McLean County Times

Illinois State University's baseball team is preparing to face Indiana State, the leader of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), in a series at Duffy Bass Field from April 19-21. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and available via radio and live stats.

Saturday's game features Illinois State's annual "Stuff The Duff" promotion, offering mini bats to the first 250 fans. It will also be Sorority and Fraternity Life Day at the field.

The Redbirds' projected starting pitchers for the series are Cameron Mabee on Friday, Tyrelle Chadwick on Saturday, and Tanner Perry on Sunday. Each has shown consistent performance this season.

Indiana State enters with a strong record of 27-7 overall and an 11-6 road record in 2024. Last year, they finished with a record of 45-17 and were chosen as the MVC preseason favorite after winning both regular season and tournament titles.

Historically, Indiana State leads their matchups against Illinois State with a record of 119-89 since their first meeting in 1948. In their last encounter, Indiana State completed a series sweep with a narrow victory.

Illinois State recently achieved back-to-back series sweeps for the first time since April 2019 by defeating Valparaiso. Their pitching staff held an impressive ERA of 0.72 during that series.

Sophomore Daniel Pacella had notable performances earlier this season, including hitting two home runs in one game against Missouri State. He joins teammate Auggie Rasmussen among those who have achieved multiple two-homer games for Illinois State since 2004.

Weather conditions have affected several games this season, leading to cancellations against teams like Saint Louis and Iowa. This has reduced Illinois State's schedule to 53 games, though there is potential to add more matches.

For updates on Illinois State Baseball, fans can visit GoRedbirds.com or follow the team on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.