Bolstered by the return of staff ace
Neal Cotts, the Illinois State baseball team will look to get back on the winning track when it squares off against some of the nations top teams in Boca Raton, Fla., March 10-13.
By all accounts, a four-game losing streak is not something many coaches want under their belts heading in a stretch of five games in four days against some of the top teams in collegiate baseball. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is a bright one and its attached to the left arm of Neal Cotts, who will make his return from bicep tendinitis Saturday against Florida Atlantic.
The staff ace and one of the most dominant pitchers in the Missouri Valley Conference, Cotts will return to the rotation after missing last weekend at Louisville. Before missing his first collegiate start, Cotts had carved up opponents en route to victories in his first two games. The Lebanon, Ill., native has allowed only four hits and two runs in 12.0 innings of work while striking out 18 batters.
ISU head coach
Jeff Stewart welcomes the return of his ace, who garnered MVC Pitcher of the Week honors after leading the Redbirds past No. 25 Purdue two weeks ago.
Neal is about as dominant as the come, he gives us a chance against any team in the country, Stewart said. I think last weekend at Louisville would have been totally different had we had Neal in that first game to set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
In addition to Neal, were going to get
Brian McDevitt back into the rotation this week and that alone should do wonders for our staff, Stewart said. Brian has been throwing the ball great, our hitters say hes so tough to hit and if that translates into game situations then were going to feature a pretty formidable staff.
McDevitt who had been ruled ineligible, was recently cleared to play by the NCAA after it was determined that a medical condition had affected his academic performance
In Florida, the Redbirds (4-5) will face nationally-ranked teams in No. 19 Eastern Illinois and No. 30 Rutgers, as well as Wagner and Florida Atlantic, both of which qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2000. The Birds begin their Florida swing Saturday at FAU, followed by Iona on Sunday and Rutgers on Monday. The Birds conclude the trip against Wagner and East Carolina in a Tuesday doubleheader.
This is a tough stretch in Florida followed by Evansville in our conference-opener the following week, Stewart said. We had a great week of practice, were getting healthy and I think weve got a positive mindset.
With the pitching situation improved, the Redbirds focused much of the week on their offense, which has produced only 2.0 runs per game over the four-game losing streak after averaging 8.0 runs per game through the 4-1 start to the season.
Weve made some adjustments in the cage and I what I see, hopefully our bats will heat up in the warm Florida air, Stewart said. Hitting is contagious and once this team gets on a roll its going to be able to score a ton of runs and is going to be hard to deal with from top to bottom.
The Redbirds have posted an 18-3 record in Florida over the past three seasons.
