NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team is set to play Evansville on Tuesday in a win or go home scenario as the teams are in the play-in round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Carbondale.
GAME INFORMATION
No. 6 Illinois State (22-32, 11-13 MVC) vs No. 7 Evansville (28-26, 11-16 MVC)
Days/Times (CT):
Tuesday, May 25, 2:30 p.m. CT
City: Carbondale, Ill.
Field: Itchy Jones Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: bit.ly/MVCTournamentStats
3-1 VS EVANSVILLE, CARBONDALE
ISU is 3-1 against Evansville and 3-1 in Carbondale in 2021. The Redbirds fell to Evansville on run-rule to open the series on 4/23 in Normal. ISU responded to win the next three games to win the series. In the series, fourth-year sophomore Jake McCaw was 7-for-13 and second-year Ryan Cermak was 7-for-12 to combine to go 14-for-25 (.560) in the series. Third-year freshman Sean Sinisko fired seven scoreless innings en route to earning his 4th win of 2021 and leading the team to a 3-1 game and series win. Third-year sophomore Derek Salata inherited two runners in the bottom of the 9th but induced a pop-up and fanned two Purple Aces to earn his sixth save of 2021. Illinois State opened MVC-play by taking 3-of-4 in Carbondale against Southern Illinois, which entered the weekend leading the nation in winning percentage.
MVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Redbirds hosted the 2019 MVC Tournament, winning against Southern Illinois and Indiana State before losing to Dallas Baptist and Indiana State. Illinois State has MVC Tournament titles in 2010 (only time ISU has won regular season and tournament title in same season) and 1994. The Redbirds most recently made the championship in 2017 (lost to DBU, 10-6).
TOPS IN THE VALLEY
ISU has three of the top 11 in batting average in MVC action only. Fourth-year sophomore Jake McCaw is 1st at .417, fourth-year junior Kyle Soberano is 6th with a .358 average, and second-year freshman Ryan Cermak is 11th with a .326 clip.
SERIES HISTORY
The Redbirds and Purple Aces have met 124 times in a series history with Illinois State leading, 69-54-1. The first game of the series was played in 1948. The teams most recently met on 4/25/2021, played at Illinois State's Duffy Bass Field. The Redbirds won the series 3-1 after falling in the opening game. In the series, fourth-year sophomore Jake McCaw was 7-for-13 and second-year Ryan Cermak was 7-for-12 to combine to go 14-for-25 (.560) in the series.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES
UE is 28-26 overall and 11-16 in the MVC to earn the 7-seed in the MVC Tournament. Kenton Crews is hitting .321 to lead UE from a batting average perspective while Tanner Craig is batting .301 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs to lead the offensive attack. The team is hitting .266 and has hit 44 home runs. Shane Gray has a 2.87 ERA while reliever Drew Dominik has a 1.55 ERA over 29 innings.
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