The Illinois baseball team travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, this weekend for a Big Ten series against Purdue. The Illini sit 1.5 games back of the Boilermakers for the eighth and final spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
Illinois (15-19, 3-6 Big Ten) has been playing its best baseball of the season of late, winning 9 of its last 12, including seven straight 1-2 run decisions. The Illini have won three of its last four Big Ten games after starting the conference season 0-5.
It will be the same pitching rotation for the Illini, after beating Northwestern two out of three games last weekend. Freshmen Ty Weber and Cyrillo Watson will get the ball Friday and Saturday followed by senior Matthew James on Sunday.
Purdue (19-18, 6-6 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak Wednesday with a win over Indiana State. The Boilermakers had lost Tuesday to Ball State in 12 innings following Saturday and Sunday losses at Rutgers. Prior to the Rutgers series, Purdue had won two of three from Ohio State and Indiana in Big Ten play.
This weekend marks the halfway point in the conference schedule for most Big Ten teams. Illinois has series left against Minnesota (1st, 7-2), Maryland (2nd, 9-3), Rutgers (12th, 2-4) and Iowa (5th, 5-4).