Illinois catcher AJ Putty starring in freshman campaign

URBANA, Ill. — The Illini are officially set for their first Big Ten series of the season.

After a lightning delay cancelled the game against EIU (and a non-conference matchup with Michigan State), Illinois is preparing for some (finally) good weather down in Southern California. The No. 20 USC Trojans have so far gone undefeated, which will bring difficult competition for Illinois.

Coming out of a tough couple of weeks, the Illini were able to hold their own with three consecutive wins this past weekend in the Greenville, South Carolina Tournament. Now with a 7-4 record, the Fighting Illini are determined to keep their streak going.

Illinois’ first game out west against the Trojans will be Friday night.

Switching up the pitches

With the new pitching staff, new routines and techniques have been implemented on the pitchers. The technology that pitching coach Dillon Napoleon has brought in been proves to be a success in teaching the players.

“All the technology we have makes it really nice when I go through my bullpen, or when I’m getting off the mound, I can see pitch shape, spin, all of that stuff,” said pitcher Regan Hall. “Location is a big thing. Just kind of seeing where everything is and we can use that to our advantage.”

Before this season, Hall only had the changeup, curveball, and fastball in his repertoire. The small rotation of pitches left him vulnerable when one wouldn’t work.

“I used to be just a three-pitch guy, and when one was kind of lacking, it was tough because it’s easier for hitters to sit on it when they can eliminate one pitch,” Hall said.

During the offseason, Napoleon mentioned how much he loved one pitch in particular: cutter. It has a similar speed to a fastball, but veers slightly towards the side of the pitcher’s glove. Adding another pitch to Hall’s skillset will make it even more difficult for the other team to hit.

“They say cutter is one of the hardest pitches to defend. So going in, I was like, I’m just going to fully commit to making the cutter one of my standout pitches,” Hall said. “I’m excited for another offseason with it just to see what it can do.”

A true freshman

One player that has been turning heads has been freshman AJ Putty. As a true freshman, he’s already racked up four home runs, 89 putouts, and has started in every game, which is an impressive feat for a first-year.

“I’m in here whenever I am and I’m always seeing him in here putting his work in,” Hall said of Putty. “He’s proven himself to be quite useful in the lineup this year, especially as a freshman, that’s huge.”

Putty has been putting in the work both on and off the field as much as he possibly can, earning him recognition and respect from head coach Dan Hartleb.

“He commands a strike zone and very rarely swings and pitches out of the zone,” Hartleb said. “If he has a bad swing, then he adjusts on the next pitch.”

Even though it’s only his first year playing at the collegiate level, Putty was no stranger to playing competitively throughout his years. His maturity and composure stems from him becoming accustomed to the pressures of higher leveled baseball.

“I’ve always played baseball at a high level and, growing up, I’ve always been on team where we’re really successful, and sometimes I played up when I was younger, so I played level-headed everywhere I go,” Putty said. “I just try to keep everything in the same routine everyday.”

Wearing the USA uniform

USC isn’t the only first that Dan Hartleb has been preparing for; he will also make his debut as the 2026 USA baseball collegiate team manager.

While he has been a part of the USA baseball staff on multiple occasions, Hartleb never held a position of higher authority.

“I’ve had the opportunity to be with USA baseball five different times and this will be the first time in a true leadership role of the entire team,” Hartleb said.

After wrapping up the season with the Illini, Hartleb will lead a group of the best players in the country as they compete on an international level. He will be donning red, white, and blue as he represents America,

“It’s about a three-and-a-half-week commitment, and if everything holds true then we’ll go to Taiwan, we’ll play Japan, Taiwan, and Korea,” Hartleb said. “And so, it’s going to be really, really good baseball.”