NORMAL, Ill. – The Missouri Valley Conference season begins this weekend as Illinois State will travel to Nashville, Tenn. for the Redbirds' opening conference series against the Belmont Bruins on Mar. 17-19.
The MVC schedule will feature a new format in 2023 as the three-game Valley series will be played over three days as opposed to the two-day format that included a doubleheader that was used in previous seasons.
Illinois State enters this weekend on a four-game win streak after downing Youngstown State and Murray State twice each at the Racer Classic in Murray, Ky. Across those four games, Illinois State started four different pitchers in the circle and held opponents to a .106 batting average. Offensively, sophomore Abby Knight had three multi-hit contests in the Racer Classic and currently holds a four-game hit streak and a six-game reached base safely streak while leading the Redbirds in season batting average at .343.
SERIES SCHEDULE
Friday, Mar. 17 – Illinois State at Belmont – 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Saturday, Mar. 18 – Illinois State at Belmont – 2 p.m. CT (ESPN3)
Sunday, Mar. 19 – Illinois State at Belmont – 12 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State and Belmont have seen each other four times in program history. The Redbirds and Bruins have only met at neutral site locations in previous seasons, but will meet for the first time on the Bruins' field in Nashville, Tenn. Illinois State currently leads the series 4-0. The last time these two programs met was on March 12, 2007. The Redbirds beat the Bruins 11-0 in five innings. Three of the four wins for Illinois State over Belmont have been in games that are six innings or less.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Belmont is one of the newest members to the Missouri Valley Conference as the Bruins, along with the Murray State Racers and UIC Flames, joined the MVC in 2023. The Bruins currently hold a 13-9 overall record and will also open their conference season against the Redbirds. They enter this series on a three-game losing streak as Belmont dropped contests to Dayton, Austin Peay and Indiana University prior to this weekend. Belmont was picked to finished sixth in the conference behind Illinois State by four points in the preseason poll.
A season ago, Belmont was part of the Ohio Valley Conference and ended the 2022 season with a 33-17 record while going 20-8 in conference. The Bruins battled Murray State in the OVC Championship game in the conference tournament where the Racers ultimately earned the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Now, the top two teams from the OVC a season ago are both members of the Valley.
NEWS & NOTES
National Stats: As a team, Illinois State is in the top 50 in the country in doubles and doubles per game. The Redbirds sit at 37th in the nation in doubles with 36 while rank 34th in doubles per game with 1.57. These marks are both second-best in the conference as well. Individually, sophomore Delainey Bryant is 27th in the nation in doubles with 8 and 50th in doubles per game (0.35).
Another Record: Senior pitcher Amanda Fox picked up her first save of the season, the third of her career, against Youngstown State on 3/11/23. This save moves her into the top five in program history for career saves. She is now tied for fourth in program history with three other Redbird pitchers with three career saves. The top spot in the category is held by Stacy Birk with eight saves from 2004-07.
Power by Jefferson: Prior to the 2023 season, senior Chloe Jefferson had never hit a home run - now she leads the team in the category. Jefferson hit her first career home run in a 9-0 victory over Weber State on 2/17/23. Now, the senior has four home runs which leads all Redbird hitters in the category as Illinois State is set to enter conference play.
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