May 15, 2013
Illinois State at Southern Illinois| May 16-May 18 |
Location: Carbondale, Ill. (Abe Martin Field- 500) |
Thursday: 3:00 p.m. |
Friday: 3:00 p.m. |
Saturday: 1:00 p.m. |
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AudioNow: 213.493.0197 (Listen to play-by-play via landline or cellular phone without using data) |
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NORMAL, Ill. - Alone in first place with just three regular season games to play, Illinois State (33-18, 13-5 MVC) looks to win its first outright Missouri Valley Conference championship when it concludes the 2013 regular season with a three-game conference series at Southern Illinois (24-28, 6-12 MVC), May 16-18. First pitch Thursday and Friday are slated for 3:00 p.m., while Saturday will be a 1:00 p.m. start.
Redbirds Seek Second Valley Crown
Illinois State enters the final weekend of the regular season alone atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings with only five losses. If Illinois State wins all three games versus Southern Illinois, the Redbirds will claim the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. The Redbirds have never won a Valley crown outright, but earned co-champion status in 2010. If Illinois State wins two games versus Southern Illinois, the Redbirds will share the Missouri Valley crown
with Wichita State, who ended their conference season 15-6. The Shockers would be the number one
seed in the MVC Championship, having won two-of-three games versus the Redbirds in March.
The Opposition: Southern Illinois University Salukis (24-28, 6-12 MVC)
• The University of Southern Illinois is a public research university located in Carbondale, Ill.
• Founded in 1869, it is the flagship campus of the SIU academic system and the Carbondale campus enrolls 18,442 students.
• The Salukis have been members of the Missouri Valley Conference since 1975.
• SIU is guided by third-year head coach Ken Henderson, who is 90-98 in his tenure with
the Salukis.
• Southern Illinois University's first season of baseball was 1947 and the Salukis have claimed eight regular season Valley titles,
most recently winning the conference crown in 1990. The Salukis have advanced to the College World Series five times, with the most recent taking place during the 1977 season.
• The Redbirds are 79-81-1 all-time versus SIU.
Last Time Out
Following a 3-2 loss Friday night to Evansville, the Redbirds responded with a pair of seven inning run-rule victories over the Purple Aces. Saturday, the Redbirds tallied 17 runs in a 17-3 win over the Aces.
Starting pitcher Dan Savas (8-0) fired his third complete-game this season, allowing three runs over seven innings.
Sunday, which was Senior Day for the Redbirds, Illinois State won 14-4, capped by a walk-off RBI-hit from
Eric Aguilera in the bottom of the seventh inning. With the series win, the Redbirds have claimed MVC
series wins over Missouri State, Indiana State, Bradley, Creighton and Evansville. Illinois State closed the
regular season with a 19-6 record at Duffy Bass Field. Duffy Bass Field will host the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, May 21-25, marking the first time in school history the Redbirds have hosted the conference tournament.
Finishing What They Start
The Redbirds have fired ten complete-game victories in 2013. Chris Razo (4) leads the way, with Dan Savas
(3), Brad Sorkin (1), Will Headean (1) and Steve Heilenbach (1) also having thrown a complete-game
this season.
Kingston Successful in MVC
Following a series-win versus Evansville, fourth-year Redbird head coach Mark Kingston improved his all-time Missouri Valley Conference record to 48-25 (.658). Kingston has guided the Redbirds to a 13-5
MVC record this season, including series-wins against Missouri State, Creighton and Evansville and sweeps of Indiana
State and Bradley. The Redbirds last won a share of the MVC regular season title in 2010.
Red-Hot Redbirds
Four Redbirds carry on-base streaks of at least 10 games heading into play against Southern Illinois:
• Kyle Stanton (16 games)
• Paul DeJong (15 games)
• Zac Johnson (12 games)
• Mike Hollenbeck (10 games)
Additionally, the following Redbirds have at least a three-game hitting streak:
• Kyle Stanton (16 games)
• Mike Hollenbeck (10 games)
• Zac Johnson (9 games)
• Brett Kay, Eric Aguilera (3 games)
Live radio of all three games can be heard on GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com with Ronan O'Shea handling the play-by-play.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
