#5 ISU Meets #3 DBU in Valley Title Game

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - After cruising through the "A Bracket" of the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Championship with a perfect 3-0 record, #5 Illinois State (33-21) will meet #3 Dallas Baptist (39-19) Saturday night in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship title game at Bob Warn Field. First pitch is set for 8:07 pm EDT/7:07 pm CDT and the winner of Saturday night's contest receives an automatic bid to a NCAA Regional. Illinois State owns a 2-1 all-time record in Valley title games and last advanced to a NCAA Regional in 2010.

Saturday's game will be televised on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX College Sports and Comcast SportsNet Chicago. A video stream will be available on ESPN3.com outside of the Valley's five-state broadcast footprint. The Illinois State radio broadcast will air on WJBC 93.7-FM, GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com with Ronan O'Shea on the call.

Pitching Probables
Sat.
Dan Savas (ISU) RHP, 8-4, 1.88 ERA
TBA (DBU)

The Opposition: #3 Dallas Baptist Patriots (39-19, 14-7 MVC)
• Dallas Baptist University is a Christian liberal arts university that is located in Dallas, Texas. It was established in 1898 as Decatur Baptist College and currently enrolls 5,422 students.
• The Patriots are first year members of the Missouri Valley Conference and competed in the WAC last spring.
• Dallas Baptist has three NCAA Regional appearances over the last six seasons. The Patriots advanced to a NCAA Super Regional in 2011.
• DBU is guided by seventh-year head coach Dan Heefner. He has led the Patriots to three NCAA regionals and was named the 2011 ABCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
• Dallas Baptist won a three-game series over Illinois State, April 5-6, at Duffy Bass Field. The Patriots swept a doubleheader, 2-1 and 9-1 on the 5th, but the Redbirds took the final game of the series, 3-1. 
• The Patriots opened the Missouri Valley Conference Championship as the #3-seed and defeated #6 Missouri State, 3-2 (10) Tuesday. The Patriots eliminated #7 Bradley, 6-5, Thursday before falling to #6 Missouri State, 5-3 (10), Friday in an elimination game for the Bears. Dallas Baptist won game two Friday afternoon, 9-4, to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship title game versus Illinois State.

Redbids 3-0 En Route To Missouri Valley Conference Chapionship Title Tilt
Illinois State went 3-0 during the week to cruise to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship title game. The Redbirds defeated #4 Wichita State, 6-0, Tuesday morning, eliminated #8 Southern Illinois, 6-1, Wednesday afternoon and ended the Shockers season, 6-1, Thursday. The Redbirds have outscored opponents, 18-2, and have posted a team earned run average of 0.33 through three games.

Illinois State Returns To MVC Championship Title Game
For the second-consecutive season, Illinois State has advanced to the Valley championship game. Last season, ISU hosted the tournament for the first time in school history and competed as the one-seed. The Redbirds were defeated in the title game by #2 Wichita State, 5-2.
The Redbirds are 2-1 all-time in Valley title games, earning wins in 1994 and 2010. 
In 2010, Illinois State defeated Wichita State, 17-8, at Eck Stadium to earn a NCAA Regional berth. The Redbirds scored in six-straight innings to open the game and every player in the starting lineup tallied at least one hit. Current Redbird relief pitcher Cam Verbeke earned the win in relief. 
The Redbirds entered the 1994 Missouri Valley Conference Championship as a six-seed and defeated Bradley, 18-10.
Illinois State has advanced to a NCAA Division-I regional three times (1976, 1994, 2010) and won the College Division National Title in 1969.

Balanced Offense...
After closing the regular season with six-straight defeats, including a pair of shutouts, Illinois State has batted .317/.383/.481 this week. Illinois State is 33-for-108 and has scored six runs in three-consecutive games. Logan Leverett, Mason Snyder and Daniel Dwyer each have five hits and Leverett launched his first-career triple Thursday. The Redbirds have knocked four home runs, with blasts coming from Brock Stewart, Mike Hollenbeck, Paul DeJong and Jack Czeszewski. The Redbirds have eight total extra-base hits (four home runs, three doubles and one triple).

...Meets Dominant Pitching
Illinois State has used just five pitchers this week and owns the lowest earned run average of all Valley teams at 0.33. The Redbirds have received strong starts from Dan Savas (6.1 IP, 0 R, 8 K), Dylan Craig (8.0 IP, 0 ER, career-high 11 K) and Brock Stewart (career-high 7.0 IP, 1 R, career-best 8 K). Jeremy Rhoades has made a pair of scoreless relief appearances with seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings and David Suarez has worked one perfect inning.

Bob Warn Field, Or, Duffy Bass Field East?
With Thursday's victory over Wichita State, Illinois State is now 7-2 this season at Indiana State University's Bob Warn Field. The Redbirds opened Missouri Valley Conference action with a series-win over Bradley in a neutral-site, three-game set on Indiana State's home turf, March 22-23. The games had been scheduled for Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill., but the series was moved due to unplayable field conditions. The Redbirds then took a three-game series from the Sycamores, March 28-30.

NCAA Leaders In Strikeouts-Per Nine Innings
Illinois State pitching currently leads the NCAA in strikeouts-per nine innings with a team-stat of 9.5. North Carolina State (9.3), Vanderbilt (8.9), Duke (8.6), and Cal Poly (8.6) round out the top five. Valley-foe Dallas Baptist (8.4) ranks ninth nationally. 

Kingston's Crown
Fifth-year Illinois State head coach Mark Kingston is looking to become the first coach in school history to guide the Redbirds to two NCAA Regionals. Kingston's impressive resume includes:
• The only coach in school history to win two MVC regular season conference championships (2010, 2013), including ISU's lone outright regular season title (2013).
• Guided Illinois State to five-straight 30-plus win seasons. No other coach has won 30-plus games more than three times.
• Set program-win records in 2011 (36) and again in 2013 (39), with the `13 Redbirds earning a program-record 12-game winning streak.
• Named Missouri Valley Conference Head Coach of the Year twice (2010, 2013). 
• Coached 32 Redbirds to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors and eight ISU players have been selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

DeJong Nabs First-Team All-Valley Honors; Eight Redbirds Win Awards
Redshirt sophomore second baseman Paul DeJong earned First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, which were announced by Valley officials Monday. DeJong batted .360/.443/.605 for the Redbirds with 10 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He knocked in 45 runs and tallied 121 total bases. Pitchers Dan Savas and David Suarez were named Second-Team All-Valley selections while Dennis Colon, Mike Hollenbeck, Daniel Dwyer, Dylan Craig and Jeremy Rhoades were dubbed All-Missouri Valley Conference Honorable Mention selections.

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