Illinois Baseball travels east for weekend series at Maryland

The Fighting Illini travel east this weekend to face the Maryland Terrapins in Big Ten play. With freezing rain in the forecast at College Park, Saturday's game was pushed ahead to Friday. The doubleheader will start at 2 p.m. CT, with the weekend series concluding on Sunday afternoon.

Illinois (17-7, 4-2) heads into this series after dropping two of three games to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Right hander Quinn Snarskis looks to rebound after a rough outing last weekend. He surrendered five hits and six runs in just two innings pitched. Andy Weber will sit out of the starting rotation, with Ryan Schmidt starting the back half of today's doubleheader. This will be Schmidt's first start of the season, as he holds a 1-0 record with a 3.68 ERA.

An offense led by midseason player of the year Bren Spillane will look to crack Maryland (14-15, 2-1), with a surging lineup not too far behind. The Illini now sit in the top 1/3rd of NCAA teams in runs scored, averaging 7 runs power game. Maryland's pitching staff is giving up an average of 5.09 runs per contest.

A series win for the Illini is crucial, as the team has hit the halfway point of the season. Despite falling out of the national rankings, Illinois is currently projected to be seeded second in NCAA Regional Tournament play (according to D1baseball.com).

For a live stream of the radio broadcast, visit FightingIllini.com. Fans with a BTN2GO subscription can watch games live via the BTN2GO website.