Coming off two midweek wins, Indiana baseball is set to take on Illinois this weekend in a three-game home series, looking for its second Big Ten series win of the year.
Indiana goes into the weekend holding a 18-23 record and is 4-8 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois is also looking to stay on track as the team has only lost three times since April 9. The Fighting Illini currently have the third best record in the Big Ten, most recently coming off a series loss against Maryland on April 30.
The Hoosiers are currently riding the wave of some of the best baseball they have played all season. They have won their last five of six games, and were able to take two of three games against Nebraska for their first Big Ten series win of the year. In the upcoming series against the Fighting Illini, the Hoosiers will match up against one of the top teams in the Big Ten.
Illinois is just a few games behind Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten standings. In all five Big Ten series that the Fighting Illini have played, they have only lost four out of the 15 total games.
Through 38 games, Illinois has batted .286 for third best in the Big Ten. Junior Cam McDonald leads his team in various offensive stats and has started in all games for Illinois. McDonald currently leads his team in batting average and RBIs, and is tied for first in hits and home runs.
Indiana will continue to look for its young stars to stay strong in the upcoming series. Freshman Josh Pyne was awarded Big Ten Freshman of the Week after batting .500 against Nebraska last weekend, where he went 7-14 with five extra base hits. Freshman Brock Tibbitts also had a strong performance against Nebraska, batting 2-4 in the first game of the series and batting 2-5 in the third game.
Indiana will play Illinois at noon on Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday start and 1 p.m. Sunday start. All games will be broadcast on Big Ten Network+.
