Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Stats
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team will travel to Champaign-Urbana Tuesday evening for a non-conference tilt with in-state foe Illinois. First pitch at Illinois Field is set for 6 p.m.
Illinois State (8-22) will make the return trip to Illinois (13-16) after the Fighting Illini earned an 8-3 win over the Redbirds March 22 at Duffy Bass Field.
The Redbirds were most recently swept in a rain-shortened series against Dallas Baptist. The visiting Patriots won the first two games of the series before Sunday's contest was rained out. The Missouri Valley Conference games were the first of the season for both teams.
Redbird starting pitcher Steve Heilenbach was solid in his start on Friday, as he allowed just two runs over 6.2 innings of work, and Illinois State's bullpen combined on 5.2 scoreless innings of relief Saturday. But the Redbird offense managed just three total runs over the two games, as Illinois State fell by scores of 7-2 and 7-1, respectively.
Illinois State's offense was led over the weekend by Daniel Dwyer, who has thrived since being moved down in the batting order. The former Redbird leadoff hitter went 3-for-6 with a triple and two walks over the weekend. He scored both of Illinois State's runs in Friday's loss. Â
Illinois, meanwhile, enters Tuesday's game after winning one of three games at Iowa over the weekend. The Illini are led by senior catcher Jason Goldstein (.337/.427/.488). Senior right-hander Andrew Mamlic (1-6, 5.35 ERA) will get the start Tuesday night.
Illinois State will counter with left-hander Jacob Hendren (1-6, 7.94), who was in line to start Sunday's rained-out game.
Illinois owns a 49-33 edge in the all-time series between the two teams. Illinois State's last win over the Illini came on April 15, 2014, as the Redbirds secured a 6-2 victory at Duffy Bass Field. Will Headean pitched six innings of one-run ball and Paul DeJong drove in four runs in the Illinois State win.
Links for live audio and stats for Tuesday's game can be found at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates from the games via Twitter, by following @RedbirdBaseball.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
