Feb. 7, 2007
ST. LOUIS -
Just one week before the Illinois State baseball team heads to Arlington, Texas, for its first tournament of the 2007 season, the team now has one more bit of motivation to drive them. On Wednesday, the Redbirds were picked eighth out of nine teams in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll, as conducted by league head coaches and announced Wednesday by the league office.
ISU received 25 points in the poll to place eighth, the same position the Redbirds were picked in last year's preseason poll. ISU finished in a tie for seventh place at the end of the 2006 regular season with a 10-14 record in the Valley.
Head coach Jim Brownlee never puts much thought into preseason polls and knows they are primarily based on the previous season's outcomes, not the projections for the current season.
"I've never seen a team win a trophy based on a preseason poll," said Brownlee. "So much of these polls are based on the previous year because the coaches know who is coming back, but they don't always know the newcomers each team has that could possibly make a big difference. I think the eighth place pick is realistic based on our performance from last year, but I like our team a lot because we have a great mix of senior leadership and talent in our underclassmen."
After winning both the regular-season and conference tournament titles last season, Evansville was picked first in the poll with four first place votes and 75 total points. Perennial contender Wichita State received more first place votes (5) than the Aces, but placed second with 69 points. Following the Shockers were Missouri State (64), Creighton (50), Northern Iowa (39), Southern Illinois (35), and Bradley (31) and Illinois State. Indiana State rounded out the field in ninth with 17 points.
In addition, the league's preseason All-Valley team was also announced, with Wichita State leading the way with seven players on the list, including last year's MVC Player of the Year Damon Sublett and Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, Aaron Shafer.
After having three players make the preseason team last year, ISU did not have representation on this year's list, something that surprised Brownlee.
"Despite not having any players picked on the preseason team, we definitely have All-Valley caliber talent on this team," said Brownlee. "Guys like Matt Bolt, Ryan Anetsberger, Kevin Dubler, Jesse Griswold and Kyle O'Brien have a lot of experience, have been recognized by the league in the past and know its time to make a move in the conference. All of these guys, along with the rest of our squad, will prove some things to the other teams in this league and show that Illinois State is here to compete.
The Redbirds open the season Feb. 16-18 at the UTA Invitational at Clay Gould Ballpark. ISU will face the hosts on Friday at 3:30 p.m., New Mexico on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and will finish up on Sunday with No. 19 Nebraska beginning at 11:30 a.m.
