Illinois baseball had plenty of time to think about how the 2023 season ended. Despite being filled with great moments, like head coach Dan Hartleb becoming the program’s winningest coach and multiple walk-off comeback wins, Illinois’ season ended after just two games in the Big Ten tournament. The Illini went 25-27 in total with a 12-12 record against the Big Ten.
Illinois’ top pitchers in 2023, right-handers Riley Gowens and Jack Wenninger, were drafted by the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, respectively — Gowens was traded to the Chicago White Sox later on. The departures of Gowens and Wenninger likely cast senior right-hander Jack Crowder into the ace role for the Illini, followed by sophomore right-handers Julius Sanchez and Jake Swartz.
In addition to Gowens and Wenninger, the Illini lost outfielder Cam McDonald and infielder Branden Comia, both of whom left their mark on the program and finished in the top 10 for hits as an Illini. However, a few key names are returning, namely redshirt senior catcher Jacob Schroeder who finished second on the team in home runs last season.
The team’s leading slugger from 2023, redshirt junior infielder Drake Westcott, is returning as well, so the Illini have plenty of power in their lineup. The Illini start their season in the same place as last year: Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Illinois will face Akron, Fordham and No. 1 Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons beat the Illini a year ago over the same weekend by a total score of 18-2 across two games. It will be an enormous test for the Illini, as the Demon Deacons boast five of NCAA.com’s top 30 MLB draft prospects for 2024. The difficult schedule is one that Hartleb thinks highly of.
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“We always play really good teams,” Hartleb said. “I think it’s important to go out and challenge your guys. You know, the thing that I talk to them about all the time is that we don’t need to go to Wake Forest to beat them — we need to be in a situation where they’re working to beat us.”
Fordham and Akron pose another interesting matchup for Illinois, as both teams struggled last season, but Wake Forest is easily the cream of the crop across the nation right now.
The Demon Deacons as a pitching staff allowed a batting average of just .203 while the lineup hit .301 as a team. Akron and Fordham, on the other hand, had issues racking up hits and preventing base runners, with Akron allowing a batting average of .292 and Fordham a .310.
Illinois had a much closer margin than any of the three opponents it will face this weekend, with a team batting average of .271, while giving up a .278 batting average against. The Illini look to improve upon their ability to put balls in play, having struck out 489 times last season, something Hartleb is very adamant about.
“We were so worried about launch angle, velocity and spin rate,” Hartleb said. “We literally didn’t go out and compete the way we needed to, and I made sure that didn’t happen this year.”
The Wake Forest tournament will start on Friday with Illinois against Akron at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Illinois will then play Wake Forest at 11 a.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the season-opening series against Fordham at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
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