After playing the first 17 games of the season on the road, the Illinois State baseball team is set for their home opener, as they host the University of Missouri on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at Redbird Field. The Redbirds will also play host to South Dakota State at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday before opening up Missouri Valley play wtih a three-game set against Creighton beginning Friday.
Illinois State (8-9) welcomes a very hot Missouri (17-4) team to Redbird Field to begin a 10-game home stand. The Tigers have won their last nine games and have averaged 14 runs per game during the winning streak. Illinois State and Missouri played on March 9 in Columbia, Mo., with the Tigers winning 15-2.
South Dakota State (3-14) comes to town on Thursday for the first ever meeting between the two schools. Although the Jackrabbits dont have an overwhelming record, they have been very successful in their last three games. SDSU defeated Notre Dame on March 19 and lost two one-run games to Evansville, the first place team in the Valley, on March 19 and 20.
Were sitting at 8-9 right now and after playing your first 17 games on the road, being around .500 is pretty good for us, said Redbird head coach Jim Brownlee. If you can play .500 ball on the road and take care of business at home youll be successful in any sport. Weve been .500 on the road, now we just need to take care of business these next 10 games.
Through the first part of the season, weve been able to answer some questions that we had coming into the year, Brownlee continued. The biggest question were still looking to answer is what pitchers are going to be able to step up, take the ball and get us a win during our mid-week games. Well certainly use these next seven home non-conference games to try to get that figured out.
Following the games with Missouri and South Dakota State, Illinois State welcomes Creighton (15-5) to Redbird Field for the opening weekend of Valley play. Fridays first pitch will be at 3:00 p.m.
Im certainly glad we have them at home as opposed to at their place, said Brownlee. They are a veteran ball club and they understand how to win, so it will be a good measuring stick for us right off the bat to see where we stand with a good team in the Valley.
Brownlee has tentatively set the rotation for the five games this week: Wednesday - Ned Schauff (1-1), Thursday Kitt Kopach (1-3), Friday Matt Fowles (3-0), Saturday Dan Frega (2-3) and Sunday Ned Schauff.
Illinois State baseball can be heard via the Internet again this season, as WJBC will provide the call for over 25 games this spring. Their coverage will begin with the game on Friday with pregame at 2:45 p.m. on www.wjbc2.com. Sundays game will also be on www.wjbc2.com, with Saturdays game available on AM 1230 WJBC or on www.wjbc.com. To access the broadcast, simply go to the Redbird baseball schedule on www.redbirds.org and click on the appropriate link for each game. There will also be links to view live stats on Gametracker for all of the games this weekend.
