After crushing lowly 9-30 Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, the Illinois baseball team had two days off before heading to Penn State to face the Nittany Lions in a four-game Big Ten series starting today.

Last season, the Nittany Lions came into Champaign and swept the Illini in four-straight games. The Illini pitching staff had a good series, but Illinois’ bats went silent, scoring only three runs in four games.

“We’ve got a little bit of a score to settle from last year,” Illinois junior catcher Chris Robinson said about facing Penn State. “They swept us at home and if you can’t get up against a team like that, you’ve really got to check yourself. I think we’ll be fired up to go play there and prove something to them.”

Illinois has not swept Penn State in a four-game series since 1992. The last time the Illini won a series against the Nittany Lions was 2002.

This year’s Illinois team is stacked with a much more potent lineup. Sophomore designated hitter Mike Rohde leads the team with a .368 batting average, and is one of seven regular starters hitting over .300 on the season. The Illini are hitting a combined .312 as a team.

Illinois will start junior right-hander Brian Blomquist on Friday in the series opener. Blomquist has been sensational thus far in Big Ten Play, winning all four of his starts. He is 8-1 with a 1.93 ERA on the year.

Senior Jimmy Conroy (6-1, 3.16 ERA) and junior Matt Whitmore (3-1, 6.15 ERA) will start in Saturday’s doubleheader.

As for Sunday, Illini coach Itch Jones has not made a final decision on whom he will start, but is leaning towards junior right-hander Jake Stewart.

Stewart won his first game of the year last week, allowing two runs on 12 hits over seven innings. So far this season, Stewart is 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA.

“He’s probably going to be a starter in one of our ballgames,” Jones said. “He’s done a better job than any fourth person we’ve put out all year.”