On the whole, 2022 Illini baseball ended up being a better team than what many expected them to be. Pitching was up and down, as was expected given who and what they lost to the MLB Draft, but they can really hit the ball, and pound out runs. Yes, Illinois was rather mediocre in non-conference action this year, but they truly hit their stride in league play. At 17-7, they finished tied with Rutgers and Iowa for second place in the league.
The last time Illini baseball did this well in the Big Ten it was the famous 2015 champaign campaign. That year culminated in a Big Ten and NCAA Champaign Regional Championship, a school record 50 wins, and a school and Big Ten record 27 straight wins.
Not saying this side is going to approach anything like that, as they have major work to do in the Big Ten Tournament. The full Big Ten tournament bracket, which is double elimination format, can be found here.
The BTT will provide another chance for Illini baseball head coach Dan Hartleb to move a little bit closer to the school record for wins. Hartleb, now at 507, is just 11 shy of tying the record set by Lee Eilbracht, who managed the program from 1952-78, and accumulated 518 wins.
Hartleb passed his mentor, Richard “Itch” Jones, last season.
At 31-20 overall, with a very lackluster 14-13 non-league record, the orange and blue are not line for a NCAA Tournament at large berth. The Big Ten Tournament, cancelled both of the past two seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic (yes, nixing it in 2021 was a classic overcall, way too overcautious) is most likely their only route in now, as they will almost certainly have to win the whole thing.
Wednesday through Sunday, at Charles Schwab Field, it features the league’s top eight teams in a double elimination format. Illinois went 0-2 with losses to Maryland and Michigan in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament.
However, the Illini have won the event four times in their program history. The last time they do so was also the most recent time that Illini baseball made the big dance. In the bracket projections that are out there, you won’t see the Illini in, or even on the bubble. They need to run the table to extend the season.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.