This past weekend Illinois baseball stayed on the road for another trio of games, facing Middle Tennessee on Friday and then facing Middle Tennessee along with Coastal Carolina in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Illini beat Middle Tennessee, 7-4, on Friday, but they dropped both Saturday games, 17-10 and 6-2, respectively. 

Friday’s game, for the second week in a row, was headlined by a stellar outing by junior starting pitcher Cole Kirschsieper, who went six innings while allowing just two earned runs and five hits. On an Illinois staff seemingly devoid of strong pitching, Kirschsieper has been a standout thus far. 

“It’s been unreal, ” said senior infielder Branden Comia on Kirschsieper’s first two outings. “I’ve known Cole since we were probably 13 years old. … Seeing him go from being that kid who just threw 84, spotted up everything, threw everything first strike to now going out there and absolutely carving people is not really a surprise but just really good to see out of him. I’m really happy and proud of him.”

In Friday’s win, the offense was supplied primarily by Comia, who went 2-for-4 at the plate along with a walk, along with senior catcher Jacob Campbell, who went 3-for-5 and freshman left fielder Ryan Moerman, who went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in. 

Comia, one of the team’s best hitters in past years, had experienced a slow start last weekend with just one hit to show for 10 plate appearances. While the team as a whole struggled to turn in a winning effort, Comia at least turned up his own hitting.

“I think I was just getting my foot down, seeing the ball a lot better,” Comia said. “Same thing kind of happened to me last year. I had a really slow start last year as well, but I’m just happy I bounced back a lot quicker this year.”

In the first game against Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Illinois’ bats remained hot, but the pitching simply was not there to give the Illini any chance of remaining close. By the end of the third inning, the Illini were in a 6-1 hole behind freshman starter Crayton Burnett, and things only got worse from there. In the seventh inning, Middle Tennessee reeled off a whopping 11 runs, a sure death knell to Illinois’ chances of winning.

Last week, head coach Dan Hartleb indicated the Saturday start would need some tinkering after Kansas put up 12 runs. It seems Hartleb may still have some work cut out for him if he wants to solve what may become a lingering issue.

Saturday’s second game against Coastal Carolina didn’t end up any better result-wise, but the combination of senior Ryan Kutt, junior Alex Vera and sophomore Jack Wenninger were able to hold the opposition to six runs. But, Illinois’ bats went quiet with just five hits. 

“Obviously the past two weekends haven’t gone the way we exactly wanted,” Comia said. “Coach Hartleb talked about it, and I think we all kind of agreed and are on the same page with him that the team needs to get back on track and on the same page and kind of just roll with the punches right now.”

@WesHollenberg

[email protected]