Illinois baseball (19-21) travels to Terre Haute, Indiana for a rematch with the Indiana State Sycamores (28-13) in what will be its final game of its five-game road trip. The Illini have lost three of their last four games during this time away.

The Illini lost two of three against the Ohio State Buckeyes in blowout fashion for each and before that, they lost a heartbreaker to the Bradley Braves. With only 10 games remaining in their season, including the second matchup with the Sycamores, the Illini are running out of time to turn their season around.

The two teams faced off in Illinois’ home opener back in mid-March, with the visitors taking the win in ten innings by a score of 7-3. Since that game, Illinois has been inconsistent with a record of 12-15 after that loss nearly two months ago.

On the other hand, Indiana State turned on the jets following its win over Illinois earlier this year. Ever since that win, the Sycamores have gone 20-5, with three of those losses immediately following the win over the Illini. Before losing to Evansville on Friday, the Sycamores had not lost since March 31, going 16-1 in the month of April which is their best month in 11 years. Indiana State also received 31 points in the coach’s poll this week.

The two programs feature similar hitting stats, with the Sycamores possessing a team batting average of .269 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .802. The Illini have a batting average of .270 and an OPS of .844.

In terms of the pitching numbers, Illinois’ staff has an earned run average of 6.01, with a walks-hits per innings pitched of 1.52. Indiana State has a much better ERA of 4.24 and WHIP of 1.31 which will provide a big test for the Illinois bats.

In their series loss to the Buckeyes, the Illini hit .263 with runners on-base with 15 hits in 57 at-bats. The pitching struggled to limit damage however, despite a one-hit complete game shutout by junior righthander Jack Wenninger on Saturday. The Buckeyes went 20-for-47 with runners on base over the weekend, with an average of .426 in that respect.

The point has been made multiple times by head coach Dan Hartleb over the last several months. The team needs to play better and more consistently and it’s getting to the brink of the season. With not much time left, the Illini surely need a win to gain confidence heading into these final weeks.

The first pitch for the midweek matinee is set for 5 p.m. CDT. This marks the final midweek matchup for the Illini.

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