This weekend, the #23 Illini will take on the Illinois State Redbirds (13-6) in the I-74 match-up. There will be a three-game series between the two teams who have both experienced success in the 2019 season.
Illinois will be looking to sweep their opponent for the fifth time in the 2019 season. At 14-4, they rank second behind Penn State in the Big Ten standings.
Illinois is coming off a 1-1 midweek split against St. Louis. Their loss on Wednesday was the first in eight games.
On the mound
After seeing two freshman during the midweek, Coach Hartleb is going back to the usual rotation. per the FightingIllini.com weekend preview:
- Friday: Andy Fisher – 2-1, 3.60 ERA
- Saturday: Ty Weber – 0-0, 1.29 ERA
- Sunday: Cyrillo Watson – 3-0, 2.76 ERA
Interesting stat fact… Illinois has won every game that Ty Weber has pitched. So hey offense, I’d like a favor. Let’s score some runs for #7. With his minuscule 1.29 ERA going into this weekend, he deserves a win.
| Illinois State Redbirds | |
| Illinois Field | |
| Friday, March 22 | 4pm CT Saturday, March 23 | 1pm CT Sunday, March 24 | 1am CT |  |
A look at ISU
This year, the Redbirds have done well in the non-conference season. They are 13-6 including a BIG win against then-#1 Vanderbilt on March 10th.
ISU has four part time starters hitting .400 or better so this will not be a walk in the park for Illini pitching. Beyond that, watch for Joe Aeilts (.367, 4 HR, 17 rbis) and Jordan Libman (.389, 20 runs) to make some noise.
Colton Johnson (3-0, 2.33 ERA) and Jeff Lindgren (2-1, 3.58 ERA) lead the Redbird hurlers.
Random Ramblings
The ISU athletic website is “GORedbirds.com”. I was scratching my head for a minute or two because I was reading it as “GOREDbirds.com” and it didn’t make sense to me.
I never said I had common sense.
Promotions this weekend: There will be Baseball Bingo on Friday and on Saturday, there will be a fleece blanket giveaway for the first 150 fans (get there early!)
It is shades of last year when Ryan Thompson was racking up wins from the pen. Now, it is Sean Leland who is getting the job done when the offense is scoring late.
Leland already has three wins, tied with Cyrillo Watson for the team lead. At 3-1 with a nice 1.69 ERA, he is becoming the man that Coach Hartleb can count on.
And not to jinx anyone but closer Garrett Acton has been virtually perfect in his role that was pretty much up for grabs when Joey Gerber was drafted by the Mariners last year.
Acton has embraced that opportunity and made the most of it. Going into the weekend, he has seven saves and one win in eight appearances with a 0.00 ERA.
See you at the ballpark! Gore the ‘Birds, Illini!