Chambana Sun

Illinois baseball has announced its 2025 Big Ten schedule, which includes a 30-game slate for the first time, expanding from the previous 24 games. The conference play will start on March 7 and continue until May 17. The Big Ten Tournament is scheduled to be held at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

The Fighting Illini, who won the Big Ten championship in 2024, will begin their title defense against Michigan from March 7-9 in Vero Beach, Florida.

Following this, Illinois will travel to Northwestern (March 21-23) and Michigan State (March 28-30). They will then host Maryland (April 4-6) and Indiana (April 11-13) at Illinois Field.

Next on their schedule is a trip to Seattle to face new Big Ten member Washington from April 18-20. The team will return home to play Purdue from April 25-27 in Champaign. In the final weekend of the previous season, Illinois swept Purdue in West Lafayette to secure their first conference title since 2015.

In May, Illinois will head east to play Rutgers from May 2-4 before closing their home conference games against UCLA from May 9-11. The regular season will conclude with a series against Ohio State from May 15-17 in Columbus.

Dan Hartleb, who holds the record as the winningest coach in program history with a career record of 567-419-1, enters his twentieth season leading the team.

The full schedule is as follows:

Date | Opponent | Location

---|---|---

March 7-9 | Michigan | Vero Beach, Fla.

March 21-23 | Northwestern | Evanston, Ill.

March 28-30 | Michigan State | East Lansing, Mich.

April 4-6 | Maryland | Champaign, Ill.

April 11-13 | Indiana | Champaign, Ill.

April 18-20 | Washington | Seattle, Wash.

April 25-27 | Purdue | Champaign, Ill.

May 2-4 | Rutgers | Piscataway, N.J.

May 9-11 | UCLA | Champaign, Ill.

May15 -17| Ohio State|Columbus ,Ohio