The Illinois State Redbirds are set to face the Evansville Purple Aces in their final conference series of the year at Normal, Illinois. The series will conclude with a Senior Day celebration on Sunday, May 5, following the third game.
Currently, the Redbirds hold a record of 19-30 and have a conference record of 13-11. They recently fell to fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) standings after losing all three games against UNI last weekend.
The series schedule is as follows: Friday, May 3 at 5 p.m. CT on WZND; Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+; and Sunday, May 5 at 12 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Historically, Illinois State leads Evansville with an all-time series record of 58-21. In their previous conference series in 2023, the Redbirds won two out of three games against Evansville.
Evansville currently holds a record of 15-32 and is positioned tenth in the MVC standings with a conference record of 10-14. The Purple Aces have achieved victories in three conference series this season but remain locked in the bottom half of the standings.
Key players for Illinois State include Delainey Bryant and Addison Masching. Although Bryant's impressive streak ended, Masching has started her own with nine consecutive games with a hit. Bryant leads several statistical categories within the Valley while Adisyn Hopkins ranks fourth in overall batting average at .355.
Senior Day will honor Hanna Hicks, Madi Bylak, Allison Tillema, Jayden Standish, and Kaili Chval from the class of 2024.
The MVC tournament will commence in Normal on May 8 and conclude with the championship game on May 11.
For further updates on Illinois State Softball, fans can follow them on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball).
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