PREVIEW
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â Illinois baseball heads to Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., tomorrow for a midweek contest at Illinois State. The Illini look to sweep the season series over the Redbirds, having claimed an 8-2 win at Illinois Field on April 1. First pitch is set for 5Â p.m. CT.
The Orange and Blue extended their season-high winning streak to four games with an 11-0 run-rule victory over Maryland on Sunday in eight innings. It marked the first shutout of the season for Illinois.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Illinois State
- Record: 60-35 (H: 35-18, A: 25-17, N: 0-0)
- Last: W, 8-2 (4/1/24 at Champaign)
- Illini have won 13 of the last 16 overall
- Illinois gone 5-5 in last 10 at Duffy Bass Field
NOTES
ILLINI HEAD TO NORMAL FOR MIDWEEK CONTEST
Illinois baseball makes the short trip up I-74 to Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., for a midweek contest at Illinois State. The two teams met last week on April 1 in Champaign, where the Illini claimed an 8-2 victory at Illinois Field.
Scott Beatty will call the action for the Illini on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (WDWS 1400-AM/93.9FM).
The ballgame can be streamed on ESPN+.
Streaming, audio, and stats links are also available at FightingIllini.com.
ABOUTÂ THE OPPONENT
Illinois State comes into the contest with a 14-16 record, coming off of a series win at Valparaiso over the weekend to improve to 6-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
The Redbirds have gone 1-1 against Big Ten opponents this season, earning a 10-8 victory over Iowa on March 25 at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., before being handed an 8-2 defeat at Illinois on April 1.
OF Daniel Pacella leads Illinois State at the plate with a slash line of .390/.465/.763 to go along with 32 runs scored, 12 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 32 RBI. Pacella was recently ranked as the No. 84 outfielder in the country by D1Baseball.
Among its qualified arms, the Redbirds are led by RHP Thomas Harper, who has gone 2-1 with a 3.34 ERA (12 ER/32.1 IP) in eight games, five starts, limiting opponents to a .222 average. RHP Joe Husak leads the relief arms, going 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA (9 ER/13.1 IP) in nine appearances.
Illinois State went 30-27 last season, including a 16-11 record in MVC play.
ALL-TIME SERIES INFO
Illinois leads in the all-time series 60-35 and has gone 25-17 in games played in Normal.Â
The two teams met last week at Illinois Field on April 1, where the Illini came away with an 8-2 victory. Collin Jennings homered in the ballgame while Cameron Chee-Aloy and Vytas Valincius recorded multi-hit performances. Seven of the eight Orange and Blue relievers made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen.
Illinois has won 13 of the last 16 matchups overall, dating back to 2015. Two of the three losses during that stretch have come at Duffy Bass Field.Â
MARYLAND WEEKEND RECAP
Illinois opened Big Ten play at home with an emphatic sweep of Maryland over the weekend to improve to 7-5 in conference play at 9-1 at Illinois Field this season.
Following a 7-4 series-opening victory on Saturday morning, the Illini run ruled the Terrapins on Saturday night and Sunday with scored of 15-3 (8) and 11-0 (7), respectively, winning both those contests on walk-off home runs. Jack Zebig recorded his second such hit on Saturday while Collin Jennings tallied the first walk-off hit of his career on Sunday.
As a team, the Illini slashed .330/.477/.510 with 33 runs scored, nine doubles, three home runs and 19 walks, with six players recording a series average of .364 or higher. The Orange and Blue were led by the duo of Vytas Valincius and Greg LaChance at the plate, who each posted an average of .500. Valincius tallied a team-high three doubles to go along with five RBI, which was tied for the team lead. LaChance scored a team-best eight runs and also slugged .900 to go along with a .688 on-base percentage.
Illinois pitchers delivered all weekend long as the staff posted a 1.88 ERA (5 ER/24.0 IP) while limiting an explosive Maryland offense to just a .195 average at the dish. The starting rotation of Tyler Schmitt (5.2 IP, 1 ER), Ben Plumley (6.0 IP, 0 ER) and Regan Hall (6.1 IP, 0 ER) turned in stellar performances. Zach Bates turned in a 2.1-inning save on Friday's series opener, stranding the bases loaded when he entered the contest in the seventh, and then retired the side in order in the eighth and the ninth, totaling four strikeouts.
KINGS OF THE HILL
The Illinois weekend rotation of Tyler Schmitt, Ben Plumley and Regan Hall dominated on the hill all series long, combining to go 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA (1 ER/18.0 IP) with 15 strikeouts, while limited an explosive Maryland offense to a .200 (13/65) average and just one extra-base hit.
Tyler Schmitt fell just one out shy of recording his second quality start of the season in Saturday's opener, allowing just one run on six hits over 5.2 innings of work, recording three strikeouts.
Ben Plumley delivered his second-straight quality start of the season on Saturday's doubleheader nightcap, spinning 6.0 innings, allowing two runs, both unearned, on just two hits to go along with six strikeouts.
Regan Hall posted one of the best starts of his career in Sunday's finale, working 6.1 shutout frames, yielding four hits and posting a season-high six strikeouts.
QUICK STARTS
In all three games of its series vs. Maryland over the weekend, Illinois got off to some fast starts, scoring run in the first inning of each game while also keeping the Terrapins off the board.
In Saturday's opener, the Illini plated a pair of runs and then in Saturday's doubleheader nightcap and Sunday's finale, the Orange and Blue jumped out to 5-0 leads.
HOME COOKING
After going 20-3 in 2024 at Illinois Field, the Illini have continued their stellar play at home, beginning the 2025 campaign 9-1 in Champaign.
Illinois is outscoring its opponents 116-53 in its 10 home contests, averaging 11.6 runs per game.
The Fighting Illini have scored at least 10 runs in seven of those ball games after having 14 such games during the 2024 season.
WALK IT OFF
The Illini earned back-to-back walk-off run-rule victories over the Terrapins to earn a series sweep over the weekend.
In Saturday's doubleheader nightcap, Jack Zebig crushed his second walk-off home run of the season, a three-run blast in the eighth inning to give Illinois a 15-3 win.
On Sunday, Collin Jennings put the finishing touches on the series sweep with a three-run shot of his own in the seventh to give the Orange and Blue the 11-0 victory.
Illinois earned its first walk-off victory of the season in the second game of the doubleheader on March 15 vs. Valparaiso thanks to Zebig's seventh-inning grand slam to lift the Illini to a 14-4 run-rule win over the Beacons.
The Orange and Blue recorded four walk-off wins last season, three of which came via a run rule.
CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN
Through 29 games this season, the Illini have stolen 47 bases in 55 attempts already surpassing their 2024 total of 25 stolen bases.
As a team, Illinois has stolen a game-high six bases three times this season, doing so on Feb. 15 vs. Abilene Christian, Feb. 25 vs. Aurora and Sunday vs. Maryland.
Nick Groves leads the Illini with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts, which also ranks tied for second among Big Ten players.
On Feb. 25 vs. Aurora, Cameron Chee-Aloy set the single-game program record with five stolen bases in the contest.
Greg LaChance (5-for-5), Collin Jennings (5-for-5), Vytas Valincius (5-for-5), Kyle Schupmann (3-for-3) and Jack Zebig (2-for-2) are also all perfect in multiple stolen base attempts.
CLUTCH HITTING
Through 29 games this season, the Illini have delivered in big spots at the plate, posting a team average of .305 with runners in scoring position as well as a team average of .306 with two outs in an inning. This has led to a total of 121 two-out RBI, which accounts for 47.1 percent (121/257) of runs scored by the offense this season.
Vytas Valincius and Jack Zebig lead the team with 15 hits with runners in scoring position and Zebig leads the squad with 22 two-out RBI. Zebig also leads the squad with 16 hits with two outs.
Illinois has also been successful at moving runners over in their plate appearances, doing so at a .511 clip (323/632).
THE GEN JENNERATOR
Collin Jennings continued his offensive tear at the plate over the weekend vs. Maryland, slashing .364/.533/.636 with three runs, a home run, a team-high five RBI and four walks.
In Sunday's series finale, Jennings went 2-for-4 with a walk-off three-run home run in the seventh to give the Illini an 11-0 run-rule victory.
Since becoming a regular in the starting lineup on March 14 vs. Valparaiso, Jennings leads the team with a .375 average (21/56) and has recorded 18 runs, four doubles, a triple, six home runs, a team-best 24 RBI and nine walks. Jennings is also reaching base at a .493 clip and is slugging .804 for a 1.297 OPS.
The Orland Park, Ill., native, has reached base safely in 15-straight games and has tallied hits in 13 of those contests, with seven multi-hit performances.
D1BASEBALL WEEK 6 RANKINGS
Two Fighting Illini found themselves on D1Baseball player ranking lists in the outlet's week six update.
Jack Zebig is ranked as the No. 44 shortstop in the country and Kyle Schupmann is ranked to the No. 45 third basemen.
Zebig, who has started all 22 games at short, has slashed .361/.476/.651 with six home runs and a team-high 29 RBI, which ranks 10th among Big Ten players.
Kyle Schupmann has appeared and started in 20 games during the campaign, all at third base. The Geneva, Ill., native, is slashing .325/.419/.675 with a team-high seven home runs and has also driven in 20 runs.
Neither player was featured in D1Baseball's preseason rankings.
2024 B1G CHAMPS
For the 31st time in program history, Illinois was crowned Big Ten champions after its 9-4 victory over Purdue on May 17, 2024. The Illini were able to claim an outright title with Nebraska's loss to Michigan State on May 18, 2024. Their 18-10 triumph later that day over the Boilermakers would have also solidified an outright title had the Huskers won.
The conference title was the program's third in the Dan Hartleb era (2006-pres.) and the first since 2015. Hartleb's three Big Ten championships are fifth-most in program history.
Illinois 31 conference titles are second-most all-time in the Big Ten.
ILLINI PLAY LONG BALL
During the 2024 campaign, the Fighting Illini launched 104 home runs, setting a new program record and shattering the previous of 91 (1998) in the process.
Illinois' 104 home runs were the most among Big Ten teams, slugging 21 more than second-placed Indiana (83). It also ranked 28th nationally and ninth among teams that played fewer than 60 games.
The Orange and Blue averaged 1.86 home runs per game, which was the 19th-highest mark in the country and the best in the Big Ten.
Five players tallied double-digit home runs last season (Brody Harding, Ryan Moerman, Jacob Schroeder, Vytas Valincius, Drake Westcott) and were the only team in the conference with more than four players in double figures.
The Illini return 54.8 percent (57/104) of their home run production in 2025.
FOUR IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Illinois slugged at least four home runs in a single game seven times last season, winning each one of those contests.
The Illini did so for the first time in the 2025 campaign in the first game of the doubleheader vs. Valparaiso on March 15, but suffered a rare defeat when hitting that mark.
The Illini crushed a season-high five home runs in the second game of Friday's doubleheader vs. Northwestern to defeat the Wildcats 11-6.
Illinois had eight such games in 2023, going 7-1 in those ballgames. Since 2018, Illinois is 19-3 when they hit at least four homers in a single game.
DAN HARTLEB'S 20TH SEASON
Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb begins his 20th season at the helm of the program in 2025.
The winningest coach in Illini baseball history has currently amassed 585Â wins, three Big Ten championships, one Big Ten Tournament title, five NCAA Regional appearances and one NCAA Super Regional Appearance.
Along with being named Big Ten Coach of the Year two times, Hartleb was named Big Coach of the Decade (2010s), by D1Baseball.
As he enters his 35th season overall at Illinois, Hartleb has seen 148 players have earned Big Ten All-Conference honors under his watch, with 47 of those players earning first-team selections. He's also coached a total of 27 All-Americans and 96 players who have gone on to play professionally.
Among active Big Ten coaches, Hartleb is one of two coaches that have spent at least 20 seasons as head coach at their current school (John Savage, UCLA, 21st season in 2025).Â
HOME SWEET HOME
Illinois finished the 2024 season 20-3 at Illinois Field after taking two of three games from Iowa from May 10-12, 2024.
The Illini also went 8-0 during its season-long homestand from April 9-23, 2024.
It was the first time since 2015 that Illinois won at least 20 home games, with 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 last season, earning sweeps over Penn State, Northern Illinois and Northwestern. Overall, Illinois has won nine-straight home series, dating back to 2023.
Following the sweep of Northwestern from April 19-21, 2024, 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.
The Fighting Illini also won their home opener 12-2 over Eastern Illinois at Illinois Field on Feb. 27, 2024. Illinois is 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.
OPENING DAY HISTORY
Illinois is 6-3 in their last nine season openers, following 2025's curtain-raising defeat to Abilene Christian on Feb. 14...the Illini snapped a brief two-game losing streak in season openers in their 9-6 victory over Youngstown State in 2023.
DAN HARTLEB, THE WINNINGEST COACH ATÂ ILLINOIS
Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb earned win No. 519 on April 2, 2023, against Michigan, passing Lee Eilbracht for the most in program history...currently has 585Â career wins.
CLEAN FIELDING
The Illini led the Big Ten in fielding percentage during conference play (.986) last season for the third-straight year and for the fifth time in the last six seasons overall.
The Illini posted a .979 fielding percentage overall and have posted a .970 overall fielding percentage or better in 12 of the last 14 seasons.
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
Illinois has 17 returners and 18 newcomers on the 2024 roster.
  » Thirteen newcomers are transfers: LHP Zach Bates (Iowa Central CC), RHP Ryan Daly (St. Francis), RHP Mitch Dye (Lincoln Land CC), OF Nick Groves (Niagara), C/1B Will Johannes (Madison College), INF Greg LaChance (Jefferson College), LHP Reece Marley (Case Western Reserve), RHP Christian Morel (Tampa Unviersity), INF/RHP Grant Ross (Madison College), RHP Tyler Schmitt (UW-La Crosse), INF Kyle Schupmann (Cincinnati), OF Alexander Wright (George Washington), INF Jack Zebig (Marryville University)
ILLINI TRIO EARN BIG TEN PRESEASON HONORS
A trio of Illini baseball players were selected Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch, the conference announced on Feb. 12.
Right-hander Ben Plumley along with catcher Jacob Schroeder and first baseman Drake Westcott, were all named to the list.
Plumley is coming off of a breakout 2024 season, where he amassed 33 strikeouts in 35.1 innings of work last season over 23 relief appearances. He had a season-long six-game span (8.1 IP) without allowing an earned run from May 10 to June 1, striking out eight batters compared to three walks.
Schroeder, who earned 2024 College Baseball Foundation All-American Second Team and All-Big Ten First Team honors slashed .306/.434/.613 to go along with seven doubles, 14 home runs and 41 RBI. Schroeder ranked tied for ninth in the Big Ten in home runs and also ranked among conference leaders in slugging (8th) and OPS (1.047, 10th).Â
Westcott slashed .290/.421/.571 to go along with 11 doubles, 16 home runs and 52 RBI. He ranked among conference leaders in walks (T-3rd, 47) and home runs (T-4th). Westcott enters the 2025 campaign with 34 career dingers in the Orange and Blue, 14 away from matching Scott Spiezio's (1991-93) program record of 48.
ONES TO WATCH
D1Baseball Big Ten Top 2025 MLB Draft
Prospects: No. 19 RHP Tyler Schmitt, No. 22 OF Nick Groves, No. 37 RHP Julius Sanchez
D1Baseball Big Ten Top 2026 MLB Draft Prospects: No. 10 OF Cameron Chee-Aloy
Perfect Game Preseason All-Conference Team: 1B Drake Westcott
Perfect Game Big Ten Top 2025 MLB Draft
Prospects: No. 30 RHP Julius Sanchez, No. 38 Ben Plumley
Perfect Game Big Ten Top 2027 MLB Draft Prospects: No. 16 OF/LHP Brayden Mazzacano
ILLINI BASEBALL INKS SEVEN TO 2025 CLASS
"I am extremely excited about the group of great athletes that we have signed to join our Illini family," head coach Dan Hartleb said.Â
"We feel as if this group has the ability to help us to pursue future championships. In the changing times of college athletics, I feel as though our staff did a tremendous job of identifying great athletes and helping to secure their talents which will ensure our success moving forward."
Michael Farina / INF / Mundelein, Ill.
Aidan Flinn / LHP / Mokena, Ill.
Lucas Krebs / SS / Edwardsville, Ill.
Ryan Ohm / RHP / Rochester, Minn.
AJ Putty / 1B / McHenry, Ill.
Jack Wheeler / 3B/RHP / Morris, Ill.
Ike Young / RHP / Cisco, Ill.
UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini return to Champaign for a Big Ten series vs. Indiana. First pitch from Illinois Field in Friday's series opener is set for 6Â p.m. CT.
