Illinois baseball (20-13) continues its homestand of in-state opponents with a series against Northwestern (12-20) at Illinois Field. The team is coming off of a series sweep over Northern Illinois, outscoring the Huskies 52-21 across three games and crushing 15 home runs. Head coach Dan Hartleb and the Illini offense are on a tear, winning 13 of their last 15 games and putting up double-digit runs in 11 of those outings.
“We can’t get complacent, every game is a new game,” Hartleb said. “We have just got to continue to be very focused and stay locked in every outing.”
With a 7-2 record against conference opponents, Illinois currently leads the Big Ten standings. Northwestern holds a 2-7 conference record at the bottom of the rankings. Northwestern is coming off of a series win, taking two games over Maryland, but was swept by Penn State the weekend before. Three weeks ago, the Illini swept the Nittany Lions at Illinois Field and put up 43 runs in three games.
Two Illini booked a record last weekend, graduate student catcher Jacob Schroeder and redshirt junior first baseman Drake Westcott each crushed three home runs on Sunday, becoming the first set of teammates to record a same-game homer hat trick in Illinois baseball history.
Schroeder has recently emerged as a key force in the Illini offense and earned recognition across the nation. He was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season while also picking up the NCAA Player of the Week honor and leading the Illini with a .372 batting average and a .808 slugging percentage.
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Powerful cleanup hitter Westcott leads Illinois and is tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs with 12 on the season and boasts a 1.123 on-base plus slugging percentage. The Illini pace the Big Ten with 61 home runs on the season and are the only squad in the conference with more than 50.
Scheduled to work on the mound this weekend are senior right-handed pitcher Jack Crowder on Friday and graduate student lefty Cooper Omans on Saturday. Crowder is 2-1 on the season with a 5.36 earned run average and Omans holds a 3-1 record with a 3.96 ERA.
Northwestern has senior left-handed pitcher Nolan Morr scheduled to start on Friday, who is 1-4 on the season with an 8.64 ERA. Leading at the plate for the Wildcats is junior catcher/first baseman Bennett Markinson, who bats .354 with a .858 OPS. Junior utility player Preston Knott is another bat to watch out for with a .329 average and 1.047 OPS.
History favors the Illini, who hold a 179-92 all-time record over Northwestern and swept the last series played at Illinois Field in 2022. Winning 23 of their last 30 games against the Wildcats, the Illini have been dominant at home throughout the all-time series with a 93-34 record in Champaign.
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Coming up, the Big Ten leaders will host one more game at Illinois Field on Tuesday against Western Illinois before a three-game road series at Maryland next weekend.
