CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After topping Illinois, 10-1, on April 5, the Illinois State baseball team will head to Champaign on Tuesday to conclude the season series. The game is on Big Ten Plus.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State (12-14, 1-2 MVC; 121st in RPI) at Illinois (15-14, 7-2 B1G; 63rd in RPI)
Day/Time (CT):
Tuesday, April 12; 6:00 p.m. CT
City: Champaign, Ill.
Field: Illinois Field
Tickets: Free
B1G+: https://www.bigtenplus.com/en-int/page/home
Radio: https://fightingillini.com/watch/?Live=5060&type=Live
Live Stats: https://fightingillini.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
PROJECTED ILLINOIS STATE STARTING PITCHER
RHP Colin Wyman (2.49 ERA, 21.2 IP, 15 K, 5 BB)
SERIES HISTORY + SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI
Illinois has won eight-straight games at home vs. Illinois State and own the all-time series, 56-34. The Illinois State baseball team took down Illinois by a 10-1 scoreline on 4/5 at Duffy Bass Field for its second-straight win against the Fighting Illini behind a complete team performance. The Redbirds scored the game's first 10 runs against the Fighting Illini. Fifth-year senior Colin Wyman provided five scoreless innings to get the win.
Illinois went 22-22 in 2021, going 7-9 at home and 11-7 on the road. The Illini are 15-14 in 2022, going 2-1 this past weekend vs. Iowa in Big Ten play. Common opponents for Illinois and Illinois State in 2022 include Kansas, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana and Indiana State. Illinois ranks fourth in the Big Ten conference.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER (QUICK HITS ON RYAN CERMAK'S WEEK)
- 11-for-21 (.524)
- .600 OBP
- five home runs, two doubles
- home runs in four-straight plate appearances (hit 470-foot home run for fourth-straight home run)
- three home run game on Wednesday with grand slams in back-to-back innings
- 14 RBIs; broke a 37-year old school RBI record on Wednesday (10 now - was nine by Mike Prior in 1985)
- nine runs scored; tied the school record for runs scored in a game on Wednesday (five - most recent was Brett Kay in 2012)
- recorded 100th career hit via home run on Sunday
- scaled the center-field wall and appeared to have taken away a home run on Sunday
KO'd THE FIGHTING ILLINI
Illinois State took care of in-state rival Illinois with a 10-1 scoreline on 4/5 in the teams' first meeting since 2019 (had played every year from 1992-2019).
ISU scored the game's first 10 runs as the lone Illinois run was scored on a ground ball that bounced off of first base and over the first baseman's head. Fifth-year senior Colin Wyman, who is projected to start again on Tuesday, provided five scoreless innings in his second start of the season. Second-year sophomore Luke Cheng recorded 4 RBIs in ISU's largest win over Illinois since 2012.
POWER SURGE
Illinois State has hit 25 HRs in 2022 (47 in all of 2021). ISU has hit 20 home runs in its last 11 games. In addition to Cermak's three-home run game, ISU has also had two HR single-game outputs from Cermak (x2), Jake McCaw, and Nick Gile. Jonathan Sabotnik homered in two-straight games at Indiana State.
WEATHER ISSUES
Illinois State has had five games canceled due to weather in 2022, including 3/29 vs Iowa and 3/30 vs Eastern Illinois.
TOP-2 TAKEDOWN
Illinois State took down second-ranked Arkansas to open the 2022 campaign by a 3-2 score. Arkansas had not previously lost a home or season opener since 1994. The 11 runs the Razorbacks scored were tied for the fewest plated by an SEC team and tied for the third-fewest scored by a top-25 (D1Baseball top-25).
The 'Birds were competitive all series, outhitting the Razorbacks in game two and trailing by a run in the 8th inning of game three.
Illinois State is no stranger to the national stage, upending #1 Vanderbilt and #7 Louisville in 2019 as the team made the program's first NCAA Regional final. Likewise, ISU is no stranger to success in Fayetteville as the 2020 team knocked off the 13th-ranked Razorbacks, 8-7.
TOUGH TESTS IN 2022
Illinois State is scheduled to play six games against preseason ranked opponents (three at No. 2 Arkansas, three vs No. 22 Dallas Baptist). Purdue has also exceeded expectations in 2022, earning a No. 19 ranking from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and was bumped up to 17th after taking two-of-three from ISU. Illinois State is also scheduled to play a program-record 16 games against Power Five schools, including 10 contests against the Big Ten. 2022 marks the first time ISU has opened against a Power Five since 2004 (win at Louisville). 2022 marks the first time ISU has ever opened against a ranked opponent.
For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Baseball).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
