Illinois (5-2) is coming off the back of a dominant victory against Aurora University (0-3) after its second stint in Texas. Now, the Illini turn their attention to the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. Illinois will take on Texas Tech (1-5), Washington (3-6) and No. 15 Texas (6-1).
How does Illinois stack up?
The team is on a wave of momentum having won by 11 runs over Aurora. Despite the wide margin of defeat, Illinois was outhit in the matchup. This is not shocking, however, as the approach to the plate this year has been different compared to last year. But, the Illini still rank in the upper half of the Big Ten in the home runs category to start the season.
Illinois falls at No. 5 in a three-way tie with Michigan (4-3) and UCLA (7-2); all three teams have hit 10 total home runs. Against Aurora University, Illinois tallied three home runs total.
“We’ve been doing a good job commanding the strike zone,” head coach Dan Hartleb said. “We’ve taken walks and hit by pitches and then we’ve really done a good job producing after that.”
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What does the field look like?
Do not let Texas Tech’s record fool you. It has played some tough teams to begin the season, most notably against No. 6 North Carolina (9-0), and dropped a three-game series against UC Irvine (5-3).
Its only win came against UC Irvine; Texas Tech emerged victorious 15-12. The team has not seen much success as it is the third worst-hitting team (0.244) in the Big 12. This is quite the contrast to Illinois, who sits at No. 5 in the Big Ten in batting percentage (0.300).
Another area Texas Tech struggles in is the pitching department. The Red Raiders have the third highest ERA in the entire Big 12 at 6.00. Illinois on the other hand has the fifth highest ERA in the Big Ten at 5.29.
Texas Tech is the first team Illinois will battle in Las Vegas; the game is on Friday at 4 p.m.
Washington is up next for Illinois in the tournament. This will be the first time these two teams will compete this season. Illinois will meet Washington in April once again during regular conference play.
Washington, just like Texas Tech, has been struggling to begin the season. Similarly, pitching has been a cause of the Huskies’ issues for this season. They are No. 16 in the conference and currently sit on a 6.30 ERA. The only team in the conference with a worse ERA is Ohio State (1-5) with an 8.83.
The game against Washington is the second matchup of the weekend and will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Then, the matchup with Texas will conclude Illinois’ run in this classic. Texas is the best team Illinois has faced to this point in the year as it is ranked in the top 15 in the nation. The Longhorns have a well-rounded team with numerous strengths, making this game a massive test for the Illini.
Six games into the season, Texas already has some high caliber wins, such as over No. 17 Oklahoma State (4-3) and now No. 24 Ole Miss (7-1). The only loss Texas has taken this season was the season opener against Louisville (6-1), which pulled off an upset in 10 innings.
The weekend finale for the Illini occurs this Sunday at 1 p.m.
What can Illinois do to succeed?
Illinois as a whole has seen decent competition with its best wins coming over Texas State (6-2). The team scheduled Aurora University before this series to keep the team warmed up before it heads to Nevada.
“Sometimes you need to practice, but I thought it was a good opportunity to get out, play a game,” Hartleb said. “You get better when you play in games and see how guys are going to react.”
The best thing Illinois can do is limit mistakes on the mound and avoid going deep into the bullpen so they can keep guys fresh for the next games in the classic. Against Aurora, Illinois used nine different pitchers. But these were not all the usual suspects on the mound for Illinois, as it started the game with a two-way player, freshman outfielder Brayden Mazzacano.
Illinois also must keep its same approach at the plate and make sure it stays patient with the pitches that come its way.
All the games for the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic will be streamed on D1Baseball.com. They will also be live on the radio for the first two games on 1400 AM WDWS, while the final game will be live on fightingillini.com.
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