In an early weekend series, Illinois baseball will face Penn State for the last regular season series before next week’s Big Ten Baseball Tournament.
Illinois baseball comes in at 28-20 and a conference record of 14-7. That’s enough for a tie with Iowa for third place. Sources smarter than me say the Illini have clinched a berth in the Tournament despite their performance against Penn State (25-24, 11-10 Big Ten).
Cam McDonald has reached base in EVERY game this year. On Saturday, he broke Ben Troike’s record of consecutive game reaching base with 58. Now, Cam’s count stands at 59 and he’s ready for more.
Most of those are hits, too. By my count, Cam has hit streaks of 23, 12 and 5 this year. His .379 batting average leads the Illini and ranks third in the Big Ten.
On the mound
Cole Kirschsieper (7-2, 2.78 ERA) goes for his eighth win this season on Thursday. Riley Gowens (5-3, 5.34 ERA) is given the ball on Friday.
Once again, Mr. TBA is scheduled for the last game for the series.
Here’s the Fighting Illini weekend preview.
| Penn State Nittany Lions | |
| Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | State College, PA |
| Thursday, May 19 | 4pm CT Friday, May 20 | 5pm CT Saturday, May 21 | 12pm CT |  |
| WDWS AM-1400 | B1G+ | Live Stats |
Random Ramblings
A quick look at last weekend’s games…
Friday: Illinois 8 Nebraska 3
Cole Kirschsieper was on point allowing just one run in seven innings while striking out nine Huskers. Danny Doligale was 4 for 4 and it was Taylor Jackson who provided the offensive spark with a three-run homer in third inning.
Saturday: Nebraska 11 Illinois 2
A beautiful day for “Bark in the Park” but Nebraska got their revenge as every ball was hit hard and three of them left the park. Cam McDonald did extend his streak and broke the team record. Justin Janas and Ryan Moerman both had multi-hit games.
Sunday: Illinois 5 Nebraska 4
Sunday’s Senior Day game was one for the ages. With a 2pm start time, there were two rain delays and the game did not end until 10pm.
With one inning left, Tommy Green got the Huskers out. In Illinois’ half, Justin Janas drove home Branden Comia for the walk-off.
Let’s win a few more guys!! Go Illini!