Redbirds Battle North Dakota, Central Arkansas In Four-Game Set

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Feb. 27, 2014

CONWAY, Ark. - The Illinois State Redbirds (4-2, 0-0 Missouri Valley Conference) return to action this weekend with a pair of non-conference games in Conway, Ark. Illinois State will play two games versus North Dakota (0-0, 0-0 WAC) and two games against host Central Arkansas (3-4, 0-0 Southland). All four games can be heard live on GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups
Friday - 6 p.m.
Dan Savas (ISU) RS Jr. RHP, 2-0, 0.75 ERA
Alex Twenge (UND) Jr. RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA

Saturday - 2:30 p.m.
Dylan Craig (ISU) RS So. LHP, 1-0, 2.25 ERA
Jeff Campbell (UND) Jr. RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
5:30 p.m.
JD Learnard (ISU) RS Sr. RHP, 1-0, 4.50 ERA
Chris Caudle(UCA) Jr. RHP, 1-1, 4.76 ERA

Sunday - 12 p.m.
Steve Heilenbach (ISU) So. RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Connor McClain (UCA) Jr. RHP, 0-1, 8.54 ERA

The Opposition: North Dakota (0-0, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference)
• The University of North Dakota is a public research university located in Grand Forks, ND. It was established in 1883 and currently enrolls 15,250 students.
• UND's athletic depratment currently does not have a nickname or mascot, having recently retired the Fighting Sioux nickname.
• North Dakota is guided by sixth-year head coach, Jeff Dodson. Dodson owns a career record of 89-158 and guided North Dakota to a 25-22-1 record in 2013.
• UND baseball dates back to 1889 and the Bears own an all-time record of 947-1,011-8. Its first year of NCAA Division I baseball was 2009.
• The Redbirds have never played North Dakota.

The Opposition: Central Arkansas Bears (3-4, 0-0 Southland Conference)
• The University of Central Arkansas is located in Conway, Ark. It is a four-year public school that was established in 1907 and currently enrolls 13,863 students.
• UCA was founded under the name, "Arkansas State Normal School." Its primary goal was to properly train professional teachers.
• Central Arkansas features 17 NCAA varsity sports, including a FCS-level football program.
• On July 1, 2006, Central Arkansas began the transition from Division II to NCAA Divsion I.
• The Bears baseball program is guided by fourth-year head coach Allen Gum, who owns an all-time record of 93-85.
• Gum guided the 2013 Bears to a program-best 42 win season, including UCA's first trip to a NCAA Regional. UCA went 42-22 and posted a 12-15 record in Southland Conference play. The Bears won five-consecutive elimination games in the Southland Conference tournament to advance to the NCAA regional. Additionally, UCA went 3-3 versus College World Series runner-up, Mississippi State.
• This weekend marks the first all-time meeting between Illinois State and Central Arkansas.

Last Time Out
Illinois State claimed a non-conference series win at Arkansas State last weekend in Jonesboro, Ark. The Redbirds won the first three games of the series before losing in the finale Sunday. Dan Savas earned the victory Friday night as Illinois State rallied for three runs in the fifth inning en route to a 4-3 win. The Redbirds swept a doubleheader Saturday, 3-2, and 9-7 (7). Dylan Craig and JD Learnard earned the wins, while Joe Kelch tallied four hits over the two games. Illinois State led 3-0 early Sunday, but a six-run Arkansas State third inning secured a 14-8 ISU defeat.

Rhoades Perfect As Closer
Illinois State closer Jeremy Rhoades picked up his first two saves of the 2014 season, firing three scoreless innings with three walks and five strikeouts to preserve two of Illinois State's three wins this past weekend at Arkansas State. The Wheaton, Ill., native worked a six-out save Friday night to finish off Dan Savas' first victory of the season in a 4-3 Illinois State triumph. Rhoades struck out four and walked one to earn the seventh save of his Illinois State career. The preseason All-MVC selection tallied the final three outs in Illinois State's 3-2 win Saturday afternoon, in game one of a doubleheader sweep over Arkansas State. Rhoades walked two, but struck out Austin Baker with the tying run on third base and the winning run on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Hit Parade
Illinois State continued its hot-hitting last weekend, tallying 43 hits in a four-game series-win at Arkansas State. The Redbirds collected 15 base knocks in game two of a seven-inning win over the Red Wolves and added 12 more hits in Sunday's loss. Following two weekends of competition, the Redbirds are hitting .321/.389/427 with 16 doubles, two triples and one home run.

Two-Way Players
Two Illinois State position players have seen action this season out of the ISU bullpen. Opening weekend versus Butler in Nashville, Tenn., Illinois State third baseman Brock Stewart fired one scoreless inning with one hit and two strikeouts as Illinois State defeated Butler, 9-1. Redbird outfielder Jack Czeszewski came on in relief in the eighth inning of Illinois State's 14-8 loss Sunday at Arkansas State and worked one scoreless inning with two strikeouts and two hits. Earlier in the game, Czeszewski clubbed his first-career home run to give Illinois State a brief 3-0 advantage. No position players saw relief action for the Redbirds in 2013.

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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