CHAMPAIGN — When Illinois baseball coach Dan Hartleb first spoke in early April about the potential for his team to host an NCAA regional, the Illini were in the midst of a five-game winning streak.
“The first part of hosting is that we continue to win,” he said at the time. “You have to put yourself in the situation where you’re probably the No. 1 seed in a regional.”
In that regard, mission accomplished. So far.
Illinois moved up to No. 6 in the Perfect Game USA poll Monday and is in the top eight in the five other national polls.