April 5, 2012
The Illinois State baseball team hosts Wichita State this weekend, as the Redbirds (18-8, 1-2 MVC) resume Missouri Valley Conference competition with a three-game series against the Shockers (17-14, 2-1), beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m.
"This weekend is another great challenge for us," Illinois State head coach Mark Kingston said. "Wichita State is a great program to compete against. We need to continue to focus on our improvement."
ISU opened its Valley schedule last weekend, going 1-2 at Indiana State. The Redbirds bounced back with a rain-shortened, non-conference, 9-1, victory against Eastern Illinois Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Shockers went 2-1 in their conference opener versus Southern Illinois. WSU was also scheduled to play a mid-week game at Oklahoma State, but it was rained out.
Illinois State will alter its weekend rotation for the first time this season, with former Sunday starter Dylan Craig (4-1) scheduled to start Saturday's game, and former mid-week starter and reliever Jeremy Rhoades (3-1) slated to make Sunday's start. Chris Razo (4-1) will continue to serve as the Friday night starter.
Wichita State is expected to counter with Josh Smith (3-1) Friday and Mitch Mormann (3-2) Saturday. The Shockers' Sunday starter has not yet been announced. Offensively, WSU is led by Johnny Coy, who is hitting .336 with a team-best 35 RBI, including five home runs, eight doubles and one triple.
While Ty Wiesemeyer continues to hold the highest batting average at .366, Zac Johnson now has a team-best 28 RBI, including four home runs, eight doubles and one triple. Eric Aguilera leads ISU with five home runs and a team-high eight multiple-RBI games.
Admission to this weekend's games, and all games at Duffy Bass Field this season, will be free. Plus, Saturday is Reggie's Kids Club Day. Also, coverage of Saturday and Sunday's game will be available on WHOW 1520 AM / 92.3 FM, with live video and audio of every game on GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
