NORMAL, Ill. - Riding a three-game winning streak, the Illinois State Redbirds (22-11, 5-4 MVC) resume Valley play this weekend with a three-game conference series at Missouri State (16-17, 5-4 MVC). All three games begin at 1:05 p.m.
Pitching Probables
Fri.
Dan Savas (Illinois State) RHP 7-1, 1.09 ERA
Cody Schumacher (Missouri State) RHP 5-1, 2.15 ERA
Sat.
Dylan Craig (Illinois State) LHP 4-1, 2.04 ERA
TBA (Missouri State)
Sun.
Jeremy Rhoades (Illinois State) RHP 3-3, 1.93 ERA
TBA (Missouri State)
The Opposition: Missouri State Bears (16-17, 5-4 MVC)
• Missouri State University is a public, research university that was established in 1905. The school is located in Springfield, Mo., and currently enrolls 21,059 students.
• The Bears are guided by 32nd-year head coach Keith Guttin. He has averaged 34 victories per-season and has earned eight 40-win seasons.
• Under Guttin's guidance, MSU has won 11 regular-season or conference tournament championships and made eight Division I NCAA Tournament appearances, including seven in the last 18 years. Missouri State advanced to the College World Series in 2003.
• Illinois State is 36-51 all-time versus the Bears. The Redbirds won three-of-four contests versus MSU in 2013.
Last Time Out
Will Headean struck out a career-high seven batters as Illinois State (22-11, 5-4 MVC) topped in-state foe Illinois (18-14, 6-3 Big Ten), 6-2, Tuesday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. The Redbirds are now a season-best 11-games over .500.
Headean (2-1) earned his fourth-career victory and matched a season-high with six innings pitched. He allowed only one run on five hits and walked five. Ben Hecht, Brock Stewart and David Saurez worked the final three innings and combined with Headean to strike out 11 Illini batters. Cody Sedlock (1-2) was chased from the game after 1.2 innings and suffered the defeat. He allowed six runs, one earned, on five hits, with two walks and no strikeouts.
Mike Hollenbeck's RBI-single in the first inning drove home Jack Czeszewski for the first run of the game, giving Illinois State a 1-0 advantage early. After Headean worked a scoreless second inning, the Redbird offense rallied for five runs off Sedlock in the second inning. Brock Stewart opened the frame with a solo home run and Paul DeJong added a grand slam to make it 6-0 Illinois State.
With the victory, the Redbirds split the season-series with Illinois.
Rising RPI
Entering the week, WarrenNolan.com listed the Illinois State Redbirds RPI at 38. Three teams in the Valley have cracked the top-40, with Indiana State (18) and Dallas Baptist (29) joining the Redbirds. Additionally, the Missouri Valley Conference boasts a collective RPI of .5376, good for fifth best among all NCAA Division-I conferences.
DeJong's Slam Powers Redbirds Over Illinois
Paul DeJong's second inning grand slam Tuesday helped propel the Redbirds to a 6-2 non-conference victory over Illinois at Duffy Bass Field. The home run was the first Redbird grand slam since Chad Hinshaw clared the bases in a 17-6 win over Miami, 17-6, on March 12, 2013 in Coral Gables, Fla. Brock Stewart also lifted a solo home run for the Redbirds Tuesday, marking the fifth time this season Illinois State has powered a multi-home run game.
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 (9.2), Cal Poly (9.2), Vanderbilt (9.1) and Texas Christian University (9.1) round out the top five. Valley-foe Dallas Baptist (9.0) ranks sixth nationally. There are no other Missouri Valley Conference schools in the top 50.
Starting Trio
All three Redbird starting pitchers Dan Savas, Dylan Craig and Jeremy Rhoades, made appearances for Illinois State Sunday versus Webster. The Redbirds did not have games on Friday or Saturday. Savas started the game and worked two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Craig pitched three scoreless innings and also struck out four. Rhoades (3-3), earned the win in relief. The right-hander allowed only an unearned run over four innings of work. All three will make starts this weekend at Missouri State.
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