OMAHA, Neb. — Now, the waiting game begins for the Illinois baseball team.
The Illini's 11-5 loss to Purdue in Saturday's semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park eliminated Dan Hartleb's team from the conference gathering.
Without the conference's automatic berth — that will go to the winner of today's 1 p.m. championship game between top-seeded Minnesota and the second-seeded Boilermakers — Illinois must hope for an at-large bid from the selection committee.
Entering Saturday's slate, D1baseball.com listed the Illini among "the last five in" the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament. Illinois will find out its regional fate at 11 a.