When Northwestern (7-4) comes to Illinois Field, the Illini (6-6) will celebrate its first home game in 388 days and only its second in 684. I’m sure the Illini will enjoy the friendly home confines after being on the road for the first two weekends. This series will be a standard three-game series on Friday-Saturday-Sunday.
Since it will be a three-game series, Coach Hartleb had to pare down the rotation. This is who he’s going with against the Wildcats according to FightingIllini.com.
On the mound
C’mon Illini… let’s give Friday starter Andrew Hoffman his first win. His 1.93 ERA is fourth best in the Big Ten. So far, he’s 0-0. Saturday starter Ty Rybarczyk (1-2, 10.29 ERA) hopes to find his stuff he had against Minnesota. On Sunday, Cole Kirschsieper (1-1, 3.86 ERA) takes the mound. He has had two very good starts and we’re looking for more.
The leader in wins is not a starter but reliever Nate Lavender who is 2-0 and has only allowed one run so far in 2021.
| Northwestern Wildcats | |
| Illinois Field | |
| Friday, March 26 | 4:00pm CT Saturday, March 27 | 1pm CT Sunday, March 28 | 1pm CT |  |
Northwestern comes into this weekend with a nice 7-4 and some hefty offensive stats. They out-homer the Illini 14-4. Not considered a historic powerhouse in Big Ten Baseball, the Wildcats started out 7-3 including series wins against Michigan State and Minnesota. I’d tell you to check the Big Ten Baseball web site for the standings but their site seems to have the numbers that are off.
Random Ramblings
It’s Thursday night and it’s raining right now. Fortunately, the rain is forecast to diminish and good weather should be headed our way by Friday evening.
Fingers crossed.
In 11 starts, sophomore transfer Ryan Hampe is leading the team in hitting (.340), slugging (.511), doubles (5)… pretty much every major hitting category. I’m looking forward to see what he can do at home. Ryan is new to the team but in the past has played with many of his current teammates in travel ball and at John C. Logan CC. He seems to making the adjustment well.
The only person with more homers? Illinois’ other catcher, Jacob Campbell. Coach Hartleb calls the Hampe/Campbell tandem “a luxury”
This weekend’s series promises to be a season opener like no other thanks to the pandemic. It won’t be the same without the fans. Fans like these…
I’m sure the players wish that the fans could be there to cheer them on. Be aware that due to safety protocols, fans are not permitted at Illini events until pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Normally my closing tagline is “See you at the Ballpark” but for now, I’ll have to settle for…
Go Illini!