Illinois baseball (12-12, 2-4) will host in-state rivals Illinois State (9-13, 2-4) for a two-game home and away series. The first matchup will be at Illinois Field in Champaign.

The Illini are coming off an ugly weekend performance against a Michigan Wolverines lineup that had struggled mightily before coming to Champaign. However, spirits will be high while the Illini play the Redbirds.

Despite losing two out of the three games against Michigan, the Illini celebrated head coach Dan Hartleb’s historic win on Sunday. The win was his 519th as head coach, as he became the winningest coach in program history.

“I’ve been blessed to be in one place for a long time,” Hartleb said. “It’s been fun, we continue to move forward and hopefully build on the wins.”

The Illini bats were led by redshirt junior second baseman Brody Harding on Sunday, who had three hits in four at-bats, along with a walk, a home run and four runs batted in. Junior righthander Jack Wenninger went eight innings of one-run ball, dominating the Michigan lineup. Wenninger was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week for his performance.

“Just an outstanding performance,” Hartleb said. “(Wenninger) is a really good pitcher, he’s been very consistent for us.”

Illinois State is coming off a similar weekend series. The Redbirds lost two out of three at home; however, before that, they took out the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes in a home upset.

The Redbirds’ pitching staff has struggled mightily thus far with an earned run average of 6.95. The Illinois pitching staff has an ERA of 5.89, a number that ballooned over the weekend after giving up 23 runs across three games.

The Illini have an advantage in terms of their ability to get on-base and hit for power. Their on-base plus slugging percentage is .856. Meanwhile, the Redbirds sit at .730 in the OPS category.

The Illini will look to move above .500 behind a team that seemed to be rejuvenated by its historic win on Sunday. Likely to pitch for the Illini is freshman righthander Jake Swartz, who has been the featured pitcher for most of the Illini’s midweek matchups.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Illinois Field. The time listed is in Central Daylight Time.

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