Baseball Hosts Saturday DH Vs. Western Illinois At The Corn Crib

Follow @ISURedbirds Tweet #ISUATH

Mar. 14, 2014

NORMAL, Ill. - Following a 3-2 spring break Florida road trip, the Illinois State Redbirds (9-5, 0-0 MVC) will host Western Illinois (1-11, 0-0 Summit) in a doubleheader Saturday at The Corn Crib in Normal, Ill. Game one will begin at noon and both games will be a full nine innings.

The Corn Crib
Due to severe winter weather, Illinois State's weekend series versus Western Illinois has been moved the Corn Crib in Normal, Ill. The $9-million multi-purpose facility opened in 2010 and currently houses the Normal CornBelters professional baseball team and Heartland Community College.
• The Corn Crib is located at 1000 W. Raab Road in Normal, Ill. Click here for directions.
• Parking and admission will be FREE for Saturday's contest.
• The The Redbirds are 3-1 all-time at the Corn Crib, having won three-of-four games versus Bowling Green there last spring.
• The Corn Crib features a Sprintturf playing surface and seats 7,000 spectators.
• The NCAA will recognize these games as "home" contests for Illinois State baseball.

The Opposition: Western Illinois University Leathernecks (1-11, 0-0 Summit League)
• Western Illinois University is a public university and its main campus islocated in Macomb, Ill. It was established in 1899 and currently enrolls 13,600 students. Western Illinois University has a secondary campus in Moline, Ill.
• The Leathernecks are guided by second-year head coach Ryan Brownlee. Brownlee led WIU to a 19-win season last spring, the most wins ever for a first-year Leathernecks head coach. Brownlee is the son of Jim Brownlee, who was the Illinois State head coach from 2003-2009. Jim went 157-208 at the helm of the Redbirds.
• WIU's first season of college baseball was 1903 and its overall record is 613-898-8.
• Illinois State is 84-73-1 all-time versus Western Illinois. The two teams last met in 2012 at Duffy Bass Field.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups
Dan Savas (ISU) - RHP - Sr 4-0, 1.04 ERA
Aaron Michel (WIU) - LHP - So. 0-2, 2.89 ERA

Dylan Craig (ISU) - LHP - RS So. 3-0, 1.08 ERA
Tyler Willman (WIU) - RHP - Jr. 1-1, 1.89 ERA

Last Time Out
Illinois State went 3-2 on its annual spring break road trip to Florida. The Redbirds finished participation in the 2014 RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with an overall record of 3-1. ISU defeated LIU-Brooklyn twice and Bowling Green once, but suffered a Sunday loss to Bucknell. The Redbirds played all four games at Chain of Lakes Park, the former Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians, in Winter Haven, Fla. The Redbirds played at Florida Wednesday and lost by a final score of 13-5.

Dan Savas (4-0) won his fourth-straight start Friday in Illinois State's 13-4 win over the Blackbirds. Illinois State knocked a season-best 13 runs on a season-high 17 hits in the win. Savas has now won 14-straight decisions for Illinois State.

Saturday, Dylan Craig (3-0) blanked the Blackbirds over seven innings to guide Illinois State to a 2-0 win. The shutout victory marked the second-consecutive shutout win in a game started by Craig.

The Redbirds lost in walk-off fashion to Bucknell Sunday, falling 4-2 on a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off Brock Stewart (0-1). Jeremy Rhoades made his first start for Illinois State since 2012, and posted a career-high 10 strikeouts in a career-best seven innings of work.

After an off day Monday, Illinois State thumped Bowling Green 11-3 at Chain of Lakes Park Tuesday. Paul DeJong blasted two home runs to give Steve Heilenbach (1-0) his second collegiate win.

Florida sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the eighth inning to pull away late and defeat Illinois State, 13-5, Wednesday night in Gainesville, Fla. The Redbirds had rallied for four runs in the top of the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 6-5. JD Learnard (1-2) was ticketed with the defeat.

Craig Named Valley Pitcher of the Week
Illinois State starter Dylan Craig was named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, as announced Monday by the Valley offices.
Craig secured his third-straight victory with a career-performance in Illinois State's 2-0 win over LIU Brooklyn Saturday in Winter Haven, Fla. Craig worked a season-best seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters in the win. He walked one and scattered six hits, while firing three 1-2-3 innings for Illinois State. The win marked the 11th career-victory for the Murphysboro, Ill., native. Craig has amassed 19 strikeouts over his last 13 innings and each of his last two starts have resulted in Redbird shutout victories.

DeJong Goes Deep...Twice
Redshirt sophomore Paul DeJong blasted a pair of home runs in Illinois State's 11-3 victory over Bowling Green Tuesday afternoon at Chain of Lakes Park. It marked the first time a Redbird tallied two home runs in one game since Chad Hinshaw lifted a pair of home runs versus Evansville on May 24, 2012 in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The home runs were the first two career-shots for DeJong, an Antioch, Ill., native. DeJong currently has a 13-game hitting streak for Illinois State.

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. Kingston enters the doubleleader with 149 career victories as head coach and all of his wins have come at Illinois State.

GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.