May 4, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
With the Missouri Valley Conference standings in a log jam, every team in the league still has a chance to be one of the six squads that advances to the ConAgra Foods Missouri Valley Conference Tournament later this month. Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee and his team knows that its last three Valley series will define their season. However, before the `Birds can look ahead to fulfilling their goal of making the conference tournament, they must first face the nationally-ranked Wichita State Shockers for three games at Redbird Field this weekend.
The Shockers, who are the No. 23 ranked team in the nation according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll, come into the weekend on a roll winning 11 of their last 13 games and their last 10 Valley games. Brownlee knows that this weekend will be strong test for his team.
"This is a crucial weekend for us and we are facing a team that has to be one of the hotter teams in the country right now," said Brownlee. "They have really turned it on towards the tail end of the year and are proving why they are one of the best baseball programs in the country. This series against Wichita State is the first of three Valley series to finish out the year for us, and we have to play well at home and compete in order to stay in the conference hunt."
Beating the Shockers this weekend will not be an easy task for the Redbirds if history has anything to say about it. WSU has won 12 games in a row against ISU and holds a 74-13 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools. In addition, the Shockers have posted a 27-8 record against the `Birds at Redbird Field.
According to Brownlee, the Redbirds will have to make the Shockers beat themselves this weekend and will have to play fundamentally sound baseball.
"With a team like Wichita State, they have to beat themselves," said Brownlee. "We can't afford to make dumb mistakes and give them opportunities to score. If we can play well fundamentally and our bullpen can come through for us, we will have a shot. But, if we make mistakes and don't throw strikes, it will be a very long weekend."
Freshman Ian Berger (4-4) will start the 6 p.m. opener on Friday for the Redbirds and junior Kitt Kopach (3-6) will follow at 2 p.m. on Saturday. In the 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday, freshman Jim Sajewich (1-5) will take the hill for ISU. All three starts will be crucial to the success of the series with the recent bullpen struggles, but Brownlee is confident in his starters' abilities.
"Our weekend guys have done a good job for us throughout the year, but our bullpen has not been up to par lately," said Brownlee. "What this group does do well, along with (Kevin) Dubler behind the plate, is keep runners at bay pretty well. Wichita State likes to run a lot on the bases and their top four hitters in the lineup will no doubt challenge our pitchers throughout the weekend. However, if we can keep that in check and slow down the Wichita State offense, our chances will improve drastically."
