Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Stats
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team will travel to Wisconsin-Milwaukee for its final midweek, non-conference game of the 2016 season Tuesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Henry Aaron Field.
Illinois State (15-30) will head to Milwaukee fresh off a walk-off win over visiting Bradley on Sunday. Blake Molitor's one-out single to left field scored Owen Miller from second base, as Miller slipped past an initial tag with a headfirst slide. Miller missed the plate, however, but recovered quickly to sidestep another tag attempt and slap home plate for the game-winning run.
Molitor's single and Miller's fancy footwork gave Illinois State a 4-3 win, and helped the Redbirds avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Braves. Bradley won the series opener Friday, 10-2, as well as Saturday's contest, 5-3.
Illinois State will face a familiar opponent when it heads to Milwaukee for Tuesday's game, as the Redbirds hosted Milwaukee for three games, March 18-20. The visiting Panthers won all three games of the series – which were Illinois State's first home games of the season – including an 18-inning marathon March 20.
Milwaukee (25-21) has been up and down this spring, with a winning streak as long as six games and a losing streak as long as seven. The Panthers have most recently won nine of their past 11 games, including a doubleheader against Youngstown State Saturday. Tuesday's game will mark Milwaukee's 13th-straight game played at Henry Aaron Field.
The Panthers have been led by the 1-2 offensive punch of outfielder Luke Meeteer (.386/.475/.561) and catcher Daulton Varsho (.367/.435/.567). The pair ranks 1-2 on the team in terms of batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, doubles, RBIs and stolen bases.
Milwaukee will start either Jared Reklaitis (2-1, 2.19 ERA) or Austin Schulfer (2-3, 8.21) Tuesday. Both are right-handers.
Illinois State will go with right-hander Jeffrey Barton (0-1, 6.57), who has allowed one or fewer earned runs in each of his past seven outings. In his last start at SIUE on April 19, Barton pitched four innings of one-run baseball, with a career-high eight strikeouts, as Illinois State earned a 9-3 win.
Links for live audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates by following @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter.
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