Illinois (2-2) started its season out with a solid pair of wins and a pair of losses last weekend in North Carolina. This weekend, the Illini head a little further south. They’ll take on another trio of teams, with one of their opponents in the top 25.

The Cincinnati Bearcats, (1-2) the Ball State Cardinals (3-1) and the No. 25 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (2-2) await the Illini in the Coastal Carolina tournament. Illinois is not unfamiliar with Coastal Carolina, having played the perennial College World Series threat twice last season, splitting the two games. Looking back at the prior weekend, the Illini did some of what they had hoped to do: Pitch better.

Across the four games, the Illini pitching staff surrendered 12 runs, but it was not an even split. Against Akron, Illinois gave up one run in the first game but five in game two. Against No. 1 Wake Forest, Illinois started strong on the mound as senior right-hander Logan Tabeling tossed 3.1 shutout innings with eight strikeouts.

However, after the eighth strikeout, things immediately went south for the Illini; a walk was followed by a hit-by-pitch, and another walk led to a grand slam for the Demon Deacons. Tabeling recorded another strikeout, but that was all for him after four innings and after he allowed five free baserunners — four walks, one hit by pitch.

There’s plenty to build off of that loss, especially because the Illini showed resilience late in the game by scoring two in the ninth inning. However, the long innings from Tabeling, especially against Wake Forest, are something that harkens back to what head coach Dan Hartleb said before the season.

“We’re always strict on a pitch count … but it’s going to depend on the flow of the game and how much pressure is on them,” Hartleb said. “If you have base runners all over the place, that’s a little bit more high stress, and it’s going to cut down on the innings.”

Fast forwarding to the upcoming slate, the three opponents provide unique challenges for the Illini, who will get a chance to come home on Tuesday with two ranked games under their belts. Throughout four games, Coastal Carolina will hit the best of the three opponents with a .829 on-base plus slugging percentage, followed by Cincinnati (three games) with a .814 OPS and Ball State (four games) with a .656 OPS. Coastal Carolina also scored 26 runs in its first game of the year, posing a big challenge to Illinois pitchers.

The Illini have a .655 OPS as a lineup, but the pitching staff has allowed a .598 OPS through their first four games. Thus, the challenges are unique, because Illinois has a great opportunity to see some tough early hitting while also working on its hitting.

Game one of the weekend series is set for Friday against Coastal Carolina at 2 p.m. CT and Ball State follows at 6 p.m. for game two. The final game of the weekend is slated for Saturday at 11 a.m. CT.

The Illini will head back to Champaign on Tuesday for their first home game of the season against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

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