The Eastern baseball team is set to play against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Illinois Field in Champagin.

Both teams were scheduled to play on April 8, but the game at Peterson Park in Mattoon was canceled because of rain – the exact same thing that happened last season.

Tuesday’s game between the in-state rivals marks the 75th meeting between Eastern and Illinois, with the Illini leading the series 50-24.

Eastern coach Jim Schmitz has an 11-11 record against the Illini, including a 3-2 record against Illinois in their last five games.

Last year, Eastern traveled to Illinois Field and defeated the Illini 8-4 on April 9, as seven different Panthers drove in a run, led by Cameron Berra, who went 2-for-4, with two RBIs and a run scored.

Eastern was able to put together singles in the top of the sixth inning, when it scored eight runs to get the win.

The Illini are coming off a three-game sweep of Penn State on the road, holding on to the 7-6 win Sunday that improved Illinois’ record to 9-3 in the Big Ten Conference.

Meanwhile, the Panthers have had a couple of days off from action, last playing Saturday, when they beat Southeast Missouri 10-3, which avoided a sweep by the Redhawks.

Eastern is 6-12 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 12-27 overall this season. Illinois is 21-14 this season and 7-3 in its last 10 games.

Schmitz will have senior Jaden Widdersheim start for the Panthers against the Illini, while Illinois coach Dan Hartleb will start Rob McDonnell.

Widdersheim has not made a start this season, but in 15 appearances he has gone 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA.

The Eastern senior last pitched Friday at Southeast Missouri and took the loss, allowing two earned runs in his one inning of work, as the Panthers saw their one-run lead disappear within two innings, ultimately coming away with an 11-7 loss.

Widdersheim has allowed an earned run in four of his last five appearances from the Panthers’ bullpen. The right-handed pitcher’s ERA has jumped from 3.24 on April 1, to 4.99 heading into his start Tuesday.

Eastern’s offense goes up against McDonnell, who is 2-0 this season, making three starts and appearing in six total games.

The left-handed pitcher has a 4.76 ERA, as he has thrown 17 innings, allowing 18 hits and nine earned runs. McDonnell has struck out 20 batters, while walking 12.

Illinois has four hitters with a batting average higher than .300 and three players with more than 20 RBIs to lead its offense.

Jason Goldstein has the Illini’s highest batting average at .347, recording 41 hits in 32 games this season. Reid Roper has a team-high 23 RBIs for Illinois.

Caleb Howell, Brant Valach and Demetre Taylor lead the Eastern offense, as the trio of Panthers has a batting average higher than .340.

Valach is coming off a two-home run game that tied him with Taylor with a team-high five home runs. Valach is hitting .346 this season and in his last 10 games he has recorded 18 hits.

Howell leads the Panthers with a .407 batting average and has a team-high 61 hits. Taylor is hitting .343 this season and has a team-best 36 RBIs to go along with his five home runs.

Schmitz also began to start Tyler Schweigert against Southeast Missouri and the right-handed hitter went 3-for-8 with two doubles against the Redhawks, scoring a run and taking a walk.

Batters are hitting .281 off of McDonald this season, while Eastern is batting .287 as a whole this season.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Illinois Field in Champaign.

Aldo Soto can be reached at 581-2812 or asoto2@eiu.edu.