Head Coach Jim Brownlees ballclub has been able to get outside a handful of times to practice on Hancock Stadium field, but they are definitely ready to be on the diamond.
Were just happy to get to play outside in the sunshine, joked Brownlee, who now enters his second season as the head coach of the Redbirds. Weve been going at it for a while now, so its time to see if all the hard work will pay off.
Louisville will be playing their fourth game of the season when the teams go at it on Friday and so far the Cardinals are 2-1.
They have a good club this year and they have a good program, added Brownlee. It should be a good test for all of our guys, both the newcomers and the veterans.
Illinois State returns five of their top six hitters from the 2003 season (23-29), as well as over 80 percent of their pitching wins.
Much of the offense will come from the bat of Illinois State junior Jeremy Pickrel. Pickrel led Illinois State in nearly every offensive category in 2003 and has been selected as a preseason All-Missouri Valley pick by both the Valley and Baseball America. Baseball America also voted him the Best Pure Hitter and the Top Defensive Outfielder in the league.
Fridays game will begin at 2:00 p.m. CST. Saturday the game has been moved back an hour and will start at 1:00 p.m. CST. Sundays finale will begin at noon CST.
Fans will be able to hear Saturdays game on AM 1230 WJBC or www.wjbc.com. Saturdays game will be available on www.wjbc2.com.
