Eight games away from its first Big Ten Conference title since 1998, the newly ranked Illinois baseball team will complete its season with a four-game series this weekend at Minnesota and a four-game series at home the following weekend (May 20-22) against Iowa.

For the first time all season, Illinois is nationally ranked in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper’s weekly rankings. The Illini are ranked No. 29 overall and are the only Big Ten team in the rankings. Tulane holds the top spot for the fifth week in a row.

The Illini (31-14-1, 18-6) lead the Hawkeyes (24-23, 15-9) by three full games, while Purdue (18-23, 11-8) is four and a half games back.

Minnesota (24-23, 13-11) was tied with the Illini for the Big Ten lead as late as two weeks ago, but has lost seven of their last eight conference games. Three of those losses came last weekend in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes.

Unfortunately for the Gophers, the Illini are red-hot. In Illinois’ sweep over Northwestern this past weekend, the team hit a combined .465 with 14 home runs and 59 runs scored. The 59 runs set a school record for the most runs in a conference series. And as if the offense wasn’t enough, Illinois’ starting pitchers threw three complete games.

Having lost nine of their past 11 meetings with Wildcats entering the weekend, the Illini more than exacted their revenge.

“We haven’t faired too well against (Northwestern) in the past,” said Illini senior centerfielder Drew Davidson, who hit four home runs against the Wildcats. “We’ve blown some games against them that we should have won.

“It was huge to come out here and get some wins – not just for revenge – but to stay on top of the conference,” Davidson said.

Entering 2005, the Illini had only won 23 Big Ten games in the past two seasons. Sitting on top of the conference this season has been a breath of fresh air, and unlike past seasons, the Illini believe they can continue to win.

“I’m not going to say we’re over-confident, but we’re definitely at the level where we feel like we can win every game we play,” said senior second baseman J.R. Kyes, who was recently named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. “We’re not afraid to be down a little bit, because we know at the end of the game we’re going to be on top.”

The Illini’s hot-hitting second baseman hit .529 against the Wildcats with four homers, 13 RBIs and a 1.471 slugging percentage. Kyes is the second Illini to be nationally recognized this season. Senior first baseman Dusty Bensko was the Pro-Line Caps National Hitter of the Week in April.

With a lineup this stacked, senior Toby Gardenhire has just been glad to be a part of it all.

“This has been amazing, it’s a blast,” Gardenhire said. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that we were going to do this, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had.”

If the Illini hold on to win the Big Ten regular season crown, they would host the conference tournament at Illinois Field May 25-29.

“We want to be the Big Ten Champions,” Kyes said.