Illinois baseball (3-5) heads back to South Carolina for another three-game weekend after a resounding 12-2 win in its earliest outdoor home opener in program history. The Eastern Illinois Panthers were thoroughly outmatched in every facet of the game on Tuesday as the Illini offense racked up four home runs as a part of their 12 hits. The pitching staff was just as dominant despite the two-run slip-up in the ninth inning.
The Illini will face off against the Florida State Seminoles, the Western Michigan Broncos and their fellow Big Ten opponent, the Michigan State Spartans, across the three-day series. The Seminoles and Broncos boast the biggest challenge, with the teams being 7-0 and 6-2, respectively.
Michigan State enters with the same 3-5 record as Illinois, having scored 56 runs through its eight games, but giving up 54, including 20 in a loss to Marshall. Illinois on the other hand, has given up 48 runs to its opponents while scoring 43 in its first eight games.
However, the Broncos and Seminoles are on a different level when it comes to scoring runs thus far in 2024. Western Michigan has scored a total of 80 runs to its opponent’s 48, and in an even larger disparity, Florida State has driven in 81 runs while giving up just 26.
Illinois, while seemingly finding an answer at the plate against Eastern Illinois, still has work to do regarding its ability to get on base and hit for power. A team on-base plus slugging percentage of .748 is by far the lowest of the teams competing at the First Pitch Invitational.
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With OPSs of 1.072, .960 and .822, Florida State, Western Michigan and Michigan State will be a lot to handle for the Illinois pitching staff. However, with the way graduate left-hander Cooper Omans pitched on Tuesday, there is certainly some excitement, especially because the bullpen followed up with several solid innings.
Through the first eight innings against the Panthers, the Illini pitching staff had given up just four hits and two walks while also shutting out the offense. However, a shaky ninth inning from redshirt junior left-hander Payton Hutchings ended the shutout, but the Illini pitching staff still showed their prowess.
As the Illini travel to South Carolina for the second weekend in a row, they will look to get back to and then over .500 with a huge road series against the Tennessee Volunteers looming. Illinois will first play Florida State on Friday at 1 p.m., Western Michigan on Saturday at 1 p.m. and wrap up with a 9 a.m. Sunday matchup against Michigan State. All times are in CT.
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