Its only been two years since Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee was the head baseball coach at Evansville, so their will be some familiar faces, both in the dugout and in the stands, when he takes his Redbirds into Evansville for a Valley opening four-game series at Charles H. Braun Stadium this weekend.
This is going to be a very interesting weekend, said Brownlee. There are a few players left there that I recruited and a lot of friends will be at the ballpark. That place will always have a warm spot in my heart because they gave me a chance and I was there for 23 years. Im very proud of what we did there, but Im just as proud as what we are doing at Illinois State.
Both Illinois State (5-8) and Evansville (12-6) are looking to make the MVC tournament for the first time since 2001. Illinois State finished tied for sixth last year, while Evansville finished ninth. Evansville did take three of four from the Redbirds last year at Redbird Field under then first-year coach Dave Schrage.
Not only is it opening weekend for the teams in the Valley, but it is also the first Valley weekend for the 20-plus newcomers on the Redbird roster. Due to injuries to starting shortstop Joe Peterson (hand) and catcher Jay Molina (knee) Illinois State will start five freshman in Friday nights game.
This is the first Valley series for a lot of our new guys, so theyll get to see what the leagues all about, said Brownlee. The league is a marathon, not a sprint, so these four games are not any more important than the last four of the year against Bradley. Every team in our league has a huge advantage at home, so its usually the team that makes the fewest mistakes that wins the weekend.
Offensively, Evansville is led by sophomore Erik Lis, who currently has a 22-game hitting streak, a .440 average and a league high 35 RBI. On the mound, the Purple Aces have one of the top freshman in the league in righthander Cal Stanke (3-0, 39Ks).
Stanke will go toe-to-toe with Illinois State starter Todd Stein on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. Stein has gotten off to a splendid start in 2004. The senior is 1-0 with 17Ks in 18 innings pitched. Stein, who also has a save to his credit, is allowing opponents to hit a mere .150 on the season.
Junior Ned Schauff (0-2) and freshman Eric Theisen (1-1) will start Saturdays doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m., while junior Kyle Bloom (1-2) will pitch game four on Sunday, also a 1:00 p.m. start.
Game one Saturday will be available on www.wjbc2.com, with pregame beginning at 12:45, while game two will be on AM 1230 WJBC and www.wjbc.com. Sundays game can also be heard on AM 1230 WJBC and www.wjbc.com.
