Redbird Baseball Looks to Continue Upward Trend in MVC

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team looks to continue its ascent up the Missouri Valley Conference standings when it travels for a three-game series at league foe Southern Illinois beginning Friday.

Illinois State (17-16, 5-4 MVC) was tied for last place in the Valley after its first two league series, but climbed up to fifth place in the league standings after sweeping a three-game set at Wichita State last weekend.

This weekend's three-game series with Southern Illinois (7-30, 3-6) starts with a 6:30 p.m. game Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. contest Saturday and a 1 p.m. finale Sunday.

"Both teams are coming off big road series wins and are hoping to maintain that momentum through this weekend," said Illinois State head coach Bo Durkac. "Even though we have had some success against SIU over the past two years, every game was an absolute nail-biter, especially last year with three one-run victories – and two in extra innings – at Duffy Bass Field. I expect the Salukis to give us all we can handle and more."

Jean Ramirez played a key role in the sweep of Wichita State, slashing .385/.429/.615 and driving in four runs over the three games. Two of those runs came on his third home run of the season, a two-run shot that provided key insurance runs in the series finale. Joe Kelch and Sean Beesley also played major parts, with Kelch homering and driving in three runs and Beesley tallying a team-high five RBIs over the weekend.

Starting pitchers Will Headean, Jacob Hendren and Jack Landwehr did their part as well, as each earned a victory in the series. The trio allowed just eight earned runs over 19 innings of work over the weekend. They struck out 17 and walked only four. Ryan Koziol closed out two of the games to earn a pair of saves.

Headean (4-2, 3.97 ERA), Hendren (6-1, 3.51) and Landwehr (3-4, 5.91) will be back in action this weekend, as each will get a start in the series at Southern Illinois. The Salukis will counter with Aaron Hauge (3-3, 2.12), Bryce Sablotny (1-2, 3.83) and Kyle Pruemer (0-4, 8.58).

Southern Illinois enters this weekend's series on a three-game losing streak after taking the first two games of a three-game series at Indiana State last weekend.

The Redbirds will return home after this weekend's series with five home games in a week. The homestand will start with the 156th Horenberger-Bass Classic with Illinois Wesleyan visiting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Redbirds will welcome Webster for another 6 p.m. game on Wednesday, before a three-game league series against Missouri State, beginning Friday. 

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