NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program announced its 2021 schedule on Wednesday, which features 10 road games against teams ranked in Collegiate Baseball's preseason top-25.
The Redbirds will open 2021 at Belmont with a four game-set beginning on Feb. 19.
Illinois State will then travel to #17 Oklahoma State before heading to Southeast Missouri State and Missouri for a pair of four-game sets. The 'Birds will close out its road non-conference series with a three-game set at #16 East Carolina.
In its first home series, the Redbirds will host Arkansas State on March 26-28.
The team's final non-conference series is four games, April 16-18 at Milwaukee.
Illinois State is scheduled to play 28 Missouri Valley Conference games from April 2-May 22, including a 4-game set at #24 Dallas Baptist.
INSIDE THE SCHEDULE
- The Redbirds open at Belmont for the second time in three seasons and fifth time since 2009.
- ISU's first home game is set for March 26, 672 days since the last Redbird game at Duffy Bass Field (May 24, 2019, loss 10-6 vs Indiana State in Missouri Valley Conference tournament).
- The Missouri Valley Conference returns to four-game conference series in 2021 for the first time since 2004.
- Illinois State is scheduled to play 10 games against ranked opponents, which would be the most since 2015. The 2015 team played 11 ranked opponents.
- Non-conference opponents Oklahoma State and East Carolina join Illinois State as part of a group of just 11 programs that finished in the RPI Top 25 in both 2019 and 2020. Illinois State, East Carolina, and UC Santa Barbara are the only three mid-majors to accomplish that feat.
QUOTES FROM THIRD-YEAR HEAD COACH STEVE HOLM
On challenges of scheduling: "The schedule this year has been as fluid as you can possibly imagine. A few weeks ago, we were looking at a 40-game schedule and I was in scramble mode! Somehow, we got it all patched up and we can finally release it."
On strength of schedule: "There are a few big RPI weekends in the non-conference segments--as 2019 proved, those weekends come in handy during selection time."
*All opponents, dates, times, and locations are subject to change
**There are currently no fans allowed at Illinois State events, we will continue to monitor and update
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