Illinois baseball: Illini look to get back on track against Purdue

The Illinois baseball team is looking to get hot after a 3-6 start in the month of April and now sport a 10-14 overall record on the season.

Illinois has hit a bit of a rough patch of late, starting 3-6 in the month of April. In the first weekend series against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Illini went 1-2. The following weekend, the Illini dropped both of their games to the Indiana Hoosiers, with the third game of the series ultimately getting postponed.

The most recent pod series started off hot, as Illinois beat Michigan State in both games, scoring a combined 28 runs in just two contests. However, that faded fast as the Illini went on to drop the next two games to Purdue, letting up 26 runs in just two games.

Indeed, the season for the Illini has been a mixed bag, sitting at 10-14 on the season. The Illini now head into West Lafayette to once again face the Purdue Boilermakers in a three-game series. Transfer Andrew Hoffman looks to get the Illini a win, as he gets the start on Friday. Nathan Lavander and Riley Gowens look to anchor the rotation in the second and third games of the series.

How have the Illinois baseball players fared?

Hoffman has been roughed up a bit of late, posting a 4.68 ERA this season. However, the 32 strikeouts in just 25 innings of work suggest the transfer will be just fine. Lavander has been one of the most consistent starters this season, sporting a 3.25 ERA and 41 strikeouts in just 27.2 innings of work.

Leading the offense has been Justin Janas, Brandon Comia, and Jackson Raper. All three players have on-base percentages well north of .400. The trio also has a combined 53 RBIs on the season. Other big names on the roster, such as Cam McDonald and Ryan Hampe have produced solid, but not spectacular, stats.

The Illinois baseball team is hoping that both their bats and pitching heat up as the weather gets warmer heading into the final month of the regular season.