Redbirds Open Baseball Season With Series at Belmont

Bo Durkac Show | Game Notes | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team begins the 2016 season with a three-game series at Belmont, starting with Friday's 4 p.m. series opener, at E.S. Rose Park, in Nashville, Tennessee. The three-game series will also include a 12 p.m. game Saturday and a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

Illinois State looks to begin the season with a win, as it did last year, while improving on the 2015 team's 27-27 overall record and 9-12 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Illinois State returns 18 letterwinners from last year's team, including returning All-MVC selections Jacob Hendren and Joe Kelch. Both were also named to the Valley's preseason all-conference team, while Hendren received preseason All-America nods from a pair of national outlets heading into the 2016 campaign.

The Redbirds will open the season with Hendren, the senior left-hander, on the mound. Head coach Bo Durkac will then turn to senior right-hander Steve Heilenbach for Saturday's start, and a junior transfer in right-hander David Meade, on Sunday.

Belmont, a team that went 29-29 last spring, will counter with the trio of Aaron Quillen, Dylan King and Dom Veltri. All three are right-handed pitchers. The Bruins' offense is buoyed by preseason All-American outfielder Tyler Fullerton, who hit .355 and belted 11 home runs a year ago.

Illinois State's lineup offense will lean on five returners, including Kelch, who batted a team-best .338 in 2015. Also returning to the lineup are outfielders Daniel Dwyer and Sean Beesley, infielder Jared Hendren and catcher Jean Ramirez.

The Redbird bullpen will be led by right-hander Jake Sale and lefty Jack Czeszewski. The pair led Illinois State in appearances last spring.  

Illinois State is 4-7 all-time against Belmont. The Bruins took two games of a three-game set in the last meeting, in 2013, at E.S. Rose Park.

The games Friday and Sunday will be broadcast live on the OVC Digital Network, and live audio from all three games will be broadcast on WJBC.com. Links for live video, audio and stats can all be found at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates by following @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter. 

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