For the first time since March 23, Indiana baseball (19-14, 9-6 Big Ten) will play away from Bloomington, as it prepares for a trip to Illinois Field for a matchup with Illinois (18-12, 7-5 Big Ten). It will be a three-game set with the Fighting Illini, who are coming off a 10-run loss in eight innings at Illinois State University on April 8.
Illinois is led by junior infielder Jack Zebig, who enters as the Illini’s leader in starts (30), home runs (7), RBIs (38), runs (30) and at bats (119). In April, Zebig is 7 for 22 with six RBIs, seven runs scored and one home run. He’s coming off a 1 for 4 performance against Illinois State on Tuesday, when he hit his second triple of the season that brought in an RBI.
Sophomore outfielder Collin Jennings also collected an RBI against the Redbirds, giving him five hits in his last three games. Jennings is 5 for 13 in that span with one home run, six RBIs and a walk.
Despite Illinois having four players with five or more home runs this season, the Indiana pitching rotation has been holding it down during its four-game winning streak. In the last four games, the Hoosiers pitchers have allowed just 13 runs, including a stretch of seven straight scoreless innings against Ball State University on Tuesday. Indiana has allowed six runs or fewer in 12 of its last 14 games, including the Hoosiers’ final five games of the homestand.
Although the Hoosiers have gotten stellar performances on the mound, the offense has been just as good. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn Dickerson is 8 for 14 in his last four games, collecting two home runs, nine RBIs, two doubles and six runs scored. He currently is tied for the Big Ten lead in home runs with 15 and has the sole lead in hits and RBIs with 54 and 56, respectively.
Junior outfielder Devin Taylor is tied with freshman first baseman Jake Hanley for third in the conference with 50 hits. Taylor is once again on record-watch this weekend, as he is just one home run away from tying Indiana’s all-time leader with 47, most recently done by Alex Dickerson from 2009-11. Taylor is also one hit away from 200 in his career.
While the starting pitchers haven’t been announced for the series, the Hoosiers will almost certainly face two right-handed pitchers in redshirt junior Ben Plumley and junior Tyler Schmitt. The two have started in all eight of Illinois’ weekend series this season.
Plumley has given up 22 earned runs this season, along with seven home runs and 42 hits in 39 2/3 innings. While he has a 4.99 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP, Plumley has only walked 16 batters to 36 strikeouts.
On the other hand, Schmitt has walked 29 batters to 24 strikeouts with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He’s also given up 40 hits with 14 of them going for extra bases. While Schmitt and Plumley have been hit around this season, they are the only two players on the Illinois roster to pitch more than 30 innings.
In two chances this season, Indiana has yet to win a Big Ten series on the road. The Hoosiers have gone 2-4 and been outscored by just one run, losing a combined 45-44 against Penn State on March 7-9 and UCLA on March 21-23.
The three-game set is going to get underway at 7 p.m. April 11 from Illinois Field in Champaign, Illinois. All three games will be streamed on Big Ten+.
