It’s been an uninspiring opening to the season for Illinois (1-3). It lost two of three to USF (3-1) this past weekend, then dropped a game to Butler (2-2) in a high-scoring affair Tuesday.
Things might not get much better for the Illini this weekend. They head to Conway, South Carolina, to take on the VCU Rams (3-0) and the No. 6 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-1). It won’t be an easy task, as both teams are some of the best in the early going.
Hard-hitting Rams
Through its first handful of games, VCU is tied for No. 18 in the nation in batting average (.376). The Rams are also No. 13 in on-base percentage (.500), top-40 in runs scored (35) and No. 20 in slugging percentage (.613).
For a team that has one of the worst ERAs in the Big Ten, it’ll be hard to stop such a high-powered offense. It doesn’t get much better for the Illini on offense.
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Nationally, VCU is top-55 in ERA (3.24), No. 11 in strikeouts per nine innings (14.4) and No. 20 in WHIP (0.96). If that wasn’t enough, the Rams are also No. 1 in the country in hits allowed per nine innings (3.24).
Illinois has a tough task ahead of it against VCU. While its offense hasn’t been awful, the pitching and defense struggled so far. Coming into the season, head coach Dan Hartleb preached defense as a key to success.
Through their first four games, the Illini have five errors. While they didn’t record any against the Bulldogs, there were a lot of messy plays that worked against the Illini. Senior catcher Will Johannes had two passed balls. He had just three in 21 games last season.
Those types of mistakes won’t work against the Rams. They’re a good team across all aspects of the game, and the Illini will need to be at their best to compete.
Chanticleers bring big challenge
If Illinois needs to be its best against VCU, then it’ll need to be at 110% against Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers are one of the top teams in the country, and their pitching staff is one of the best in NCAA baseball.
They are tied for the fifth-best in the country with a 1.00 ERA this season. They’re also top-20 in hits per nine innings (5.33), top-50 in strikeouts per nine innings (12) and No. 9 in WHIP (0.81).
Coastal Carolina is coming off a fantastic season that saw it win the Sun Belt Conference and go all the way to the NCAA College World Series Final.
Illinois hasn’t played a top-10 team in the regular season since it played then-No. 8 Tennessee in March 2024. The Illini put up seven runs to the Volunteers’ 38. This time around could prove even worse for Illinois.
The Illini will have to be perfect all weekend to have any chance of competing with these two teams. There were flashes of that against Butler, and Hartleb would like to see the team clean things up a little.
“I saw some guys have really quality at-bats,” Hartleb said of the bases-loaded situation against Butler. “The last out of the (eighth) inning, we take the strike, and then we swung (at) two balls that weren’t strikes. You’ve got to make those adjustments.”
Illinois did have some promising at-bats on Tuesday, but more often than not, it had trouble at the plate. When it did get people on base, Illinois was able to take advantage. If the Illini can consistently get on base, they have a better chance at making this weekend’s games more competitive.
The pitching will be the biggest worry against both teams. Pitching hasn’t exactly been a strength for Illinois recently. The Illini have been in the bottom half of the conference in ERA the past couple of years, and this season hasn’t been any different.
Just one starting pitcher has gone longer than four innings this season. Junior southpaw Regan Hall went 6.1 innings and allowed just one earned run against USF. Hartleb hasn’t been shy in using his starters when he needs to, so Hall may get the bump this weekend.
First pitch against VCU on Friday is scheduled for 10 a.m. CST. Illinois takes on VCU and Coastal Carolina in a doubleheader on Saturday, and finishes the weekend tournament against Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
@ben_some16
