NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State baseball team is scheduled to open Missouri Valley Conference play at home versus Bradley, which has won three of their last five games, from March 22-24.
SCHEDULE (AT ILLINOIS STATE)
Friday at 2:00 p.m. CT |Â VIDEO | LIVE STATS
Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CTÂ | RADIOÂ | LIVE STATS
Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CTÂ |Â RADIO |Â LIVE STATS
ABOUT THE BRADLEY BRAVES
Bradley was 16-32 in 2023, going 10-19 on the road. The Braves have started 2024 with a record of 6-13, going 1-12 on the road. Bradley is also scheduled to face common non-conference opponents with ILS: Lindenwood, Iowa, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, and SIUE.
The Redbirds and Braves have met 236 times previously, with Illinois State leading, 120-114. Their first meeting was in 1901. Illinois State took two out of three last year in Peoria but fell short in the series finale as Bradley secured the 19-3 win to avoid the sweep.
WECOLME TO VALLEY PLAY
Illinois State is 9-14 in MVC openers since 2000 and 1-6 in the last seven (lost at Belmont in 2023, 2-0).
Friday will mark the earliest MVC opener for the Redbirds since 3/20/2009 vs Evansville.
Since 2019, Illinois State is 2-2 in MVC home openers under the direction of Steve Holm. The Redbirds defeated Valparaiso in 2022 as well as Missouri State in 2019.
HOME-OPENING WIN VS SIUEÂ
Illinois State topped SIUE on Tuesday, 14-3, recording 15 hits over six innings to claim a run-rule victory.
Sophomore Thomas Harper threw 5.0 innings with four strikeouts while freshman Lawson Minshew and senior Erik Kubiatowicz came on in relief to shut down the Cougars over the final two innings with four strikeouts and three hits allowed combined.
RASMUSSEN GOES YARD (x2)
Senior Auggie Rasmussen tallied a two-homer, five RBI performance on the road at Indiana on March 13. With the pair of blasts, Rasmussen became the first Redbird to hit two home runs in a game since he did it himself in April 2023 versus Lindenwood.
His 5 RBIs are the first time a Redbird totaled 5 RBIs in a game since Daniel Pacella had five at Bradley in April 2023.
Rasmussen is the fourth different Redbird to have multiple home runs in a game since 2019. He joins Ryan Cermak, who did it three times, as the only other Redbird to have two home runs in a game on multiple occasions under the direction of Steve Holm.
SERIES SWEEP AT ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
Illinois State took its first series sweep since 2022 (at Western Carolina), beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a three-game series March 1-3.
Sophomore Tyrelle Chadwick had a career outing in the series clinching victory in game two, throwing a complete game and striking out a career high 12 Golden Lions. Chadwick, who only allowed one hit and no walks over nine scoreless innings, recorded the first nine-inning one hitter for Illinois State since April 2013.
His 12-strikeout shutout performance is also the first nine-inning complete game for the Redbirds since May 2021 as well as the first nine-inning complete game shutout since 2019.
The performance gained the Kamloops, B.C., native, the title of MVC Pitcher of the Week as well as garnered the attention of D1Baseball as the national organization named Chadwick the best pitcher from week 3 with with a game score of 97.
Chadwick was also named the Canadian Baseball Network College Player of the Week.
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).Â
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