Game Notes | Live Video ($) | Live Audio | Live Stats
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team will finish out the regular-season portion of its schedule with a three-game series at Missouri State, beginning Thursday.
The series opener Thursday is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Friday's game will begin at 6:30 p.m., before Sunday's 2 p.m. series finale.
The games are the final regular-season contests for both teams. All eight Missouri Valley Conference baseball teams will converge on Indiana State's Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the conference tournament, beginning Wednesday, May 25.
Tournament seeds and pairings will be determined after the final weekend of Valley play. The Redbirds can finish as high as fourth and as low as eighth.
Illinois State (17-32, 7-10 MVC) returns to action after taking two of three games from visiting Wichita State last weekend at Duffy Bass Field. The Redbirds won the series opener and finale, with closer Jack Landwehr picking up the save in both games. Daniel Dwyer collected multiple hits in all three games of the series, including three of his team's six hits in Friday's win.
Missouri State (31-19, 4-13) went 1-2 at league-leading Dallas Baptist last weekend. Nationally ranked for the first 10 weeks of the season, the Valley's preseason favorite has struggled in league play. The Bears have not won a league series in 2016 and have been swept twice. Missouri State needs a sweep of Illinois State to avoid a last-place conference finish.
Offensively, the Bears are led by the powerful tandem of Spencer Johnson (.287/.404/.676) and Jake Burger (.367/.445/.714), who are the Valley leaders in home runs, with 18 and 19, respectively.
Missouri State will feature the starting pitching rotation of Dylan Coleman (6-4, 4.82 ERA), Jordan Knutson (5-6, 4.70) and Jake Fromson (5-1, 3.25). Illinois State will go with Steve Heilenbach (5-3, 2.91), David Meade (2-3, 3.46) and Jacob Hendren (3-7, 5.85).
Links for audio and stats for all three games are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates by following @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.Â
