May 10, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State baseball team took a break from Missouri Valley Conference action last weekend when they took 2-of-3 from NAIA in-state foe Saint Xavier at Redbird Field. However, the Redbirds (20-25, 8-10) will get back into Valley action this weekend when they welcome the Creighton Bluejays (34-12, 14-4 MVC) into town for their final home series of the 2007 season.
ISU will be looking to keep their MVC tournament hopes alive throughout the weekend, as the `Birds are currently in sixth place in the conference standings, but would not currently qualify for the tournament because the eighth-place Missouri State Bears receive an automatic bid for hosting the tournament in Springfield, Mo.
Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee knows how important this weekend is and hopes his team will come out ready to play.
"It always seems like the final spots in the Valley tournament come down to the final couple of weekends," said Brownlee. "We've let a few series slip away that we needed to get wins in and now we have claw back starting with Creighton. We know that facing the top two teams in the conference in our final two weekends is going to be a challenge, but I think our players know how important these games are. They had the week off to take their finals and hopefully they can just concentrate on winning games this weekend."
Creighton leads the all-time series with the Redbirds, 57-29, with the two teams meeting for the first time in 1984. Last season, the Bluejays took 2-of-3 from the Redbirds in Omaha, Neb., and the two squads combined for 59 total runs in the series. After a Friday rain out, the teams were forced to play a Saturday doubleheader and Creighton took both games by scores of 8-6 and 14-4. ISU battled back on Sunday, though, and needed 14 runs on offense to pull out a 14-13 win in a wild series finale, scoring three in the top of the ninth inning. ISU and CU combined for 36 hits in that game, with Ryan Anetsberger going 6-for-6 with three runs scored and a RBI.
The Redbirds head into this year's series as winners of two-straight games, after winning the final two contests in their series last weekend against Saint Xavier. The Bluejays head to Normal as winners of four-straight games, following a doubleheader sweep on Wednesday over North Dakota State. In all, the Bluejays have won 15 out of their last 16 contests.
Freshman Ryan Copeland (4-2) will take the mound against CU starter Marc Lewis (6-1) in Friday's series opener, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Redbird Field.
