Fighting Illini Baseball Hosts Minnesota for First Big Ten Home Series

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini (8-7, 0-3 B1G) will host Minnesota at Illinois Field for their first Big Ten home series of the season. Game 1 on Friday is set for 6 p.m. CT, Saturday's contest is slated for 3 p.m. CT, and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.

All three games feature free admission and will stream on B1G+.

LAST TIME OUT

Illinois returned to winning ways with a 21-8 victory over Western Illinois on Tuesday night at Illinois Field.

The Illini scored a season-best 21 runs and tied their season-high with 17 hits, while the Orange and Blue pitching staff posted a season-most 13 strikeouts in the win.

ABOUT MINNESOTA

Minnesota arrives in Champaign on a seven-game winning streak and holds a 14-3 record ahead of its first Big Ten games of the season. The Gophers have spent the majority of their nonconference schedule at home and are 1-1 in true road games in 2026.

At the plate, Minnesota features four hitters who are hitting .350 or better this season, including infielder Jack Spanier, who has a team-best .368 average. Catcher Weber Neels has five home runs, 18 RBI, and a .362 average, while outfielder Easton Richter leads the Golden Gophers in both home runs (7) and RBI (23).

The Minnesota pitching staff boasts a 3.32 ERA this season, which ranks third in the Big Ten, while the Gophers' projected weekend rotation all has a 4.10 ERA or better.

SERIES INFO

The all-time series between the Illini and the Golden Gophers dates back to 1900. Minnesota holds a one-game edge in the series, which now includes 226 meetings.

The teams most recently met in 2024, when the Illini won the series, 2-1, in Minneapolis. The last series in Champaign came in 2023, when Illinois swept Minnesota in three games at Illinois Field.

The Illini have won the last five series against the Golden Gophers, with Minnesota's last series win coming in 2016.

ILLINI GO 3-0 AT FIRST PITCH INVITATIONAL (FEB. 27-MARCH 1)

Illinois went perfect at the First Pitch Invitational at the Greenville Drive's Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The Illini defeated Michigan State, Charleston, and UAlbany over the course of the three-day event.

The Illini kicked off the weekend with a 10-inning win, 5-4, over Michigan State on Friday afternoon. Michael Farina delivered the game-winning hit in extras, Daniel Contreras and Nick Groves tallied three hits apiece, and Kyle Remington pitched the final three innings in relief en route to victory.

On Saturday, the Illini continued their winning ways with their first shutout of the season, a 5-0 victory over Charleston. Regan Hall earned the win with his six shutout innings before Aidan Flinn and Reed Gannon combined for three scoreless frames in relief. Hall allowed five hits while striking out seven, Flinn finished with three strikeouts across two innings, while Gannon recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to close out the victory.

Closing out the weekend with a 14-6 win over UAlbany, Illinois saw Michael Farina and Kyle Schupmann both register three hits, while Collin Jennings and AJ Putty posted three RBI apiece. The Illini used nine pitchers during the contest, with Mitch Dye earning the victory behind his 2.2 shutout innings with two strikeouts.

DAN HARTLEB REACHES 600 CAREER WINS

With Illinois' win at No. 6 Coastal Carolina, Dan Hartleb secured the 600th victory of his collegiate managerial career.

Currently in his 21st season at the helm of the program in 2026, Hartleb is the winningest coach in Illini baseball history. During his tenure, he has led the Orange and Blue to three Big Ten championships, one Big Ten Tournament title, five NCAA Regional appearances, and one NCAA Super Regional appearance with the Orange and Blue.

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 36th season overall at Illinois, Hartleb has seen 155 players earn Big Ten All-Conference honors under his watch, with 47 of those players earning first-team selections. He has also coached a total of 27 All-Americans and 110 players who have gone on to play professionally.

Among active Big Ten coaches, Hartleb is one of two coaches who have spent at least 20 seasons as head coach at their current school (John Savage, UCLA, 22nd season in 2026).

NEW YEAR, NEW FACES

Illinois has 16 returners and 18 newcomers on its 2026 roster.

Thirteen newcomers are transfers: C Daniel Contreras (Illinois State), OF Cole Crafton (Louisville), INF Michael Farina (Southeastern CC), LHP Tore Indomenico (Notre Dame), RHP Ryan Johnson (Georgia Tech), RHP Richie LaCien (Lawrence University), RHP Olivier Martel (Mineral Area College), RHP Liam McKillop (SIUE), RHP Sam Mommer (Wisconsin-Parkside), INF J.R. Nelson (Ohio), RHP Ryan Ohm (Iowa Central CC), RHP Kyle Remington (Minnesota), and OF/1B Cole Warehime (SEMO).

The Illini roster includes five freshmen, all of whom hail from the state of Illinois: LHP Aidan Flinn (Mokena), INF Lucas Krebs (Edwardsville), INF AJ Putty (McHenry), OF/RHP Foti Rigopoulos (Galena), and RHP Ike Young (Cisco).

PUTTY NAMED B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (FEB. 23)

Fighting Illini freshman infielder AJ Putty was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the first time in his career following a standout second week of the 2026 season, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.

Across Illinois' four games from Feb. 17-22, Putty went 9-for-17 with five doubles, a grand slam, and 11 RBI while starting each contest at first base.

A native of McHenry, Illinois, Putty marked his home debut with a 3-for-5 day at the plate against Butler, driving in two runs while scoring twice and hitting two doubles. He registered multiple RBI three days later in the Illini's victory over VCU, reaching base twice via a walk and a single.

His biggest performance of the week came in the Illini's upset road win over No. 6 Coastal Carolina on Sunday. The freshman first baseman went 5-for-6 with four extra-base hits, seven RBI, and 11 total bases. His grand slam in the first inning marked the second home run of his collegiate career, while his five hits and three doubles are tied for the most by a Big Ten player in a game this season.

Putty now holds a team-high batting average of .414 through the first seven college games while slugging a team-best .828. His 12 hits, six doubles, 24 total bases, and 13 RBI also lead the team thus far this season.

He is the first Illini to win Big Ten Freshman of the Week in nearly nine years, when former Illini and current Kansas City Royal Michael Massey received the honor on May 1, 2017.

NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST

Two Illini baseball players were selected to the watch list for the 21st Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award.

Left-hander Zach Bates and right-hander Mitch Dye were both named to the list.

Bates is coming off of a breakout 2025 season, during which he amassed 34 strikeouts in 28.2 innings of work last season over 23 relief appearances. He ended the year with an ERA of 2.83 to go along with a team-high eight saves.

During the 2025 season, Dye put together 23.0 innings of work to go along with 29 strikeouts. He amassed 21 relief appearances and ended the season with an ERA of 7.43. Dye also added one save on the year.

ILLINI TRIO NAMED TO B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST

The Fighting Illini saw three student-athletes honored on the Big Ten Players to Watch list, the conference office announced on Wednesday.

Junior outfielder Collin Jennings, junior left-handed pitcher Regan Hall, and senior outfielder Nick Groves were all recognized with preseason honors for the first time in their respective careers.

Jennings put together a breakout sophomore season in 2025, hitting 16 home runs and driving in 61 runs, the latter of which were the most by an Illini since 2008. Tabbed with preseason All-Big Ten honors from Perfect Game, the Orland Park, Ill., native was also named one of the nation's top 100 collegiate juniors by the organization.

Hall heads into the 2026 season after securing a team-high seven wins on the mound for the Illini as a sophomore. Going 4-0 with a 1.03 ERA in the month of April in 2025, the New Mexico native finished his sophomore season with 67.2 innings pitched across 12 starts and 14 total appearances. He recorded his first complete game against Indiana on April 13.

Groves appeared in 43 games, making 41 starts, for the Illini in his first season with the program in 2025. Tallying a slash line of .324/.493/.385, his .493 on-base percentage ranked fifth in Big Ten last season, while his 15 stolen bases were tied for the seventh-most in the conference. He entered 2026 with an active on-base streak of 13 games.

ONES TO WATCH

Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten
OF Collin Jennings

Perfect Game Top 100 Collegiate Juniors
No. 77 - OF Collin Jennings

Perfect Game Top 2026 B1G Draft Prospects
No. 9 - OF Collin Jennings

Perfect Game Top 2027 B1G Draft Prospects
No. 16 - LHP/OF Brayden Mazzacano
No. 19 - C/OF Luke Landrus

Perfect Game Top 2028 B1G Draft Prospects
No. 13 - RHP Ike Young

D1Baseball Preseason Second Baseman Rankings
No. 46 - Jack Zebig

D1Baseball Preseason Third Baseman Rankings
No. 25 - Kyle Schupmann

D1Baseball Preseason Outfielder Rankings
No. 99 - Collin Jennings

D1Baseball Preseason Relief Pitcher Rankings
No. 65 - Zach Bates

D1Baseball Top 2026 B1G Draft Prospects
No. 16 - OF Collin Jennings
No. 53 - 2B Jack Zebig
No. 54 - LHP Zach Bates

D1Baseball Top 2027 B1G Draft Prospects
No. 17 - RHP Ryan Johnson
No. 23 - OF Cole Crafton
No. 26 - LHP/OF Brayden Mazzacano

D1Baseball Top Impact B1G Freshmen
No. 15 - RHP Ike Young
No. 26 - LHP Aidan Flinn