jack Crowder (4-1, 5.07) is set to get the start on Friday. The Illini's Saturday and Sunday arms are to be announced.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Saturday is Senior Day. Before the game, 14 student-athletes will be honored for their contributions to Illinois baseball. Our fourth and final baseball card set will also be given away, featuring this group of seniors. Available while supplies last. Due to commencement on Saturday, the State Farm Center lots will not be available. Parking maps for the weekend can be found in our Gameday Guide.
Sunday is Mother's Day and also our final Bark in the Park game of the season.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Iowa
- Record: 135-90-2 (H: 68-37-1, A: 62-51-1, N: 4-0)
- Last: W, 9-5 (4/10/22 at Iowa City, Iowa)
- First series in Champaign since 2018
- Illini have gone 4-1 in last five matchups
NOTES
WEEKEND ACTION VS. IOWA
Illinois baseball wraps up its seven-game homestand with a weekend series vs. Iowa.
Friday and Saturday's contests can be streamed on B1G+ while Sunday's ballgame 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 Onion and Scott Pose will have the call for Sunday's BTN contest.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Iowa enters the weekend 28-18, coming off of a weekend series sweep of Northwestern. The Hawkeyes have gone 6-10 in true road games this season and they currently have a 13-8 record in Big Ten play.
INF Raider Tello leads Iowa at the plate with a .366 average to go along with 17 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 56 RBI. Among starters, RHP Brody Brecht leads on the mound, going 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA (24 ER/63.0 IP) to go along with 108 strikeouts in 12 games, starts.Â
Iowa went 44-16 (15-8) last season, making an appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship and the NCAA Terre Haute Regional.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
The Illini are 135-90-2 all-time against the Hawkeyes, including 68-37-1 at Illinois Field. The two programs are meeting in Champaign for the first time since 2018.
The Orange and Blue have won four of the last five contests, dating back to 2021.
B1G WEEKEND ROUND-UP
Illinois remained perfect in home series this season by taking two of three games from Ohio State last weekend. By winning the series, the Illini emerged from the weekend in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
Brody Harding led the team in average over the weekend, going 8-for-11 (.727) with six runs scored, a double, home run, seven RBI and two walks. He posted an overall slash of .727/769/1.091 and had at least two hits in each game of the series, including back-to-back three-hit games on May 4 and 5. Vytas Valincius went 4-for-10 (.400) with four runs, a double, a triple, home run, three RBI, two walks and has hit by a pitch.
The Illini posted an overall team slash of .289/.431/.546 against the Buckeyes, scoring 27 runs and homering five times.
Cooper Omans faced just one batter over the minimum over 4.1 innings in his start on May 4, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six. Joe Glassey closed out that game by tossing 2.0 scoreless frames, retiring all six batters he faced. Regan Hall turned in 3.0 shutout innings in relief on May 5 to earn his second save of the season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois improved to 18-2 at Illinois Field after taking two of three games from Ohio State. The Illini have gone 3-1 during its current seven-game homestand.
The Illini also went 8-0 during its season-long homestand from April 9-23.
After sweeping Northwestern from April 19-21, the Illini 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.
HOME RUN HARDING
Brody Harding continued his offensive surge by going 8-for-11 with six runs, a double, home run, seven RBI and two walks vs. Ohio State from May 3-5, posting an overall slash of .727/.769/1.091.
Harding had at least two hits in every game of the series, including back-to-back three-hit performances on May 4 and 5.
The Moline, Ill., native, has hit safely in 16 of his last 20 games, raising his season average from .222 to .205 during that span.
The redshirt senior is enjoying his best year at the dish, posting career-best marks in average (.305), runs (37), hits (50), home runs (8), RBI (31), slugging (.488) and OPS (.875).
CALIFORNIA HEJZA
Cal Hejza continues to put together his best season at the plate in his career, after going 2-for-10 with three runs, a triple, three RBI, three walks and was hit by a pitch twice during Illinois' weekend series vs. Ohio State.
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 now 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 the second-straight weekend, Hejza reached base safely at a .467 clip.Â
Hejza has hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games overall, which features 10 multi-hit performances. He has also reached base safely in 29-consecutive games, which is the longest active streak on the team.
Hejza has improved his batting average by 85 points from last year, his on-base percentage by 118 points and slugging by 107. The senior has 53 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 third on the team with 15 multi-hit performances overall.
JANIK JAMS
Camden Janik continued his hitting prowess on from May 3-5 vs. Ohio State, going 4-for-13 with a run, double, two RBI, a walk and was hit by a pitch. He also went 2-for-3 with four runs and two walks vs. No. 24 Indiana State on April 30. 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 junior extended his hitting streak to 11 games and has gone 20-for-44 (.455) during that span with two doubles, a home run and 13 RBI. He has multi-hit performances in seven of those contests, raising his season average from .356 to .379.
The Wauconda, Ill., native remains the toughest out in the country, striking out just nine times in 177 at-bats. His K AVG. of 19.7 is the second-best in the nation. His nine strikeouts are the fewest among batters that have taken at least 177 at-bats this season. Janik is the highest ranked catcher in that category.
HALL MONITOR
Regan Hall turned in a big relief outing on May 5 vs. Ohio State, firing 3.0 scoreless frames, allowing no hits and striking out four.
His performance allowed the Illini to build off what was then a three-run advantage and eventually run-rule the Buckeyes.
It was the freshman's first scoreless outing since March 22 at Indiana and the third time this season that Hall has amassed at least four strikeouts in a game.
The Albuquerque, N.M., native, has amassed 30 punchouts in 31.2 in his debut campaign, posting a 2-1 record. Hall needs just two more strikeouts to tie Ryan Castellanos (2013) for tenth for most strikeouts in a single season in program history by a freshman.
WALK IT OFF
The Fighting Illini earned their four walk-off win of the season on May 5, when Ryan Moerman ripped a two-run double to right center in the eighth to earn a 12-12 run-rule victory over Ohio State.
Illinois has surpassed their walk-off win total from the 2023 campaign (3).
TWO-OUT RALLY
Illinois scored 18 of its 21 runs on April 30 vs. No. 24 Indiana State with two outs. The Illini went 9-for-15 (.600) with two doubles, six home runs, four walks and one hit by pitch when down to their last out.
Overall, Illinois is batting .316 with 147 RBI with two outs. Connor Milton leads the squad with a .478 average (11-for-23) in those situations.Â
LEADERBOARD WATCHING
The Illini as a team, and individually, find themselves among conference leaders in numerous categories through 44 games this season.
As a team, the Illini lead Big Ten teams in home runs (88), slugging (.533), OPS (.943) and total bases (821), while also holding top five rankings in average (.306, 2nd), RBI (324, 3rd), runs (351, 4th) and have the third-fewest fewest strikeouts (316).
On the mound, the Orange and Blue have yielded the second-fewest hits (380 and have posted the fourth-lowest WHIP (1.52).
Individually, Camden Janik ranks fifth in average (.379) and and tied-for-seventh in hits (67). Jacob Schroeder leads in slugging (.708) and is third in OPS (1.157) while ranking tied-for-third in home runs (13). Drake Westcott also ranks tied-for-third in home runs (13) and is tied-for-third in walks (39). Ryan Moerman leads all Big Ten hitters in home runs (15).
UP NEXT
Illinois wraps up the regular season with a three-game set at Big Ten foe Purdue. First pitch in Thursday's series opener on May 10 is set for 5 p.m. CT.
