Game Notes | Bo Durkac Show | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team hosts in-state foe Illinois Tuesday at Duffy Bass Field in the first game of a home-and-away series with the Illini this season.
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Admission to all Illinois State games at Duffy Bass Field is free and fans are encouraged to wear red Tuesday for a "red out."
Illinois State (7-12) will look to end its season-long four-game losing skid when it takes the field Tuesday. The Redbirds were swept by Milwaukee over the weekend, in Illinois State's first home games of the 2016 season.
Milwaukee built an early lead and fought off a late Illinois State rally to win the opener, 8-5, Friday. The visiting Panthers won the second game of the series when they scored three runs in the top of the ninth to secure a 4-3 win Saturday. Then, in the longest known game in the history of both programs, Milwaukee outlasted Illinois State, 4-1, in 18 innings Sunday.
Illinois State got strong starting efforts from pitchers Steve Heilenbach and David Meade over the weekend, and five Redbird relievers combined for 10 shutout innings of relief in Sunday's game, which was scoreless through 16 innings.
Illinois (7-10) enters Tuesday's game unranked and fresh off a 1-3 showing over the weekend. The Illini split a pair of meetings with Northern Illinois, but lost two games to host Southern Illinois, in games played in Carbondale, Illinois.
Illinois State will start redshirt junior Mitch Weis against Illinois. The right-hander owns a 7.88 ERA and 10 strikeouts over eight innings of work this season. He has not factored in a decision.
Illinois has tabbed local product Matthew James, a native of Normal and graduate of Normal Community West High School, for Tuesday's start. James owns a 12.60 ERA over just five innings of work this year.
Illinois holds an advantage in the all-time series against Illinois State, at 48-33. Tuesday's game is the first of two games between the two teams scheduled this spring. The Redbirds will make a return trip to Champaign-Urbana on April 12.
Links for live video, audio and stats for Tuesday's game can be found at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates from the games via Twitter, by following @RedbirdBaseball.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
