April 2, 2012
After opening Missouri Valley Conference competition at Indiana State last weekend, the Illinois State baseball team returns to Duffy Bass Field for a non-conference, mid-week game against Eastern Illinois Tuesday afternoon.
The Redbirds (17-8) will try to bounce back from two-straight losses against the Sycamores, while the Panthers (11-14) are coming off of an Ohio Valley Conference series win versus Southeast Missouri State. Tuesday's game also marks the beginning of a four-game ISU homestand.
"This is the meat part of the season," Illinois State head coach Mark Kingston said. "I know we'll come out ready to play hard against Eastern, we'll have two hard practices on Wednesday and Thursday, and we'll be ready to play our best baseball against Wichita State this weekend."
Redbird freshman Jeremy Rhoades (2-1) is scheduled to start Tuesday's game. He has amassed a 4.86 ERA through seven appearances, including one start. Eastern Illinois will counter with Andrew Grahn (0-2), who has a 3.79 ERA through six appearances and four starts.
Illinois State will look to defend its home field, where the Redbirds have gone 3-0 so far this season. Collectively, ISU is batting .301, compared to EIU's .245 average.
Eric Aguilera led Illinois State's offense last week with a .533 batting average against Illinois and Indiana State. He also collected three RBI with one home run and one double. Aguilera went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in the Redbirds' come-from-behind win against Illinois last Tuesday. He now leads the Redbirds with five home runs and 23 runs scored.
Ty Wiesemeyer still tops ISU's offense with a .356 batting average, while Eastern Illinois is led by Ryan Dineen, who is hitting .398 with 15 RBI and 12 runs scored. Illinois State trails the all-time series, 85-80-1. The Redbirds won the last meeting, 5-2, on May 5, 2011 in Charleston, Ill. Admission to Tuesday's game, and every game at Duffy Bass Field this season, is free.
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