Illini Baseball Hosts Southern Indiana for Weekend Series - University of Illinois Athletics (2024)

Illinois vs. Southern Indiana
When	March 15-17
Where	Champaign, Ill. (Illinois Field)
Live Video	B1G+ | Fri. | Sat. | Sun.
Radio	WDWS AM-1400 // FightingIllini.com
Live Stats	FightingIllini.com
Notes	Illinois | Southern Indiana
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Social Media	@IlliniBaseball |@IlliniBaseball | Facebook | YouTube

PREVIEW

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Illinois baseball is set to host Southern Indiana for three games in the first weekend series at Illinois Field this season. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The Illini are 5-0 in series against non-conference opponents in Champaign since 2019, posting a 13-1 record overall in those contests. The Orange and Blue took two of three over UT Martin in the lone non-conference series at this facility in 2023.

RHP Jack Crowder (0-1, 7.58) is scheduled to make the start in the opener, with RHP Jake Swartz (0-0, 3.31) and RHP Logan Tabeling (0-2, 10.03) set to follow in the rotation.

SERIES HISTORY

vs. Southern Indiana

• Record: 0-0 (H: 0-0, A: 0-0, N: 0-0)
• First-ever meeting between the two programs.

NOTES

HOME WEEKEND AT ILLINOIS FIELD

Illinois baseball begins a four-game homestand as they welcome Southern Indiana to Illinois Field for a three-game weekend series.

All three games this weekend can be streamed on B1G+.

Mike Reis will call the action for the Illini on the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (1400 AM/93.9FM). Streaming, audio, and stats links are also available at FightingIllini.com.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Southern Indiana enters the weekend 8-8, coming off of a midweek victory over Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

OF Terrick Allen-Thompson leas the Screaming Eagles at the plate with a .342 average and 16 runs scored. Among starters, RHP Grant Parsons leads on the mound, going 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA (5 ER/14.1 IP) to go along with 13 strikeouts.

Southern Indiana, in their first season of Division I baseball last season, went 17-38 overall and reached the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

ALL-TIME SERIES INFO

This is the first time that the two programs have faced each other on the diamond.

GOOD OMANS

Cooper Omans turned in the first quality start of his Illinois career on Tuesday, tossing 6.0 innings and allowing one run, unearned, on three hits to go along with a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Omans became the third Illini pitcher to record a quality start this season. Over his last two starts, the Oviedo, Fla., native, has gone 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER, 11.0 IP) and has amassed 16 strikeouts.

HIT MACHINE

Camden Janik continued his solid start to the season at the plate by going 5-for-13 (.385) with a run, two doubles and two RBI from March 8-10 at No. 8 Tennessee.

The junior had another big day at the plate on Tuesday at Indiana State, going 2-for-4 with a run, home run and RBI.

Janik has hit safely in 12 of 15 games this season, including seven multi-hit efforts. The junior leads the Illini with a .356 average and ranks second with a 1.011 OPS.

HALL MONITOR

Regan Hall turned in 2.0 scoreless innings of relief work on Tuesday at Indiana State. The freshman has allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his five outings this season.

QUICK START

Camden Janik homered in the first inning against Indiana State on Tuesday, marking the third time in the last five games that the Illini have put runs on the board their first time up to bat.

The first inning is Illinois highest-scoring frame, where the offense has scored 16 of its 83 runs this season.

CROWDER 100

Jack Crowder struck out five batters on March 7 at No. 8 Tennessee, giving him 100 for his career, in 110.2 innings.

Crowder has whiffed 22 in 19.0 innings this season, picking up at least four in each of his four starts.

SWARTZ SHINES

Jake Swartz turned in a solid outing on March 10 at No. 8 Tennessee, holding a potent Volunteer offense to two runs on two hits over 5.0 innings of work, striking out two. It was the longest start of the season for

Swartz has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three outings and has worked at least 4.0 innings in each of those games.

B1G PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Redshirt junior infielder Drake Westcott has been named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week, the conference announced on March 4.

Westcott went 7-for-13 (.538) with seven runs scored, a double, three home runs, seven RBI and seven walks over four games, posting a .667 on-base percentage while slugging 1.231.

The Edwardsville, Ill., started the week by going 3-for-4 with three runs, two home runs and four RBI vs. Eastern Illinois in the Illini's home opener on Feb. 27. It was Westcott's first multi-HR game of the season and the fourth such game of his career.

At the First Pitch Invitational from March 1-3, Westcott went 3-for-9 (.333) with a double, home run, three RBI and six walks in three games.

Westcott has walked 14 times on the season, which is tied-for-fourth-most among Big Ten hitters and his 1.012 OPS ranks T-14th among conference batters. He also ranks among Big Ten leaders in home runs (4, T-4th) and slugging (.622, 14th).

UP NEXT

Illinois wraps up its four-game homestand with a midweek showdown against Bradley on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.