NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds will play two mid-week matchups this week. First, the 'Birds will host the Panthers of Eastern Illinois on Tuesday, April 2 in Normal at Duffy Bass Field with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. The Redbirds will then travel to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday evening, and first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.
Illinois State Redbirds (13-13, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
Illinois State comes into the mid-week matchups on a seven-game losing streak. Most recently, the Redbirds were swept in their weekend series at Creighton. The Bluejays defeated the Redbirds 17-3 on Saturday, and swept a doubleheader on Sunday, 8-7 in 11 innings, and 7-3. Illinois State is hitting .288 on the year as a team which ranks in the top-50 in the nation.
Eastern Illinois Panthers (14-13, 7-5 Ohio Valley)
Eastern Illinois comes into the matchup winners of seven of its last 10, including a series win over SEMO. The Panthers dropped the opening game to the Redhawks 10-9 in extra innings before Eastern came back to defeat SEMO in a twin bill yesterday by scores of 1-0 and 9-6. The Panthers have collected 287 hits on the year which is 24th nationally.
Iowa Hawkeyes (15-10, 5-5 Big Ten)
Iowa has won four straight games, including a weekend sweep over No. 23 Illinois last weekend in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes defeated the Fighting Illini 8-4 in the opener and 2-1 on Saturday. Iowa earned the sweep with a 3-1 win to finish the weekend. Iowa is striking out a batter per inning and ranks 40th in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.68).
Series History
EIU leads ISU in the all-time series, holding a slim 84-89-1 advantage. The two teams last played in 2018, with the Panthers topping the Redbirds 17-13. Illinois State leads Iowa in its all-time series 11-8. The two last met in 2012, with the Redbirds defeating the Hawkeyes 10-6 on the road.
Game Information
Live stats will be available for the game online at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also stream the Eastern Illinois matchup on ESPN+ ($). Live stats will be available for the Iowa game online as well. Fans can listen to the game on the Hawkeyes All-Access. For updates on Illinois State baseball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (@isuredbirdbaseball).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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