Illinois State will meet crosstown rival Illinois Wesleyan for the first time in 11 years on Wednesday, when the two teams hook up in the first annual Horenberger-Bass Bash at Jack Horenberger Field on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan at 6:00 p.m.
Both teams first met in 1890, the first year that Illinois State had a baseball program. Wednesday nights game will be the 148th meeting between the two squads, with Illinois State holding a 79-68 advantage in the series. Illinois State won the last meeting in 1993 17-5.
This will be a little different game for our players, said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee, who has both played and coached in the series. The players know each other from growing up and being here in the same town, so it should be interesting. Those types of relationships force the kids to compete at a high level, so I anticipate a great game.
Illinois State (11-20, 5-11) is coming into the game after dropping three of four over the weekend at Creighton. The Redbirds had their game on Tuesday with the University of Illinois called because of the rain.
Weve been struggling lately, so we need to really got out there and play and see if we can get back on the right track, said Brownlee. And, even though this game is a Division I team against a Division III team, baseball is really a sport where that doesnt matter. It might be the only NCAA sport where the Divisions do not matter. Its all about the guy in the middle of the diamond.
That guy in the middle for Illinois State Wednesday will be Todd Stein. On the year, Stein is 3-2 with a 3.72 ERA. The senior has a 3-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Horenberger-Bass Bash is named after former Illinois Wesleyan coach Jack Horenberger and former Illinois State coach Duffy Bass. There is a traveling trophy that the winning team will get to keep for a year, or until they get beat in the series. The two schools plan to play this game once each year.
This is a rare situation, added Brownlee. There are not many places in America where fans can see two college programs from the same town play each other. It should be great for the fans and the community and it should be a great environment at the ballpark on Wednesday night.
The game will be broadcast on AM 1230 WJBC and on www.wjbc.com.
