March 28, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. - In the first of three baseball games between the Illinois State Redbirds and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2006, the Hawkeyes shut out the Redbirds 10-0 on February 25 at the Austin Peay Invitational in Clarksville, Tenn. On Wednesday, the Redbirds will look to return the favor on the road in Iowa City, Iowa, when the two teams clash in a mid-week non-conference showdown beginning at 6 p.m. at Duane Banks Field.
ISU (6-14) is coming off a weekend conference series win, winning two of three games against the Northern Iowa Panthers at home. Likewise, the Hawkeyes (10-7) are fresh off a 2-1 series victory at home against the Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) Mastodons last weekend. With both teams approaching the series on winning note, ISU head coach Jim Brownlee is looking forward to a competitive game.
"This is a game that we, as a team, always look forward to," said Brownlee. "Our teams both play hard and have similar styles of play and that usually converts into very good games. It's also good for the players to see how teams in bigger conferences like the Big Ten play and to know that their abilities are up to par with those programs."
Normal Community product Luke Baughman (0-2, 8.55 ERA) will start on the mound for the Redbirds, as the right-handed junior will look to continue to build the momentum the Redbird pitching staff has built up as of late.
"Our pitching has been solid the past two weekends against Central Michigan and Northern Iowa, and strong outing from Luke would really keep that ball rolling," said Brownlee. "It seems that some our early season problems we had on the mound, both with our starters and in the bullpen, have been corrected and our staff is very different from when Iowa saw us last."
After Wednesday's matchup, the two squads will finish up the season series at 6 p.m. on April 5 at Redbird Field. Brownlee hopes that the season series will be tied going into that game, but season records have shown that the Big Ten has the advantage over the Missouri Valley Conference.
"Big Ten teams have kind of put it to the Valley so far this season," said Brownlee. "Minnesota beat us and Missouri State, while Iowa has defeated Evansville and Southern Illinois, just to mention a few. Hopefully, we can play well tomorrow and turn the trend around and show how strong and competitive the Valley is and how competitive Valley teams can be."
