Redbirds Head South, Play Four Games at Arkansas State

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Feb. 20, 2014

JONESBORO, Ark. - The Illinois State Redbirds return to action this weekend with a four-game, non-conference series at Arkansas State. The weekend begins with a 6:00 p.m. start on Friday, while Saturday will feature two games beginning at 1:00 p.m. The set concludes Sunday with first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m. All four games can be heard live on GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups
Friday
Dan Savas (ISU) RS Jr. RHP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Bradley Wallace (ASU) Sr. RHP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Saturday
Dylan Craig (ISU) RS So. LHP, 0-0, 3.00 ERA
Chandler Hawkins (ASU) Jr. LHP, 1-0, 9.00 ERA
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JD Learnard (ISU) RS Sr. RHP, First Appearance
Morgan Croft (ASU) RS Sr. RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Sunday
Will Headean (ISU) So. LHP, 0-0, 36.00 ERA
David Owen (ASU) So. RHP, 1-0, 3.60 ERA

The Opposition: Arkansas State Red Wolves (28-31, 12-18 Sun Belt)
• Arkansas State University is located in Jonesboro, Ark. It is a public university that was established in 1909 and currently enrolls 13,553 students.
• Arkansas State is guided by Tommy Raffo, who took over as the fifth head coach in school history on July 1, 2008. He has posted a career-mark of 145-144-1 and is currently in his sixth season at Arkansas State.
• The Red Wolves went 28-31 last spring and posted a 12-18 record in Sun Belt Conference play. Raffo guided the 2012 Red Wolves team to a 34-23 record, including a 19-9 mark in conference action.
• Illinois State owns a 3-0 all-time record versus the Red Wolves. The two teams last met in 1974.

Last Time Out
Illinois State's scheduled three-game series at Murray State was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions in Kentucky. The Redbird coaching staff scrambled to find games this weekend, arranging a two-game, neutral-site series versus Butler in Nashville, Tenn. The contests were played at E.S. Rose Park, the home baseball stadium of the Belmont Bruins. Illinois State split the series with a 9-1 win Saturday and a 7-6 extra-inning loss Sunday.

Hit Parade
The Illinois State Redbirds won the Missouri Valley Conference outright last spring behind the most productive offense in the league. ISU led the Valley in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs, en route to a 39-win season. Despite losing five of its top hitters from a season ago, the Illinois State offense opened the 2014 season with a 9-1 victory over Butler. The Redbirds clubbed 13 hits Saturday and added 14 hits in Sunday's 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Bulldogs. Illinois State has posted a slash-line of .346/.400/.462 through two games.

Strong Starting Pitching
Preseason All-American Dan Savas opened a strong performance for Illinois State starting pitching this past weekend in Nashville, Tenn., firing six scoreless innings in Saturday's 9-1 win over Butler. The redshirt junior right-hander fired six scoreless innings en route to his first victory this spring. Savas struck out five, walked one and scattered just two hits. The Rosemont, Ill, native worked four perfect innings and retired the last seven batters he faced before being lifted due to an early-season pitch limit. Sunday, Dylan Craig allowed just two runs in six innings of work, settling for a no-decision in ISU's extra-inning loss. Craig added six strikeouts and walked two batters.

2013 In Review: Missouri Valley Conference Champions
The 2013 Illinois State Redbirds compiled its best regular season in school history, en route to its second Missouri Valley Conference championship over the last four years. ISU won a program-record 39 games, which included a school-best 12-game winning streak. The Redbirds posted a 16-5 MVC record and secured its first outright MVC title in school history. A Valley-record eight Redbirds were named First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and head coach Mark Kingston was named MVC Coach of the Year. Chris Razo became the first Redbird pitcher to earn MVC Pitcher of the Year honors and shortstop Brett Kay was named the league's defensive most valuable player. Despite sitting under .500 on April 1, the Redbirds won 24-of-its-final-28 games to secure a league title and advance to the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship. Four Redbirds were drafted in the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Newest Redbirds
Eleven different freshmen saw playing time for the Redbirds during the record-setting 2013 campaign. This season, Illinois State welcomes 12 players to the roster who have never appeared in a game for the Redbirds. The incoming freshmen class consists of two pitchers (Tyler Feece, Ben Hecht) and two position players (Nick Kowalczuk, Greg Sidor). Junior-college transfers include three pitchers (Austin Denault, Matt Lambert, Kendall Lindley) and four position players (Dennis Colon, Chad Klein, Logan Leverett, Mason Snyder). Cody Voelker, who joined the team last season but did not appear in any games, made his Illinois State debut against Butler.

2014 Season Preview
Illinois State returns 20 lettermen from a team that went 39-19 in 2013. 12 pitchers return from a pitching staff that posted the best Valley ERA in 2013, while eight position players will look to supplement an offense that led the Valley in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs. Additionally, 12 newcomers have been added to the roster.
The 2014 schedule features four 2013 NCAA Tournament qualifiers (Central Arkansas, Illinois, Wichita State and Florida) in addition to two teams that won at least 30 games last spring (Dallas Baptist, Missouri State). The season begins with a 16-game road trip, before Illinois State returns to Duffy Bass Field, March 14.

Redbirds Selected Third in Preseason MVC Coaches' Poll
One season after winning the Missouri Valley Conference outright for the first time in school history, the Illinois State baseball team has been selected to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the MVC Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll released by the Valley offices in January. The Redbirds received 46 total votes, good for for third-highest in the conference. Wichita State was the preseason favorites with 56 points and Missouri State was tabbed second with 55 total points. Illinois State was selected to finish third in 2013, before going 16-5 in Valley games to win the conference championship.

Kingston's Crown
Entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Illinois State baseball program, Mark Kingston has emerged as one of the premiere young coaches in NCAA baseball. In his first four seasons as a head coach, Kingston has twice been named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, has won a pair of MVC Championships and has twice broken single-season school win records. Kingston has also amassed four-consecutive 30+ win seasons for the first time in Illinois State history. Additionally, 24 Redbirds have earned all-MVC honors and eight have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
For the second consecutive season Kingston was named a "Rising College Coach" by Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game USA. Kingston's coaching staff has remained untouched in his tenure in Normal as Bo Durkac (associate head coach), Bill Mohl (pitching coach) and Mike Current (assistant coach) return to their roles this spring.

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