The Illinois State baseball team is playing the best baseball it has all season and the Redbirds will look to continue their stellar play this weekend with a three-game Valley series at Bradley. The rivals will open up the series from OBrien Field Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
The Redbirds (17-18, 3-6) have won their last five games, including non-conference wins over Purdue and Illinois and a three-game sweep of Evansville.
Its not just been the wins that have the team fired up - its how theyve been winning games. Four of the five wins have been by one run and in three of the games, the Birds were trailing in the ninth and down to their final strike.
Weve certainly got some momentum now and we need to keep this thing going, said ISU head coach Jim Brownlee. Our guys are finally starting to feel like they are going to win every time they step on the field. When your team starts to feel that way, its contagious and good things just keep happening.
Bradley (21-10, 5-4) comes into the game winners of four of its last five games. The secret to the Braves success has been the pitching staff, which has an ERA of 3.06, ranking them No. 12 in the nation statistically.
Theyve really got it going up the road at Bradley, said Brownlee. When you can pitch the way that they can, you will have a chance to win every single game, regardless of who youre playing.
We must have competitive, but smart, at bats this weekend, added Brownlee. Weve got to be aggressive and try to get into their bullpen. This is a huge series for both teams and I anticipate all three games to be a dogfight.
Bradley holds a slight 95-92 advantage over the Birds in the all-time series, but ISU has won 12 of the last 16. The two teams split last year, however ISU swept a four-game series two years ago at OBrien Field.
Brownlee will keep the same weekend rotation that he has for most of the season Matt Fowles (3-2) will start Friday, Dan Frega (2-6) will start Saturday and Ned Schauff (3-3) will make the start on Sunday.
Friday night and Sunday afternoons games will be available on www.wjbc2.com, while Saturdays game will be on AM 1230 WJBC. Gametracker will be available for all three games as well.
