On April 15, the Illinois baseball team traveled to Southern Illinois all fired up, having won two of three games at Michigan the weekend before to notch a much-needed conference series win. But nine innings and a 9-6 loss in Marion, Ill., brought the Illini back to reality.

“It’s a big game for us,” said Illinois freshman Willie Argo of Tuesday’s rematch with the Salukis. “It’s an instate rivalry, and we didn’t play well the last time we played them. But now they’re coming to our place, and we want to come out and get a win.”

Illinois is again coming into the game with plenty of momentum, having swept Penn State last weekend to climb to the top of the Big Ten standings. Sophomore outfielder Casey McMurray said the Illini batting order looked to be at its prime against the Nittany Lions.

“On offense, we played tremendously,” McMurray said. “All our hitters, one through nine, contributed.”

But McMurray added that SIU would love nothing more than to knock Illinois from its high horse twice in one season.

“In-state schools always come at us pretty hard because we’re the biggest state school,” McMurray said. “We’re the school they all want to beat.”

The Salukis (18-23), whose pitching staff boasts a solid 4.95 ERA on the year, have a productive offense of their own. SIU outhit the Illini 14-8 on April 15 behind freshman infielder Chris Serritella’s 3-for-5, two-RBI performance.

Serritella is batting a team-high .355 on the season with four home runs and 22 RBIs, and senior catcher Mark Kelly has hit .339 with three homers and 31 RBIs.

Illinois junior shortstop Brandon Wikoff said the Illini know what they have to do to avoid another midweek letdown. The Illini have lost their last three non-conference contests, with each coming in the middle of the week.

“I just think we have to increase our focus,” Wikoff said. “We know we have to win these midweek games … but in the last couple we got down early and had to try and come back from behind.”

Wikoff is batting .359 with 26 RBIs and three home runs this season. But Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said Wikoff and the offense constitute only one part of the Illini’s formula for success.

“We’ve talked about (the midweek game struggles),” Hartleb said. “They just need to come out with more intensity … They need to play well in all three areas: pitching, defensively and hitting the ball.”

McMurray said there will be plenty of intensity in the Illini dugout Tuesday night.

“We have to come out with a lot of energy,” McMurray said. “(Midweek), we’ve lost games to teams we should be beating … and we have to realize that it’s not all about the Big Ten. It’s about winning these midweek games too.”