The Illinois baseball team will make a short trip to Peoria, Ill., tonight to take on the best team in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bradley Braves.

The Braves enter tonight’s game atop the MVC standings with a 7-2 conference record (14-14 overall), and are currently riding a three-game winning streak.

Illinois (15-12, 3-5 Big Ten), on the other hand, enters tonight’s game coming off a disappointing 1-3 weekend road trip at Ohio State. The Illini were only able to manage one run in each of the three losses and gave up a six-run lead to the Buckeyes before coming back in extra innings for their only win of the weekend.

“I’m not discouraged from the standpoint of did we play hard or not,” head coach Dan Hartleb said after Sunday’s loss to Ohio State. “I’m just upset we didn’t make adjustments, and baseball is a game of adjustments. If a certain player is doing certain things against you, then you should go about things a different way.”

The Illini realize they need to make adjustments in all aspects of their games, especially at the plate. Illinois has averaged a mere 1.25 runs and 6.5 hits per game in its last four losses.

“Offensively we need to find ways to get runners on and get them into scoring position,” junior out fielder and designated hitter Chase Kliment said. “The bottom line is we haven’t scored runs. We are hoping we can get our bats going again and tonight will be a good opportunity for us to get back on the right track and start hitting the ball.”

While the Illini know they aren’t the same team that won the Big Ten Conference regular season championship last year, they still believe they are capable of accomplishing great things this year.

“I think we are a good team, but not a great team,” Hartleb said. “I believe we can beat anybody when we play as a team, and our guys are going to have to show up and play as a team. If we do those things we will be successful.

“I believe in the team and believe we are capable of getting things done,” Hartleb added. “I expect the team to rebound. We’ve done a good job of rebounding through adversity this year, and I expect us to do that again.”

Bradley currently holds a two-game winning streak over Illinois. The Braves beat the Illini 12-5 in 2004 and 12-8 in 2003. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. at O’Brien Field, home of the Chicago Cubs Single-A affiliate Peoria Chiefs.

“We were rained out against them last year, but all I really know about them is they play in a really nice park,” junior third baseman Mike Rohde said. “They play in a very good conference as well and it’s not going to be an easy game by any means. We have to expect another tough game.”