April 25, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
According to Illinois State baseball head coach Jim Brownlee, baseball is a very cyclical game that can find at team at a high or a low at any point during the season. With a 3-4 record heading into the final game of an eight-game homestand and coming off a loss to the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Redbirds will try to elevate their game on Wednesday against in-state foe Eastern Illinois in a non-conference mid-week showdown.
The game, like any other mid-week contest, is important to the Redbirds success throughout the rest of the season. Brownlee believes that this game will tell a lot about the mental toughness of his team.
"Coming off a disappointing loss this late in the season, it could be easy for the team to give up," said Brownlee. "But, I don't think that will happen with this group. I hope our team comes out with a lot of intensity, enthusiasm and shows some grit after Sunday and shows that they are ready to claw the rest of the way like I believe they can."
Junior Luke Baughman (3-4) will take the mound for the Redbirds and the right-hander will try to break a personal two-game losing streak. He will go up against an Eastern Illinois squad that is 20-17 heading into a contest against Illinois on Tuesday and a team that has posted only a 6-11 record on the road.
Brownlee knows that Baughman's success and his team's success in this game could drastically affect the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference series against Evansville this weekend.
"We need play well fundamentally in this game in order to get back in the MVC mindset," said Brownlee. "Luke has struggled a bit lately, but if he pitches the way he did against Iowa in mid-week contests earlier in the year, we will be ok.
"What the players have to realize is that we are still very much in the hunt in the Valley, as we are only on game back in the loss column after last weekend. Each of our final 16 games will be important and Wednesday's game at home will set the tone for the weekend at Evansville."
Game time for Wednesday's game against Eastern Illinois is set for 6 p.m.
