The recipe to stopping Justin Parr is simple: just add water.

So far in the standout center fielder’s 24-game hitting streak, the only thing seemingly able to stop him has been rain, which resulted in the cancellation of Tuesday’s midweek matchup against Eastern Illinois. Parr would have tied the school record for longest hitting streak with a hit in that game, but he’ll look to extend his streak and potentially take sole ownership of the record when the Illini (24-12, 6-6 Big Ten) play Northwestern (17-15, 6-9) in a three-game series this weekend at Illinois Field.

Parr has feasted on the opposition this season with a .435 batting average, recording hits in all but two of the Illini’s 36 games. His consistency, he says, is a result of keeping to a routine. Friday night’s matchup will show whether the rain out deviated too far from his regular schedule.

“There are different thoughts to that,” Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. “When guys are in a rhythm, you want to just keep playing. At the same time, when it gets a little later in the season and they aren’t used to playing that many games in a row and you have all the academic demands, sometimes a little bit of a break down the home stretch is a good thing.”

While Parr attempts to stay the course, looking to snap out of his recent ways will be right-handed sophomore John Kravetz, who has struggled in his past two outings and drew ire from Hartleb after last weekend’s series loss against Ohio State.

Kravetz allowed three earned runs and four walks in 5 2/3 innings against Purdue on April 13 and lasted just 2 2/3 innings in the Illini’s 7-6 loss to the Buckeyes last week. He is 0-1 with four no-decisions in four Big Ten starts this season, with an 8.84 ERA and .355 opposing batting average.

The root of Kravetz’s struggles, Hartleb said, have been locating his fastball and getting behind in the count.

“He gets upset when he’s not productive because he wants to win, and that can snowball on you,” Hartleb said. “At times, I think he takes things too personal and the game speeds up on him.”

Kravetz used this week of practice to attempt to return to his freshman form. After meeting individually with Hartleb and pitching coach Drew Dickinson, he said he’s confident he’ll have more success against Northwestern.

“I’ve gotten away from what’s gotten me to this point,” said Kravetz, who tied for second in the Big Ten in wins and broke the school record for wins by a freshman last season by going 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA. “I’ve always been a guy who pounded the zone with fastballs and challenged hitters. I’ve done too much dancing around hitters.”

Kravetz broke Illinois’ freshman wins record after earning the second victory of Illinois’s three-game sweep of the Wildcats last season, while Kevin Johnson struck out a season-high nine Northwestern hitters in a complete-game shutout of the Wildcats in the Friday night matchup.

Shortstop Thomas Lindauer said he expects quality pitching in this year’s edition of the in-state rival, which features the conference’s fourth-best ERA at 3.06. Still — like last weekend, and every series to follow until the end of the season — Lindauer and the Illini consider every Big Ten game essential to its chances at the Big Ten Tournament and subsequent postseason play.

The Illini currently stand at .500 in Big Ten play and are seventh in the conference standings, with the top six teams qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament.

“I thought we’d be much better, honestly,” Lindauer said of the team’s standing at this point of the season. “We’ve played the best of the best in the Big Ten, and now it’s time to start winning baseball games.”

Jeff can be reached at [email protected] and @jkirsh91.