Currently sitting in seventh place in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Illinois State baseball team will look to continue its climb up the standings this weekend as they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on the Panthers of Northern Iowa in a three-game league series, beginning Friday night.
If the conference tournament were to start today, the Redbirds and Panthers would both be on the outside looking in, making this weekend crucial for both teams.
This is a big weekend for both of these teams and obviously we want to win this series, said head coach Jim Brownlee. Were playing pretty well now and weve won our last two games, so I like our chances. We just have to concentrate for 27 innings this weekend and things will take care of themselves.
The Redbirds (19-20, 4-8) have won six of their last eight games, including four of their last six in the league. A win would move the Birds back to the .500 mark for the first time since March 24, when ISU was 9-9. The Panthers (17-22, 2-10) are currently in last place in the league, but have won three of their last four.
Weve already had our bye week, so now we have the opportunity to make up ground every weekend, said Brownlee. We need to start this weekend.
Illinois State will give Brandon Gale (1-1) the ball on Friday night, as the senior reliever will make his first start of the season. First pitch from Waterloo Riverfront Stadium will be at 6:30 p.m.
