Feb. 3, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State pitcher Ryan Copeland was tabbed as a preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference selection by the league coaches, as announced by the conference office Tuesday. As a team, the Redbirds were picked to finish eighth in conference play.
Copeland, a junior left-hander from Des Plaines, Ill., is Illinois State's top returning pitcher, having posted a 3.93 ERA in 13 starts last season. Copeland led the nation in walks per nine innings after allowing just nine free passes in 89.1 innings of work. He struck out 72 batters and held opposing hitters to a .270 batting average en route to earning Missouri Valley Conference Honorable Mention honors.
Copeland was the hard luck loser in several of his outings as the Redbirds' Friday-night starter received no run support in three losses and received only one run in another two defeats while being tagged with a 4-7 record.
"He had a great year for us and really didn't have anything to show for it," Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee said. "It was one of the best pitching performances I've seen in my career as far as the number of walks allowed. Ryan is just a battler. He's really a pitcher - he doesn't have overpowering stuff but he can throw all three of his pitches for strikes. He's a student of the game."
Missouri State received eight of nine possible first-place votes and was tabbed as the favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton was picked second and defending-league champion Wichita State, which received one first-place vote, was picked third. The Redbirds, who went 22-30 and 6-18 in the Valley in 2008, were picked to finish above Evansville during the 2009 season.
The Redbirds begin the 2009 season with a pair of four-game road series at Belmont (Feb. 20-22) and Murray State (Feb. 27-March 1).
