| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day | Illinois | Opponent |
| Friday | RHP Cody Sedlock (2-1, 4.01) | NIU - LHP Ryan Olson (1-2, 6.86) |
| Saturday (1) | RHP Cole Bellair (0-0, 0.00) | NIU - TBA |
| Saturday (2) | LHP Doug Hayes (2-2, 4.09) | SIU - RHP Chad Whitmer (1-0, 2.52) |
| Sunday | RHP Andrew Mamlic (1-2, 5.06) | SIU - RHP Michael Baird (2-1, 1.75) |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini baseball team travels to Carbondale, Illinois, this weekend for four games against two nonconference opponents. The Illini are set to face Northern Illinois on Friday (1 p.m. CT) and Saturday (1 p.m. CT) and Southern Illinois on Saturday (3 p.m. CT) and Sunday (3 p.m. CT) at Itch Jones Stadium.
Illinois (6-7) fell to UNC Greensboro and Coastal Carolina last weekend at the Coastal Carolina Invitational. The Illini finished the weekend with four straight losses after entering on a three-game winning streak.
"Once we made mistakes, we let it get to us mentally," head coach Dan Hartleb told the Daily Illini. "Our approach was very disappointing. I thought we were getting better each and every series until this weekend."
Illinois opened the season with a 6-3 record, including a three-game sweep of the Stetson Invitational before last weekend's losses.
"Obviously this was our worst four games this season, that's no question," Pat McInerney told the Daily Illini. "Either we continue to downward spiral or we learn from this and come out next week with more confidence and make much-needed adjustments."
Northern Illinois (2-13) lost to No. 2 Vanderbilt on Tuesday. Last weekend, in the series finale at Belmont, Brian Sisler became the first Husky to hit for the cycle since 2000.
Southern Illinois (9-6-1) fell in extra innings at Arkansas State, 1-0, on Tuesday. The Saluskis faced St. John's last weekend and the series finals ended in a tie for the first time since 2004. SIU has series wins over Western Illinois, 3-0, and Iowa, 2-1.
Dave Loane will have the radio call for all four games on the Fighting Illini Sports Network. Games against Southern Illinois will be streamed live at SIUsalukis.com for free.
SERIES HISTORIES
VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
- Record: 21-9-1 (.694)
- Last: L, 3-0 (3/18/12 at Marion, Ill.)
VS. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
- Record: 34-34 (.500)
- Last: W, 7-5 (4/28/15 at SIU)
NOW TRENDING - #ILLINI
JASON GOLDSTEIN
• Catcher Jason Goldstein leads the team with a .415 (17-41) batting average and was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
PAT MCINERNEY - @Pat_Mac27
• Junior Pat McInerney led the team in hitting last weekend (6-17, .353) at the Coastal Carolina Invitational, where he had four hits in the last two games.
COLE BELLAIR - @CBellair
• Freshman Cole Bellair pitched 7.0 innings against UNC Greensboro, holding them to one run on four hits. UNC Greensboro entered the game with the nation's No. 1 batting average.
UP NEXT
Illinois makes a trip to Normal, Illinois, March 22 to face Illinois State and begins conference play with its home opener against Penn State March 25-27.
