March 12, 2007
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
So far, so good for the Illinois State baseball team on its annual spring break trip, as the Redbirds are 3-0 stretch thanks to a three-game series sweep over Southeast Missouri State last weekend. The `Birds (6-6) will continue the eight-game road trip on Tuesday, as they face the Memphis Tigers (8-5) in the first of two games at Nat Buring Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.
The Redbirds are winners of their last four games, all on the road, and are coming off a three-game sweep of SEMO over the weekend. ISU needed to come-from-behind twice in the series, but some clutch hitting allowed the Redbirds to win all three games and start their spring trip successfully. After winning seven straight games, Memphis has lost four of its last seven games, including its last two to No. 6 Clemson.
ISU head coach Jim Brownlee is happy about the way his team has produced lately, and hopes that they can continue to play well offensively.
"To win the last four on the road is great and something that is pretty hard to do in college baseball," said Brownlee. "It also bodes well for us for the rest of the trip after winning the first three and bringing our record back to .500. There are not a lot of years where we've had a chance to have a winning record on a spring trip, so we'll see what happens from here."
Senior Mike Hlavacek (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will make his first collegiate start for the Redbirds on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Hlavacek has appeared in five games so far this season and in 31 in his two-year stint with ISU. He will face off against freshman right-hander Garrett Hatchell (0-1, 1.50 ERA) of Memphis in the first game of two-game mid-week set.
Brownlee knows that Memphis will be a tough challenge for his team, but likes ISU's chances in the series.
"Memphis is a very veteran team and got really hot early in the season with the seven-game winning streak," said Brownlee. "They've struggled a bit lately, but three of those games were against No. 6 Clemson who they won against on Friday. This should be a good match-up for us and it will be interesting to see how our pitchers, who haven't thrown a lot, will perform in these two games before the weekend."
