Jim Brownlee and the Illinois State baseball team will be without the services of starters Jay Molina and Jon Peacock for the first two games of its four-game, Missouri Valley Conference series with Bradley this weekend at OBrien Field in Peoria, Ill.
Molina and Peacock are finishing a three-game suspension per NCAA rule 5-16-c-(1) for their actions in a benches-clearing brawl last Saturday at Redbird Field in the second game of a doubleheader against Indiana State. The game was called a double forfeit with each team receiving a 7-0 loss in the conference standings. Molina and Peacock also sat out the final game in the series with Indiana State Sunday.
We are still breathing as far as qualifying for the Valley postseason tournament goes, said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee. Losing Jay and Jon hurts, but you have to play the hand that you are dealt and we will find a way to adjust. Our guys have been playing well over the last two weekends and if we can continue to play well over these next two weekends and qualify (for the tournament), we could be very dangerous.
The Redbirds open the series against the Braves at 7 p.m. Friday. The Friday game will be broadcasted live on WJBC 1230 AM with pre-game commentary beginning at 6:45 p.m. Fans interested in listening via the internet to the broadcast should go to www.wjbc.com and click on the Listen Live link in the left column.
Saturdays doubleheader begins at 4 p.m. and will be available via webcast at either www.redbirds.org or www.wjbc.com following the conclusion of Illinois State softball coverage at the Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament. Sundays 1 p.m. baseball game will also be available to fans via webcast with pre-game commentary set to start at 12:45 p.m.
In addition to the Illinois State suspensions, Indiana State will lose John Purdom and Kevin Egli for four games for their involvement in the altercation. The additional game suspension was issued by the conference because Egli participated in the fight after he was ejected earlier in the game, while Purdom, in the opinion of the umpires, instigated the fight. Bob Warn, head baseball coach at Indiana State, will also sit out one game for allowing Egli to stay in the dugout following his ejection.
