April 29, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. - Jim Sajewich has seen a lot of Illinois State baseball games. So many in fact, that the senior right-handed pitcher is nearing the career record for pitching appearances, having thrown in 83 games during his five-year career. One game, among the first handful he played, stands out above the rest - Illinois State's 4-3 win over Wichita State, May 7, 2006.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Sajewich said of the extra-inning game that gave the Redbirds a 2-1 series win over the then No. 23-ranked Shockers. "I pitched the Sunday game and went six innings and got a no decision. We ended up winning on a walk-off single by Blake Schoonover (in the tenth)."
Despite being just a freshman, Sajewich knew the series win was big. Illinois State had won just four games in the 1990s against Wichita State and just one game in the new decade prior to taking two out of three in Normal, that weekend. Now one of the veteran leaders of a squad that has gone 20-16 overall and a league-best 8-1 in Missouri Valley conference games, Sajewich believes it's time for the Redbirds to make another splash as they host the Shockers (27-15, 8-4 MVC) in a series between the Valley's top teams at Duffy Bass Field, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
Sajewich and the Redbirds endured six consecutive losses to the Shockers over the next two seasons before breaking through with a Friday night victory last year that snapped a 25-game road losing streak at Eck Stadium in Wichita. Though the Redbirds eventually dropped the series, 1-2, it provided hope that the Redbirds, under then-associate-head-coach and.now-skipper
Mark Kingston, were not far from competing for the conference crown.
"It was almost the same feeling," Sajewich said of the Redbirds first win in Wichita since 1995. "I think I was nine-years-old the last time we won there. It was nice to do it for the program and it was right up there with winning two out of three. (The two years prior were) difficult. They're good, but they weren't that far ahead of us. They were able to do the little things to win the games and we weren't."
Illinois State further boosted its own belief by qualifying for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2001, and has carried that momentum through the 2010 conference slate with wins in each of the first three series, including six in a row while sweeping Creighton in Omaha for the first time ever and Southern Illinois.
"To come out and play well would be a great thing for this program, for the team," Sajewich said. "We're playing well and everything's clicking for us. It'd be a huge step to show this thing isn't a fluke; this thing is for real. It's time for a change."
Illinois State's
Corey Maines (4-2, 3.83) and Wichita State's Jordan Cooper (5-2, 2.20) will face-off in a match-up of the two team's frontline starters Friday night. Maines and Cooper will be meeting for the third time in the last two years, with Cooper and the Shockers claiming the first two wins in shutout fashion. Friday night is Family Night and Pony League Night at Duffy Bass Field. Family Four Packs - two adult and two kid tickets - sell for $10 and players wearing their Pony League jerseys will be admitted for free.
Saturday's 2 p.m. game will be televised across Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area on Kansas 22 and Time Warner Cable, and feature Illinois State's
Brad Sorkin (3-1, 2.84) and Wichita State left-hander Josh Smith (4-2, 3.86). Sunday is CISAR Adopt-a-Dog Day and the contest will start at 1 p.m. with
JD Learnard (2-2, 6.67) pitching for ISU against Wichita State's Tim Kelley (6-2, 5.37).
Last Time Out
Illinois State's Kevin Tokarski went 2-for-4 with a game-high four RBI, and nine Illinois State pitchers combined to hold Illinois Wesleyan at arm's length as the Redbirds defeated the Titans, 12-4, in the Horenberger-Bass Classic at Jack Horenberger Field Tuesday night.
Tokarski tripled with the bases loaded in the top of the second and singled in another run in the top of the fourth while helping Illinois State (20-16) jump out to a 7-0 lead over the Titans (14-16). Chad Hinshaw and Ryan Court each tallied two hits in the contest to go along with Tokarski, and Matt Mirabal drove in three runs late in the contest with a bases loaded double. Tokarski swiped two bases to pull within one stolen base of Illinois State career leader Mike Prior (55).
The Opponent: Wichita State Shockers (27-15, 8-4)
• Wichita State University is located in Wichita, Kan., and has an enrollment of 14,823. The Shockers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The Shockers were 30-27 last season and enter Tuesday's contest with a 27-15 overall mark. Wichita State is second in the Valley standings with an 8-4 record.
• The Shockers are coached by Gene Stephenson, became just the second NCAA Division I head baseball coach to surpass 1,700 wins earlier this season.
• Wichita State leads the all-time series 84-16. The two teams played their first contest in 1984. The Redbirds' last series win against Wichita State was in 2006 at Duffy Bass Field, a 2-1 decision. Wichita State is 31-4 against the Redbirds in the last 10 years, including a 14-3 mark against Illinois State at Duffy Bass Field.
• The Shockers topped Illinois State 4-0 to advance to the championship game of the State Farm MVC Tournament last season at Eck Stadium, while posting a 3-1 record against the Redbirds in 2009.
