After a whirlwind weekend in the spotlight following a nationally publicized sweep of Ohio State, the Illinois baseball team is back to business.

Set to play three of its final six games of the regular season, Illinois (40-6-1, 16-1 Big Ten) will put its 21-game winning streak on the line against Rutgers (17-31-1, 5-13) this weekend at Illinois Field.

As they should, the Illini have gained plenty of media recognition because of their school-record streak, but head coach Dan Hartleb is just happy to be back home to finish off the regular season.

“It’s always nice to be home,” Hartleb said. “You have a little bit of a routine when you’re at home — you know your surroundings, you stay in your own bed. Especially with exams coming up, too, it’s going to be nice not to have to rush through those.”

It hasn’t mattered much whether the Illini have played at home or away this season — their home and road records are nearly identical. However, Illinois’ only conference loss was on the road against Michigan State. The Illini outscore their opponents by nearly more than a full run at home than they do on the road.

Junior pitcher Kevin Duchene said playing at home is easier than on the road and is looking forward to extending the streak in front of the home crowd.

“We’ve had great turnouts the last several home weekends, and we really appreciate that a lot,” Duchene said. “It changes the whole environment of the game, and we love being here. There’s nothing worse than going for a six-hour bus ride, so we love playing here and keeping the streak alive is a lot easier when you’re not in hostile territory.”

There have already been record-setting crowds at Illinois Field this season, and weather permitting, huge crowds are expected again this weekend.

The Scarlet Knights may be hoping for some cloudy skies, though. Rutgers will come into the weekend having lost five of their last six contests and have only won a single Big Ten series this season. In fact, the Scarlet Knights have lost nine-straight conference games.

Rutgers ranks in the bottom three of the Big Ten in hitting, pitching and fielding and is tied with Northwestern for next-to-last in the conference standings. All but one of the Rutgers pitchers who have started at least one game have ERAs over 5.00, and the batting order boasts two hitters with averages over .280.

It’s clear that Illinois and Rutgers are on opposite ends of the success spectrum this season, but the Illini remain focused and won’t take their opponent lightly.

“We have won 21 in a row, and our ranking’s higher this week, yet the guys (were) very focused already with the start practice,” Hartleb said. “It’s a group that just comes out to take care of business and has a lot of lofty goals.”

With the season winding down, Illinois has a chance to secure its first Big Ten Championship since 2011. Iowa is just a game and a half behind Illinois and will take on Minnesota this weekend at home.

Even with a long winning streak and regular-season accolades on the line, Duchene said the players are just enjoying each other’s company.

“This a recurring answer, but this team is just so much fun to be a part of,” Duchene said. “Everybody’s so loose and just able to be themselves. We don’t feel any pressure from this win streak or postseason aspirations, we’re taking it one game at a time, and as long as we’re able to just do our jobs, this team is good enough to keep the streak alive.”

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