It’s hard to believe but ten games into the season and the Illini haven’t played a three-game series against one team yet. That changes this weekend as the boys in Orange and Blue will face the Elon Phoenix for a three-game set. It will be the first time Illinois and Elon have met in competition.
Illinois is hot winning five of their last six games including two ranked victories. They also won their home opener on Tuesday night against Chicago State in front of the home crowd.
Who’s on the mound?
The scheduled starting pitchers for the Illini are not too surprising. Unstoppable Ty Weber (2-0, 0.51 ERA) gets the usual nod on Friday night. Cole Kirshsieper (2-0, 2.03 ERA) will take the hill on Saturday.
Highly-touted prospect Aidan Maldonado (0-2, 7.71 ERA) will try to get his first win on Sunday.
| Elon Phoenix | 6-7 |
|---|---|
| Latham Park | Elon, NC |
| Friday, March 6 | 3pm CT Saturday March 7 | 1pm CT Sunday March 8 | 11am CT |  |
| Live Stats | Live Video (Sun.) |
This series against Elon begins an 8-game road trip for Illinois before they face Iona at home on March 20th. The good news for Illinois fans is that the Illini will face Southern Illinois at Carbondale which is (as we said back home) “just down the road a ways”. Road trip, Robin?
Current Illini conference leaders
Early in the 2020 season, some Illini are already making waves in the Big Ten Conference.
Ty Weber
- T-1st in wins 2
- 1st in ERA 0.51
Branden Comia
- 4th in hitting .429
- 2nd in slugging .800
- T-2nd in triples 2
Ty Rybarczyk
- 5th in ERA 1.29
Danny Doligale
- T-5th in steals 5
Cole Kirschsieper
- T-1st in wins 2
Garrett Acton
- 1st in saves 5
According to FightingIllini.com, Garrett is now tied for the most career saves for Illini with Tyler Jay with a total of 24.
| Most Career Saves in Illinois History 24 Garrett Acton (2019-current) 24 Tyler Jay (2013-15) 23 Jeff Richards (1987-90) 22 Joey Gerber (2016-18) |
Look for a record-breaking weekend from Mr. Acton!
Go Illini!!