| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Illinois |
Purdue |
| Fri., 5 p.m. CT |
RHP Ty Weber (2-3, 3.95) |
RHP Tanner Andrews (5-2, 5.13) |
| Sat., 5 p.m. CT |
RHP Cyrillo Watson (1-3, 7.76) |
LHP Gareth Stroh (3-3, 5.40) |
| Sun., 2 p.m. CT |
RHP Matthew James (0-1, 6.75) |
RHP Mike Kornacker (1-2, 6.03) |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, this weekend for a Big Ten series against Purdue. The Illini sit 1.5 games back of the Boilermakers for the eighth and final spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
Illinois (15-19, 3-6 Big Ten) has been playing its best baseball of the season of late, winning 9 of its last 12, including seven straight 1-2 run decisions. The Illini have won three of its last four Big Ten games after starting the conference season 0-5.
It will be the same pitching rotation for the Illini, after beating Northwestern two out of three games last weekend. Freshmen Ty Weber and Cyrillo Watson will get the ball Friday and Saturday followed by senior Matthew James on Sunday.
Purdue (19-18, 6-6 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak Wednesday with a win over Indiana State. The Boilermakers had lost Tuesday to Ball State in 12 innings following Saturday and Sunday losses at Rutgers. Prior to the Rutgers series, Purdue had won two of three from Ohio State and Indiana in Big Ten play.
This weekend marks the halfway point in the conference schedule for most Big Ten teams. Illinois has series left against Minnesota (1st, 7-2), Maryland (2nd, 9-3), Rutgers (12th, 2-4) and Iowa (5th, 5-4).
NOTES
• Illinois travels to Purdue for the first time since 2012.
• The Illini have won five straight over Purdue.
• Illinois has won three straight series against Purdue (2013-15).
• Illinois has won nine of its last 12 games and five of its last six.
• The Illini have been able to win close games of late. While going 9-3 in the last 12, Illinois has outscored opponents 70-61 with +10 of the margin coming last game vs. Western Michigan.
• Eight of nine wins have been decided by three or fewer runs and seven of nine have been decided by two or fewer.
• Illinois has won seven straight two-run games. The Illini are 9-8 in games decided by two or fewer runs.
• 266 2/3 of Illinois' 301 innings pitched have been by freshmen or sophomores (88.6%).
• 222 of Illinois' 309 hits have been by freshmen or sophomores (71.8%). True freshmen have 67 hits, all by Michael Massey and Ben Troike.
• Illinois has outhit opponents or hits have been even in 21 of 34 games.
• Illinois is 6-16 when scoring six or fewer runs. Six of the last nine wins have come with six or fewer runs.
UP NEXT
Friday is the start of an eight-game road swing for Illinois. Following Purdue, the Illini make trips to Bradley (Tuesday), Minnesota (April 28-30) and Southern Illinois (May 2). The next home game is Friday, May 5 against Maryland.
