CHAMPAIGN — Dan Hartleb found a lineup he liked last year — that worked out in a big way — and stuck with it. That’s how eventual Big Ten Player of the Year and 10th-round MLB draft pick David Kerian spent the bulk of his final season in Orange and Blue in the six-hole.
Hartleb has tinkered more this spring, moving players up and down or in and out of the Illinois lineup.
Friday’s version yielded nine hits against No. 19 Minnesota — just not enough of the timely variety — in a 3-1 loss to the Gophers in the first game of the weather-necessitated doubleheader.