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Great official visit over the weekend.

He will now visit Oregon State June 5 then make his decision on June 12.

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I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

Please take some time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I’m taking the day off and taking in a Cubs game at Wrigley with my son.

You never know, but on film Leys looks a year away from being able to compete for a starting spot. We'll see.

I like him in pas pro. Run blocking isn't very good.

6 shot lead after the first day of the B10 Championship. Hope they can continue the strong play and win the conference like the women did. Then on to NCAA's.
They are at +8 with Northwestern at +14. Must be hard course or really tough conditions.

and he'll take an official next month

This kid is visiting this weekend and Illinois can flip him from his recent commitment to Oklahoma. The Sooners wanted him to play another year at Butler C.C. They will probably drop him now that he's taking another visit. Illinois collective is dishing out a significant amount of $ for him. Offers from Illinois, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Iowa State.

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Transfer from SIU.


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OMAHA, Neb -- [7] Fighting Illini baseball (25-26) fell to [2] Indiana (41-16), 4-3, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

The Illini were locked into a pitcher's duel early with starter Jack Wenninger holding the Hoosiers scoreless through the first four innings of the ballgame. Wenninger picked up four strikeouts during that span, stranding three baserunners.

Illinois found the breakthrough in the top half of the fifth when Danny Doligale led off the inning with a walk and Branden Comia brought him home with an RBI-double into the right-center gap to make it 1-0.

Indiana would take the lead the bottom of the fifth by scoring twice. The Illini would send just one batter over the minimum against the Hoosiers from the sixth to the eighth, picking up just one hit against Hoosier pitching during that stretch.

TJ Constertina and Joe Glassey combined for 2.2 scoreless, and hitless, innings in relief to keep the Illini in the game, but the Hoosiers would make it a three-run game by scoring two more times in the eighth to make it a 4-1 contest.

Illinois attempted a furious rally in the ninth, which began with a two-out infield single from pinch-hitter Coltin Quagliano. Comia then worked a walk in a lengthy at-bat to load the bases for Cam McDonald. McDonald would reach on an error that would result in two runs scoring to make it a 4-3 game, but the Illini would leave runners on the corners to end the game.

The Fighting Illini will now face [6] Michigan in an elimination game tomorrow, May 24, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.


GAME NOTES

» Branden Comia went 1-for-3 with a double, RBI and two walks.
» Extended his season-high hitting streak to 12 games...is batting .404 (21-for-52) with six doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI during that span.
» TJ Constertina pitched 1.2 scoreless frames and did not allow a hit...struck out one batter.
» Has not allowed a run in his last 5.1 innings of work, spanning four games...has allowed just three hits and has fanned four batters during that span.
» Illinois pitchers faced 35 Indiana hitters in the game, allowing seven ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out five.
» The Fighting Illini drew four walks from Indiana pitching.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Sophomore outfielder Ryan Moerman and junior right-hander Jack Wenninger were named All-Big Ten Second Team the conference announced today.

Redshirt junior right-hander Joe Glassey was selected as Illinois' Sportsmanship Award honoree.

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM

Ryan Moerman
.308/.381/.556, 39 R, 11 2B, 12 HR, 43 RBI, 16 BB

This is the first conference postseason award in Moerman's career. The Lockport, Ill., native leads the Illini with 14 two-hit games and four three-hit games. Moerman also ranks tied for third on the team with 12 home runs and tied for second with 43 RBI. He had the first two-home run game of his career on April 29 at Ohio State, driving in a career-high five runs. Moerman also leads the Illini in outfield assists with seven, with four coming as a left fielder and three as a right fielder.

Jack Wenninger
6-3, 4.62 ERA, 76.0 IP, 72 SO, .221 AVG

This is the first conference postseason award in Wenninger's career. The Cary, Ill., native was twice named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week, the first on April 3 following a dominant 8.0-inning outing against Michigan where he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out five. Wenninger won his second weekly award on May 1 throwing a complete-game, one-hit, shutout of Ohio State on April 29. He allowed just one batter to reach and retired the final 21 batters to end the game. The performance also earned him NCBWA Co-Pitcher of the Week as well. Wenninger leads the Illini pitching staff in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. He ranks tied for fifth in the Big Ten in innings and is one of five pitchers to toss a complete game.

The complete list of All-Big Ten teams and award winners can be found below.

2023 BIG TEN BASEBALL AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Shaw, Jr., SS, Maryland
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Connor O'Halloran, Jr., Michigan
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Devin Taylor, Fr., OF, Indiana
COACH OF THE YEAR
Rob Vaughn, Maryland +

ALL-BIG TEN, FIRST TEAM
C – Luke Shliger, Jr., Maryland
1B – Brock Vrandenburg, Jr., Michigan State +
2B – Max Anderson, Jr., Nebraska +
SS – Matt Shaw, Jr., Maryland
3B – Nick Lorusso, Sr., Maryland
OF – Devin Taylor, Fr., Indiana
OF – Sam Petersen, So., Iowa
OF – Ryan Lasko, Jr., Rutgers
SP – Brody Brecht, So., Iowa
SP – Connor O'Halloran, Jr., Michigan
SP – Christian Coppola, Fr., Rutgers
RP – Ryan Kraft, So., Indiana
DH – Keaton Anthony, So., Iowa
At-Large – Brice Matthews, Jr., SS, Nebraska

ALL-BIG TEN, SECOND TEAM*
C – Bryan Broecker, So., Michigan State
1B – Brock Tibbitts, So., Indiana
2B – Trent Farquhar, Jr., Michigan State
SS – Phillip Glasser, Sr., Indiana
3B – Chris Brito, Sr., Rutgers
OF – Ryan Moerman, So., Illinois
OF – Brett Bateman, Jr., Minnesota
OF – Gabe Swansen, So., Nebraska
SP – Jack Wenninger, Jr., Illinois
SP – Luke Sinnard, So., Indiana
SP – Marcus Morgan, So., Iowa
SP – Jason Savacool, Jr., Maryland
RP – Wyatt Rush, Sr., Michigan State
DH – Ian Petrutz, So., Maryland
At-Large – Brennen Dorighi, Gd., 1B, Iowa

ALL-BIG TEN, THIRD TEAM*
C – Cade Moss, Jr., Iowa
1B – Jake Parr, Sr., Purdue
2B – Ted Burton, Sr., Michigan
2B – Paul Toetz, Jr., Purdue
SS – Mitch Jebb, Jr., MSU
3B – Josh Pyne, So., Indiana
OF – Elijah Lambros, So., Maryland
OF – Stephen Hrustich, Sr., Northwestern
OF – Evan Sleight, Jr., Rutgers
SP – Nick Dean, Sr., Maryland
SP – Tucker Novotny, So., Minnesota
SP – Khal Stephen, So., Purdue
SP – Drew Conover, Jr., Rutgers
RP – Shay Schanaman, Gd, Nebraska
RP – Ben Gorski, Jr., Rutgers
DH – Bobby Marsh, Fr., Penn State
At-Large – Jonathan Kim, Fr., OF, Michigan

ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM
C – Matthew Graveline, Fr., Ohio State
1B – Weber Neels, Fr., Minnesota +
2B – Tyler Cerny, Fr., Indiana +
SS – Henry Kaczmar, Fr., Ohio State
3B – Mitch Voit, Fr., Michigan +
OF – Devin Taylor, Fr., Indiana
OF – Jonathan Kim, Fr., Michigan
OF – Trevor Cohen, Fr., Rutgers
SP – Kyle McCoy, Fr., Maryland
SP – Joseph Dzierwa, Fr., Michigan State
SP – Christian Coppola, Fr., Rutgers
RP – Mitch Voit, Fr., Michigan
DH – Bobby Marsh, Fr., Penn State +
At-Large – Sam Garewal, Fr., SP, Northwestern

*Additional honorees due to ties
+ unanimous selection

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Joe Glassey, Jr., RHP, Illinois
Peter Serruto, Sr., C, Indiana
Ben Wilmes, So., IF, Iowa
Michael Bouma, Sr., 1B, Maryland
Tito Flores, Sr., OF, Michigan
Wyatt Rush, Sr., RHP, Michigan State
Richie Holetz, Sr., RHP, Minnesota
Corbin Hawkins, So., RHP, Nebraska
Michael Farinelli, Gd., RHP, Northwestern
Marcus Ernst, Gd., IF, Ohio State
Steven Miller, Gd., RHP, Penn State
Camden Melvin, So., OF, Purdue
Andy Axelson, Sr., C, Rutgers

I thought Illini baseball was dead-in-the-water so stopped paying attention after the Rutgers series.

Next thing I’m getting a tweet they’re in the B1G tourney and the 7th seed?

What happened?!?