As Illinois was stretching in the outfield before Saturday’s game against Indiana, one of the Hoosiers, amid a round of batting practice, crushed a line drive that smacked Davis Hendrickson directly in the face.

“I couldn’t tell you a lot more after that,” Hendrickson said as he stood outside of practice at Illinois Field on Monday with a cut above his blackened left eye.

It left a bump on his face the size of a golf ball, a size that lessened after he iced it down all night Saturday. Fortunately for Hendrickson, he didn’t sustain any serious injury and can laugh about it.

The accident didn’t derail him as he started on Sunday and threw a runner out at third in the second inning.

When the Illini (19-9, 2-4 Big Ten) host Eastern Illinois (10-18, 3-8 Ohio Valley) on Tuesday, Hendrickson is likely to assume the role of starting right fielder once again. Will Krug, who was the Illini starter, was hit on the arm by a pitch during Friday’s 3-2 loss to Indiana. He is out indefinitely, ruining a breakout season with him hitting .305 with eight stolen bases, which is the third best on the team.

The role isn’t new for Hendrickson. The senior was starting right fielder on opening day and has started 10 games this season, 119 games total in his career at Illinois. He will likely hit ninth, as he has for most of his career. He thinks of it as a second leadoff spot, where he can use his speed to benefit the team. He stole 11 bases last season.

Hendrickson’s arm strength may even be the best among the team’s outfielders, so Illinois loses nothing with him in that position.

“That’s one of my favorite parts of baseball,” Hendrickson said of throwing out runners from the outfield. “I take a lot of pride in making sure they don’t get there.”

Center fielder Justin Parr said he’s even seen some teams hesitant to run on the Illini, whose outfielders have combined for 14 outfield assists on the year, and he expects that number to increase with Hendrickson’s arm strength.

Hendrickson has struggled at the plate in recent years. Coming into Tuesday, he is hitting .209 during his 19 appearances this season. He has shown signs of breaking out during his career. During his sophomore season in 2011, he was a starting outfielder for the team that went to the NCAA tournament. He hit a team-high .417, adding two doubles, a triple and three RBIs at the NCAA Fullerton Regional that earned him a spot on the All-Regional Team. This came after hitting .311 with two home-runs and an on base percentage of .363 for the season.

“Honestly, I don’t think there’s much difference,” he said of that 2011 campaign and now. “Baseball is just a game of inches, so I feel like some of those were dropping in that year.”

Hendrickson started 49 games in right field last season, but his average dropped down to .263 and his on-base percentage to .348.

He lost his starting role this season after getting off to a slow start as Krug emerged.

“We’ve got him in the lineup (this season), I’m sure not as much as he would like, but that’s OK,” head coach Dan Hartleb said. “I don’t want guys who want to sit on the bench and are content sitting there. We’ve been trying to keep him in the lineup because you never know what’s going to happen. And now, we have a situation where he needs to come in and perform for us.”

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @jamalcollier.