Illinois baseball travel north this Friday to face Minnesota Golden Gophers for a four-game set at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
A pessimist would point at the Illini’s 1-3 record. I prefer to look at it like this: Illinois has a chance to start a winning streak. With the momentum of Cole Kirschsieper’s start last Sunday which resulted in a shutout against the Buckeyes, they can start building on that.
Like Illinois, the Golden Gophers started the 2021 season with a 1-3 series. They split a doubleheader with Rutgers and lost the bookend games against Indiana.
Pitching Probables
- Friday – Andrew Hoffman 0-0, 3.00 ERA
- Saturday – Riley Gowens 0-0 8.10 ERA
- Saturday – Ty Rybarczyk 0-1 43.20 ERA
- Sunday – Cole Kirschsieper 1-0 0.00 ERA
The big star is Kirschsieper who really came through on Sunday and got Illinois the win when they needed it. Scouts and pundits were also impressed with new Illini Hoffman on Friday despite the loss.
This is the weekend to normalize those ERAs. Except for you, Cole. I like yours just fine.
This weekend’s deets
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | |
| US Bank | |
| Friday, March 12 | 7:00pm CT Saturday, March 13 | 5:00pm CT Saturday, March 13 | 8:00pm CT Sunday, March 14 | 6:00pm CT |  |
Random Ramblings
Cole K hasn’t been the only hero on the Illini…
Yeah, Taylor Jackson is off to a great start. Coach Hartleb expects good things from Taylor and so far, he hasn’t disappointed.
Actually, according to FightingIllini.com, most of the Illini are doing okay offensively. They rank high in several categories.
- 1st stolen bases (7)
- T-3rd hits (39)
- 3rd walks (21)
- 4th batting average (.271)
- 4th OBP (.393)
- 5th runs (22)
Also, Branden Comia has an on-base streak of 22 games. That goes all the back to May 18th, 2019!
Finally, there was some good news for catcher Jacob Campbell.
Jacob has been named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List. It is very well deserved and a testament to Jacob and the Illinois baseball program which has had a history of quality catchers.
That point is driven home as Illinois is also enjoying the talents of transfer catcher Ryan Hampe. Both Campbell and Hampe are finding playing time so far in 2021.
Go Illini!