Wednesday, May 20 (5:05 p.m.)
Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (6-7) vs. LHP Duchene (10-1)
TV: Big Ten Network
Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN2Go.com and BTN2Go App
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Minneapolis – After the Nebraska baseball team (34-21, 9-14 Big Ten) finished the 2015 regular season at Illinois (45-6-1, 21-1 Big Ten) last week, the two teams will meet again in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The No. 8 seed Huskers and the No. 1 seed Illini are scheduled to play at 5:05 p.m. on Wednesday at Target Field, with the game carried nationally on the Big Ten Network.
The Huskers dropped the first two games of the series last week in Champaign, but had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth in the finale before it was canceled due to rain. Since the game was only in the fourth inning it was not a complete game and it’s as if the game never happened.
The winner of Wednesday’s opening-round game will play on Thursday at 9 p.m., while the loser will fall into an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The winner/loser will meet winner/loser between No. 4 Maryland and No. 5 Michigan State, who play at 9:05 p.m. on Wednesday night, and that game will be carried on BTN.
Nebraska comes into the Big Ten Tournament with NCAA Tournament hopes still within reach, but the Huskers need to make a deep run in Minneapolis. Nebraska was great at Hawks Field this season with a 21-6 record, but they have struggled on the road with a 13-15 mark, including a 4-3 record in neutral site games. The Huskers are 9-4 all-time at the Big Ten Tournament, but have never faced Illinois.
The Illini enter the tournament as the No. 5 team in the country (D1Baseball) and are on a 26-game winning streak, the longest in the country this season. Illinois captured its 30th Big Ten title last Thursday with a win over the Huskers, the Illini’s first since 2011 when they split with Michigan State. The Illini are 6-2 on the year when playing at a neutral site.
The Huskers and Illini have met 12 times since 1897 and the series is tied at 6-6. Illinois’ series win over the Huskers last week marked the first time the Illini have taken a series from Nebraska, as the Huskers had won the first three series between he two teams. Nebraska and Illinois first met in 1897, with the Illini winning 14-9, and the two clubs didn’t meet again until 2012 when Nebraska hosted Illinois for its first ever Big Ten game on March 23, 2012. The Illini won the opener, 11-3, but the Huskers responded with victories in the final two games to win the series.