Coming off a three-game sweep against Purdue, Illinois will head to Evanston today for their last pod weekend of the 2021 season. In a slight twist to the pod format, they will face host Michigan for all four games.
The reason? According to Northwestern’s website, “Northwestern Baseball is pausing team activities due to health and safety concerns within the Wildcats’ program.” I hope all is well with everyone on the Wildcats.
Illinois’ four games against Michigan this weekend will include a doubleheader on Saturday and another on Sunday. Michigan enters the weekend at 19-9. They recently enjoyed a six-game win streak before losing their last two games against Rutgers.
Illinois is still riding high after winning their last game on Sunday on a combined no-hitter by Riley Gowens, Ryan O’Hara and Cole Kirschsieper.
On the mound
Four games. Three pitchers announced, so far.
Andrew Hoffmann gets the nod for Game 1 on Saturday and Nate Lavender takes the hill for Game 2. Of course, Riley Gowens will bring the heat on Sunday for the first game. No word yet on the starter for the last game of the weekend.
A word on Andrew Hoffmann… I asked Coach Hartleb about him during the Tuesday press conference. Coach waxed philosophical about drafts. “I believe if a player is a true prospect, they should sign as a junior and go. If they’re just a draft choice but not a true prospect they should come back. I believe Andrew is a true prospect. He’s going to be a good pitcher for years to come.”
The baseball program thinks that highly of him.
| Indiana Hoosiers | |
| Bert Kaufman Field | Bloomington, Indiana |
| Friday, April 29 | 11am CT Saturday, April 30 | 1pm CT Sunday, May 1 | 12pm CT |  |
| WDWS AM-1400 | B1G+ | Live Stats |
Random Ramblings
With the sweep last weekend, Illinois climbs in the Big Ten standings. They are currently in 8th place and one game back of Rutgers with a 13-14 record. While last weekend might have been an anomaly, Illinois has mostly done it with their offense. They are still leading the Big Ten in hitting with a .285 batting average.
And while there has been a lot of deserved attention to Sunday’s no-hitter, it is worth mentioning that the Big Ten has a new batting leader now. Justin Janas owns that spot now with his .396 batting average (though our program’s stats say .379). In fact, he is joined in the B1G top ten by Branden Comia (.350, 6th) and Jackson Raper (.337, 10th). Janas (.496) and Comia (.488) are 1-2 in the conference in OBP as well.
Following his no-hitter contribution on Sunday, Riley Gowens makes an appearance on the Big Ten leaderboards. Not too surprisingly, his opposing batting average took a dip. At .209, he registers at 8th in the conference right ahead of teammate Andrew Hoffmann’s .210.
Let’s go get ’em boys! Every game counts.
Go Illini!