GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Illinois State baseball team is headed to consensus top-10 East Carolina for a three-game series over March 19-21. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Pirates garnered national rankings from Baseball America (No. 9), Collegiate Baseball (No. 8), D1Baseball (No. 9), National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (No. 7), Perfect Game (No. 9) and USA Today/Coaches Poll (No. 9) in their most recent polls.
SERIES INFORMATION
Illinois State (5-9, 0-0 MVC) at East Carolina (13-3, 0-0 AAC)
Days/Times:
Friday, March 19 (5:30 p.m. CT)
Saturday, March 20 (3:00 p.m. CT)
Sunday, March 21 (10:30 a.m. CT)
City: Greenville, North Carolina
Field: Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium
TV: bit.ly/ECUGame1Video,bit.ly/ECUGame2Video,bit.ly/ECUGame3Video
Radio: bit.ly/ECURadio
Live Stats: bit.ly/ECULiveStats
PROJECTED PITCHERS FOR ILLINOIS STATE
Game 1: Colton Johnson (2021: 1.33 ERA, 20.1 IP, 24 K)
Game 2: Jordan Lussier (2021: 4.76 ERA, 17 IP, 15 K)
Game 3: Sean Sinisko (2021: 5.65 ERA, 14.1 IP, 12 K)
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State dropped 3-of-4 games against Missouri, in a series that was originally scheduled to be played in Columbia but was moved to Normal due to weather.
Fifth-year senior Colton Johnson fired a career-high eight innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts, conceding just three infield singles and one walk.
SERIES HISTORY
The Redbirds and Pirates have met just once in a series history with ECU leading, 1-0.
The 3/13/01, the lone game in series history, a saw ECU win, 9-6. The Pirates were 17-2 at the time and pounded out 13 hits. Current ECU head coach Cliff Godwin was 1-for-2 with an RBI double off the bench. ISU hit three home runs in a game that featured 12 runs over the first three innings.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
ECU is 13-3 in 2021, having lost against UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday. The Pirates had won seven-straight and are a consensus top-10 team. ECU's other two losses have come to Georgia Southern and Old Dominion.
Connor Norby is off to a blazing start at the dish for ECU. Norby is hitting a blistering .478 with six home runs and 19 RBI while leading the nation with 32 hits. Carson Whisenhunt highlights the pitching staff with a 1.19 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 22.2 innings.
RANKED WINS
The Redbirds have won some notable games under third-year head coach Steve Holm. In 2020, the team defeated No. 23 Oklahoma and No. 13 Arkansas, both on the road. In 2019, the team defeated No. 1 Vanderbilt, the eventual National Champions. The team also beat No. 7 Louisville on the road in the NCAA Tournament.
REIGNING CHAMPS
The Redbirds are technically reigning champions of the Missouri Valley Conference after splitting the conference title in 2019, ISU's third MVC title (2019, 2013, 2010).
Illinois State was picked to finish second in the MVC behind Dallas Baptist in the preseason poll.
For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Baseball).
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