Feb. 19, 2007
ST. LOUIS -
The Illinois State baseball's team's play over the weekend was promising and the starts for sophomore catcher Kevin Dubler and junior starting pitcher Eric Theisen were even more impressive, as the duo earned the initial weekly Missouri Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively. The awards are firsts for both players.
Dubler finished the weekend series at the UTA Invitational in Arlington, Texas, with a .400 (6-for-15) batting average to go along with two doubles, a triple, five runs scored and his first home run of the season in three starts behind the plate. In Saturday's win over New Mexico, the Downers Grove, Ill., native was 3-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base, one RBI and three runs scored. In addition, Dubler was solid in Sunday's contest with No. 7 Nebraska, as he hit his first home run of the season and his fifth in his career at ISU to go along with a double and two runs scored.
Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee believes that his sophomore backstop has a lot more to look forward to this season.
"As a coach you don't expect for a player to see the ball that well against live pitching for the first time, but Kevin really showed that he has put some work in and gotten stronger since last season," said Brownlee. "We think Kevin will continue to be one of our better offensive players and continue to hit for power as the season goes on and he will also be solid defensively behind the plate. After playing as much as he did last year as a freshman and starting out well this year, there is no doubt that Kevin will be one of the best catchers in the Valley."
Theisen (1-0), who missed all of 2006 with shoulder injury, began his comeback with a start against New Mexico on Saturday. To his surprise and most everyone else, the Adrian, Mich., native threw seven scoreless innings to propel Illinois State to a 9-0 shutout of the Lobos. The right hander allowed just four hits, walked only two batters and struck out nine in his first start since 2005. Dating back to May 16, 2004, Theisen has now won nine-straight decisions.
Coming off the injury, Brownlee did not know what to expect from his junior hurler, but was pleasantly surprised.
"As I said earlier this weekend, for Eric to come back from an injury like that and pitch the way he did his first time out was one of the best performances I have witnessed in my 28 years as a head coach," said Brownlee. "Eric really deserves this honor because he has worked as hard as an player I've had coming off an injury and it's great to see him get recognized for his effort."
The Redbirds return to action Feb. 23-25 against the No. 5 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark. The three-game series will begin on Friday at 3:05 p.m. at Baum Stadium, with Theisen taking the mound for ISU.
