NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds will travel across town to face off against the Illinois Wesleyan Titans, in the yearly Horenberger-Bass Classic.
Tuesday, April 24 | 6 p.m.
Live Stats: IWUsports.com
Illinois State Starting Pitcher: Jacob Gilmore, LHP, 0-0, 7.71 ERA
Illinois Wesleyan Starting Pitcher: Matt Banaitis, RHP, 0-0, 6.35 ERA
FAMILIAR FACES
There will be numerous friendly faces across the dugouts from the respective teams. Illinois State senior Jeffrey Barton went to high school with Titan outfielder Ben Manski at Libertyville High School. The Redbirds' Derek Parola of Mundelein H.S. will see former classmate Nick Brune, who is a pitcher for IWU. ISU catcher Nick Zouras graduated from the same high school as Titan pitcher Quinn Gudaitis, as John Rave and Jacob Gilmore - both graduates of Bloomington Central Catholic - will see former teammate Sammy Gordon, who pitches for Illinois Wesleyan.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Illinois Wesleyan comes into the yearly meeting between the two programs with an 18-12 overall record, and a 9-8 mark in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play. The Titans have won six of their last eight games.
The Titans have five players batting above .300 on the season, led by John Bosco, who is hitting .394 with a team-leading 36 RBI's. Nick Figus bats .392 and has scored 28 times to pace the team. Brandon Skopick (.388), Gino Cavalieri (.385), and Jake Stewart (.345) also bat over .300 on the season. Skopick has stolen 10 bases, while Cavalieri has 14 drawn walks for the season.
The pitching staff is led by Nick Brune, who has pitched in 10 games and started seven. He has a 3-2 record on the season, and a team-best 26 strikeouts against 16 walks. Casey Becker is 1-1 with a team-high two saves, while Braden Miller has also won three games to tie for the team best.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS
The Redbirds come into the mid-week game looking to snap out of their current five-game losing skid.
Illinois State is led by Owen Miller, who is batting .352 with a team-high 32 runs scored. John Rave is hitting .325 with a team-best six home runs and 35 RBI's from his leadoff spot in the lineup. Collin Braithwaite has a team-high 14 doubles, and is one of two players on the team with at least 30 runs driven in.
The pitching staff is led by Brady Huffman, who is 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA in 12 appearances and 10 starts. Huffman leads the team with 48 strikeouts, and is one of two pitchers on the squad with a save this season. Matt Walker has a 4-1 record with a 5.26 ERA to go with 41 strikeouts over 39.1 innings of work.
