Michigan
Illinois
U-M Readies to Open Conference Play vs. Illinois in Vero Beach
3/6/2025 9:50:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (6-5) will begin conference play with a three-game neutral site series against Illinois (6-4) at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Fla. The series will begin on Friday (March 7) at 6:30 p.m. before continuing on Saturday (March 8) at 4 p.m. and concluding on Sunday (March 9) at noon. All three games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.      Â
Notes
• Michigan holds a 6-5 record and went 2-2 over the most recent week in California. U-M opened with wins against No. 2 Virginia, Rice, Villanova and Stetson in the Puerto Rico Challenge before dropping three games in the College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field with two coming to ranked teams. Michigan then headed west and took two of three against Long Beach State before falling most recently to UCLA in a non-conference midweek game. The Wolverines were scheduled to play one more contest on Wednesday, March 5, but it was canceled due to weather.                                                Â
• Mitch Voit has exploded with the bat slashing .425/.510/.850 at the plate. He has 17 hits on the season with nine going for extra bases. He is 40th in the nation and fifth in the conference with his slugging percentage. Voit has totaled 34 total bases -- which is eighth in the Big Ten and 66th nationally. He has reached safely in 10 of the 11 games this season and nine straight.                                                        Â
•  Shortstop Benny Casillas has found his swing and hit .538 over the four games in California with seven hits and five runs. He is now hitting .419 -- which is second on the team -- and holds a team-leading .514 on-base percentage. He has started all but one game at shortstop this season and has scored eight runs on 13 hits in 31 at-bats.                      Â
• A three-year starter for Michigan, Jonathan Kim is second on the team with 16 hits and has hit in the leadoff spot all 11 games. He has scored seven runs and brought home six. Over his three-year career at U-M, he has played in 91 games, starting 83 and has 100 hits with a .305 batting average. Kim is just one of three Wolverines to start all 11 games this season -- joining Voit and Jeter Ybarra.
• Matt Spear had a three-hit day in the season opener against No. 2 Virginia including the walk-off single in the 11th inning. Since then, he has tallied five hits, three runs and five RBIs. He had a two-home run day, the first of his career, on Sunday against Long Beach State. He has caught five runners stealing so far this season and only allowed seven stolen bases.
• Senior Will Rogers has shifted more to a pitcher but provided an offensive spark in California going 4-for-7 with two runs and a home run. Rogers has also made solid on the mound pitching 7.2 innings across three appearances with one walk and four strikeouts. Rogers pitched a career-high 8.2 innings against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament last year and carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a win that eliminated Illinois from the tournament.
• After two years with the Fighting Irish, David Lally Jr. earned his first start of the season against Villanova, where he pitched five scoreless innings with three strikeouts en route to a combined shutout. He pitched on Sunday against Long Beach State and went 5.1 innings carrying a no-hitter through five innings and striking out five. On the season, he has pitched 13.1 innings with 11 strikeouts and allowed just two runs.
• A draft-eligible sophomore, Dylan Vigue has shown glimpses of what makes him one of the top arms in the Big Ten with 10 strikeouts -- with opponents only hitting .222 off of him. After just two starts over five innings all of last season, Vigue already has two this year. Over the weekend, he had his shortest start of the season going four innings against LBSU -- striking out four, while giving up four runs and four hits.
• Gavin DeVooght , who spent last year in Columbus, pitched on opening day for U-M in relief with 2.1 scoreless innings. He followed that up with five scoreless frames with seven punchouts three days later against Stetson. He earned the Friday nod against Long Beach State and went five innings but gave up six runs on five hits. On the season, he has 14 strikeouts, seven walks and nine earned runs through 14.2 innings.
• Illinois sits at 6-4 this season taking series wins against Abilene Christian and Texas State. The Fighting Illini most recently played in the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic, and fell to Texas Tech and Texas but took down Washington. All-time, Michigan is 149-108-3 against Illinois, winning the last two with both coming in the Big Ten Tournament.
