As has been the case in each of the last three seasons, the Illinois State baseball team heads into the final weekend of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule fighting for a spot in next weeks six-team ConAgra Foods Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. With three games this weekend against Southern Illinois, the Redbirds will look to make the tourney for the first time in four years.
Of the nine teams in the league, all still have a shot at making the postseason tournament heading into the final three games. Illinois State (25-25, 8-13) currently sits in eighth place, one game behind Bradley, Indiana State and Evansville, who all sport 9-12 conference marks in a three-way tie for fifth.
There is no perfect scenario for the Birds to get in, but there is a chance that they could get in winning as few as one game this weekend. Assuming the Redbirds have success against the Salukis, the ideal outcomes of the other series would be Wichita State sweeping at Bradley, Evansville sweeping at Indiana State, and SMS winning two of three against Northern Iowa. While each of these is not necessary, it would be in the Redbirds best interest if the weekend played out in similar fashion. League-leading Creighton is off this weekend.
Were still breathing and anything can happen in this league on the final weekend, said head coach Jim Brownlee. Hopefully well play the way we are capable of playing. You have to earn your spot in that tournament and weve got a chance. We may have dug a big hole for ourselves, but they havent thrown the dirt on top of us yet.
The weekend will not be easy on ISU as they will take on the third-place Salukis of Southern Illinois (35-18, 13-8). Southern has won 15 of its last 19 games and owns a 20-6 record at home this season at Abe Martin Field.
They have outstanding starting pitching. They may be the best team in the league right now, said Brownlee. Their only weakness may be in their bullpen, but thats hard to tell because their three starters have been so good all season long. Well have our hands full.
Eric Theisen (5-0) will make his third start of the season on Thursday when the first pitch is set for 3 p.m. Brownlee has yet to set his rotation for the final two games of the series.
Gametracker will be available for all three games this weekend for fans to follow along with live scoring. Log on to www.redbirds.org and click on the appropriate link for each game.
