Illinois baseball is ready to defend their 2024-25 Big Ten title starting with Abilene Christian on the road.
A lot of noteworthy moments mark the Illini’s previous baseball season including leading the conference in home runs, sweeping three different Big Ten teams, and going 18-6 in conference play to take home the regular season title.
Illinois finished the regular season with a monster sweep of Purdue on the road. Their season finally came to an end at the hands of Indiana State in game five of the Lexington Regional. A season they can build on in 2025. Let’s look at some of the Illini’s important pieces heading into the season.
Illinois baseball returns a ton of players for 2025
Illinois returns 17 players from last year’s squad and brings in 18 new guys including 13 transfers. One of their biggest losses this season is senior Ryan Moerman who transferred to Ole Miss. Moerman tacked 19 homers to the Illinois’ conference-leading 104 home runs. His 19 homers tied for the Big Ten lead.
Moerman wasn’t the only Illinois player who finished in the top ten in home runs a season ago, and the other two are returning. Catcher Jacob Schroeder jacked 14 bombs and led the team in OPS at 1.047. His OPS was good enough to rank No. 9 in the conference.
Drake Westcott hit 16 home runs last season and finished No. 4 in Big Ten dingers. Westcott also scored 49 times while driving in 52. His power is certainly a plus for the team, but he also led the 2024-25 team in strikeouts with 66. A number he would like to see much lower after this season.
Westcott and Schroeder were both named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch. Only one Illinois pitcher made the list, and that is redshirt junior Ben Plumley. He appeared in 23 games a season ago and was able to log 35.1 innings.
One. More. Day.
— Illinois Baseball (@IlliniBaseball) February 13, 2025
📅 Feb. 14-16
🆚 Abilene Christian
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Plumley struck out 33 while only walking 14 batters, and he gave up four homers. Opponents only hit .252 off the young righty. Plumley will make his first start in the second game of the opening series on Saturday.
One of Illinois’ 13 transfers to keep an eye on is junior outfielder Nick Groves. He can play all three outfield positions well and also played 15 games at second base over the last two seasons for Niagara. Groves doesn’t hit much for power but has been able to swipe 40 bags during his two seasons with the Purple Eagles.
The steals become even more exciting when you look at his on-base numbers. Groves' OPS is over .900, most of which comes from his OBP rather than slugging. Groves has also walked 91 times while only having 73 strikeouts.
He’s scored 85 times during his first two seasons, and I predict Groves will break his single-season high of 45 runs this year. With the power that Illinois should bring to the middle of the lineup, Groves' ability to get on base and into scoring position will come in handy for head coach Dan Hartleb as he enters his 20th season at the helm.
Illinois’ opening day pitcher this season is going to be junior transfer Tyler Schmitt who is coming off a nice season at Wisconsin-Lacrosse. The junior righty racked up an astounding 93 strikeouts over 60 innings last season. He only walked 31 batters and allowed six home runs in the process.
As for Illinois' opponent, Abilene Christian, they are coming off a good season as well. Oklahoma State transfer Dominick Reid will open the series on the mound on Friday, but I am most excited to see the pitching matchup on Saturday. Illinois will have Plumley on the mound while ACU will start last year's freshman phenom, Brett Lanman.
Lanman enters his sophomore season with high expectations after finishing the 2024 season with an ERA of 3.48 with 79 strikeouts. Lanman was named WAC Freshman of the Year, WAC Pitcher of the Year, and was a second-team freshman All-American. He looks to turn the accolades into wins as Abilene Christian starts the season ranked No. 2 in the WAC, just behind Grand Canyon.
This is a great opening weekend matchup that I am very much looking forward to. Illinois should remain close to the top of the Big Ten again this season. Hopefully, they can build on last season and dive even deeper into this year's NCAA Tournament. It was nice just making it last season, but the goal remains a National Championship for this Illinois squad.