April 17, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Coming off a disappointing weekend at home against the Bradley Braves, the Illinois State (12-22) baseball team will look to rebound at home on Tuesday against another in-state foe, the Illinois Fighting Illini (16-16). The two teams collide for a 6 p.m. mid-week showdown at Redbird Field.
The Illini are also coming off a disappointing conference series, in which the Illini lost three of four games over the weekend to Northwestern. Despite both teams being a little down coming into the series, ISU head coach Jim Brownlee knows the game Tuesday will be enjoyable.
"Any time our two schools meet up, in any sport, its always fun for the players and fans," said Brownlee. "There's a natural rivalry in the state between the two schools and that always seems to add to the games. Even though both of our teams are dealing with tough losses over the weekend, the game should still be hard fought and exciting to watch."
The Redbirds defeated the Illini, 4-3, in last year's meeting in Champaign, Ill. This year, the `Birds will be looking to defend their home field, as they are in the midst of an eight-game home stand at Redbird Field. Brownlee knows that getting a win Tuesday could set the tone for the rest of the homestand.
"This part of our schedule was supposed to be a time to make up some ground and try to get back to .500 and improve in the Missouri Valley Conference standings," said Brownlee. "We hit a bump in the road last weekend with Bradley, but now we need to get back to our winning ways at home and establish ourselves in another mid-week contest."
ISU will also be trying to even its season record against Big Ten opponents Tuesday. The Redbirds have a 2-3 record against Big Ten teams this season, with both wins coming against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Junior Luke Baughman (3-2), who was the winning pitcher in both of the wins over Iowa, will take the mound against Illinois in hopes of earning the team's third win against a Big Ten opponent. He will also be trying for his fourth straight mid-week victory.
"This is the halfway point of the conference season for us, and every game from now on is crucial for the rest of the year," said Brownlee. "Some wins in this homestand would set us up well for our next road series at Evansville, and the extra confidence gained going into the rest of the season could be invaluable to our success.
