Winners of four-of-five games since returning to the friendly confines of Redbird Field, the high-scoring Illinois State baseball team will be challenged by Southwest Missouri State, which touts the best pitching State in the Missouri Valley Conference, when the two teams square off in a four-game series at Redbird Field starting on Friday.
The Redbirds (11-12, 3-5) used a little home cooking last week to get back on the winning track after dropping five straight road games. Since opening their home slate last Tuesday against Eastern Illinois, the Birds have won four-of-five contests, including three-of-four over Valley rival Creighton last weekend.
The recent surge has been powered by the high-octane Redbird offense which has average nearly 10 runs per game since returning home. At the heart of the recent offensive charge is reigning Valley Player of the Week, Mike Saunches, who hit .524 (11-for-21) with two homers, three doubles, eight runs scored and 12 RBI last week to spark the Birds to four victories.
The Redbird offense, which ranks second in the conference with a .317 batting average, will be challenged by a stubborn SMS (17-10, 6-2) pitching staff which leads the Valley with a 3.37 earned run average.
The Bears pitching staff is anchored by Brad Ziegler and John Rheinecker, who rank second and third in the conference with 1.63 and 1.75 earned run averages, respectively. After the Birds face Ziegler and Rheinecker, they will have to deal with Matt Palmer, the reigning Valley Pitcher of the Week, who tossed a complete-game victory over No. 14 Baylor last Wednesday.
Despite SMSs imposing team earned run average, ISU head coach Jeff Stewart has confidence in his offense.
Theres no doubt that we built up confidence last week, but were going to have to go beyond that in order to score some runs against SMS, Stewart said.
Well have to see what their guys bring to the mound, Stewart said. Our guys are seeing the ball really well right now, theyre taking good approaches at the plate and they are making opposing pitchers pay for their mistakes.
The four-game series begins on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by two games beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Sundays series finale get underway at noon.
