Although disappointed with his teams performance in losing three of four games at Ball State over the weekend, Illinois State coach Jim Brownlee saw some bright spots in pitchers Dave Macdonald and Kyle Zaleski as well as outfielder Nate Whitney. He hopes to see a few more splashes of brilliance in Tuesdays 6:35 p.m. game at Illinois.
Macdonalds 4 2/3 innings of no-hit relief finished an 8-7 Redbird victory in Saturdays second game in Muncie. It was the sophomore lefthanders first win of the season. Zaleski deserved a better fate than his 3-2 loss in game one that day. He struck out three, walked just one and scattered nine hits, but the Cardinals pushed over two runs in the bottom of the seventh--the final inning--for the win. Brownlee inserted Whitney in the leadoff spot and the junior outfielder collected four hits, including two singles, a triple and his first Division I home run in the 8-7 win.
Whitneys seven hits in 17 at bats in five games last week raised his batting average from .219 to .286 for the season. Brownlee also is happy with Whitneys efforts in center field, where he has played because of nagging injuries to Kevin ODell and Jeremy Pickrel.
Nate is giving us all he has out there, said Brownlee. He has done an adequate job in center field when weve needed it and he responded well to leading off for us.
Zaleski, 4-2, has been the winning pitcher in one-third of the wins for Illinois State (12-22). Control has been a huge factor in his success--the junior right-hander has struck out 29 and walked just eight batters in 40 1/3 innings.
Kyle definitely deserved a better fate than he got last weekend, said Brownlee. He has been throwing strikes and getting his breaking ball over the plate.
Macdonalds earned-run-average was nearly 6.00 before last week, when he allowed just one earned run in seven innings out of the Redbird bullpen.
Macdonald had been struggling earlier in the season, but he gave us exactly what we needed in that (Saturday) game, said Brownlee. A lefthander who throws strikes out of the bullpen like he can is very valuable.
The coaching match-up features 50 years of combined college head coaching experience. The Illini, 20-14, are led by veteran coach Richard Itch Jones. Between them, Brownlee (713 in 24 seasons) and Jones (1178 in 36) have nearly 1,900 college wins.
Illinois is always tough, said Brownlee Coach Jones has won about a zillion games and well have our hands full. We need to try to be competitive. This year, sometimes we have been and sometimes we havent."
