The Illinois baseball team hits the road for a second straight week. The Illini are headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to play a four-game series from Friday-Sunday against Minnesota (1-3) at U.S. Bank Stadium. Saturday will be a doubleheader, with the first contest scheduled to be a 7-inning game.
Illinois (1-3) dropped its first three games of the season before defeating Ohio State in the Sunday matchup. The Illini produced a shutout in Sunday's game with a score of 8-0. It was their first shutout in a conference game since May 3, 2019 vs. Indiana and the first in a conference game away from Illinois Field since May 22, 2015 vs. Michigan State.
The Illini's pitching in the opening weekend was highlighted by LHP Cole Kirschsieper (W, 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 SO) and RHP Andrew Hoffmann (ND, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 SO). Hoffmann will start on Friday night, while Cole Kirschsieper will get the call on Sunday. RHP Riley Gowens and Ty Rybarczyk will start games one and two on Saturday, respectively.
