NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State Redbirds travel to Evansville, Indiana, to face off against the Evansville Aces in the 2018 regular season-ending series on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Thursday, May 17 | 6 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+ ($)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Illinois State Starting Pitcher: Brady Huffman, RHP, 1-3, 4.48 ERA
Evansville Starting Pitcher: Austin Reusch, RHP, 2-3, 5.23 ERA
Friday, May 18 | 6 p.m.
Live Video:
ESPN+ ($)
Live Stats:
StatBroadcast
Illinois State Starting Pitcher:
Brent Headrick, LHP, 3-6, 6.08 ERA
Evansville Starting Pitcher: Alex Weigand, LHP, 1-4, 4.94 ERA
Saturday, May 13 | 1 p.m.
Live Video:
ESPN+ ($)
Live Stats:
StatBroadcast
Illinois State Starting Pitcher:
Matt Walker, LHP, 5-2, 4.55 ERA
Evansville Starting Pitcher: TBD
SCOUTING THE ACES (11-35, 2-16 MVC)
Evansville comes into the final regular season series of the season having won three of its last five games, including a mid-week game against Belmont on Tuesday.
Leading the way for the Aces is sophomore Troy Beilsmith, who bats .327 with 36 runs scored, 16 doubles, seven home runs, and 27 RBI's - all team-highs. Kenton Crews (.296), Dalton Horstmeier (.292), and Tanner Craig (.287) are all near the .300 plateau for the year. Crews has scored 25 times, while Craig has clubbed five home runs.
Alex Weigand has been the ace of the pitching staff for the Aces, and has a 1-4 record to go with a 4.94 ERA. Opponents hit just .242 against him, as he has 42 strikeouts over a team-high 54.2 innings of work. Austin Allinger leads the team with 46 strikeouts, and has a 1-4 record and a 5.70 ERA.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS (20-27, 7-11 MVC)
Illinois State comes into the weekend having taken two of three games against Valparaiso at home over the previous weekend.Â
Owen Miller, the reigning MVC Player of the Week, is batting .397 for the Redbirds, and is coming off a game in which he hit for the cycle in the series finale. Miller has scored 41 runs on the year with five home runs and 31 RBI's.
John Rave bats .360, and leads the team in runs (43), doubles (17), home runs (7), and RBI's (45). Six different Redbird batters have over 25 RBI's this season, and seven have scored 25 runs or more.
Brady Huffman leads the Redbird starting pitchers in ERA (4.48) and strikeouts (55), as the team's other two starters (
Brent Headrick and
Matt Walker) have 54 and 53 strikeouts, respectively. Walker has a 5-2 record and a 4.55 ERA, while Headrick is 3-6 with a 6.08 ERA. Out of the bullpen,
Trevor Cross has 47 strikeouts to lead the group, while
Michael Sebby has a 3-1 record out of the bullpen.
