The Illini (14-15, 3-6) look to pull off a massive upset over the Indiana Hoosiers (23-10, 7-2) in a three-game home series this weekend. The Hoosiers are at the top of the Big Ten, as they hold the first-place spot in the conference.

The Illini are coming off one of their biggest wins of the season, a 16-5 demolition of the Illinois State Redbirds. The team needed that win, especially after the prior weekend series in which they lost to the Northwestern Wildcats.

The Illini pitching staff did a great job holding down the Redbird lineup, the same lineup that put up 12 runs on them at Illinois Field. Illinois’ bats also came through, with 17 hits, seven walks and nine extra-base hits.

The strongest component to the Indiana Hoosiers’ success thus far has without a doubt been their pitching. They have the third-best earned run average in the Big Ten as a staff, with a 4.68 ERA.

On the other hand, the Illini have the second-worst ERA in the Big Ten, at 5.94. Illinois’ pitching staff will have plenty to worry about with that, but they can look somewhat on the bright side, as Indiana’s offense has not been as dominant as their pitching.

The Hoosiers’ bats are not as stellar, as they rank in the middle of the pack at seventh in batting average, eighth in slugging and fifth in on-base percentage. The Illini bats have hit for power on the other hand, with the third-most home runs in the Big Ten.

Looking at the Illini’s advanced metrics at the plate, it is still sophomore catcher Camden Janik leading the team in weighted runs created plus, with a mark of 134. The team’s wRC+ as a whole is 108, so the offense has been about 8% better than the average.

This series is the start of a seven-game homestand, as Illinois will have the ability to get more rest without traveling as much. However, with that comes a lot of pressure. The Illini need to win these games, as they have still been on a cold streak, losing 12 of their last 20 games.

The first pitch of the series will be at 7 p.m. on Friday. The first pitch for Saturday and Sunday will be 5 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

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