Illinois State plays defending conference champion Creighton

[April 27, 2012]  OMAHA, Neb. -- Illinois State plays at the site of the College Baseball World Series this weekend when the Redbirds (22-15, 4-7 Missouri Valley Conference) take on Creighton (15-21, 2-1) for a three-game Valley series beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.

"We are excited to head to Omaha and play at TD Ameritrade Park," Illinois State head baseball coach Mark Kingston said. "ISU versus Creighton games are always very close and competitive."

The Redbirds will try to win their second consecutive Valley series of the season after taking two out of three games from in-state rival Bradley last weekend. Ty Wiesemeyer once again led ISU offensively with nine RBIs in a 6-for-13 (.462) hitting performance against the Braves with a grand slam, a triple and a double. For his efforts, Wiesemeyer was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Player of the Week for the central region. (See article.)

Wiesemeyer enters Friday's game on a team-best nine-game hitting streak and a 12-game on-base streak. Fellow outfielder Chad Hinshaw is riding a season-best 17-game on-base streak. He leads the Valley with a .486 on-base percentage with a league-high 33 walks. Hinshaw also ranks first on the team and second in the league with 19 stolen bases.

As a team, the Redbirds lead the Valley in batting average (.306), slugging percentage (.444) and on-base percentage (.404), while Creighton ranks last in all three of those categories. However, the Redbirds rank last in the league with a 5.22 ERA, while the Bluejays are fourth with a 3.54 ERA. Creighton's offense is led by Nick Judkins, who is hitting .299 with 22 RBIs.

Illinois State will start right-hander Chris Razo (4-4, 5.76 ERA) Friday against Creighton left-hander Ty Blach (3-4, 2.90 ERA), followed by left-hander Dylan Craig (5-2, 5.62 ERA) versus right-hander Erik Mattingly (0-2, 2.08 ERA) Saturday. ISU's Sunday starter has not yet been announced, while the Bluejays are scheduled to start right-hander Shane Liska (1-2, 3.62 ERA).

The Redbirds trail the all-time series against Creighton 66-36. Illinois State dropped two out of last season's three games against the Bluejays at Duffy Bass Field. Creighton went on to win the regular season and the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

[Text from news release received from John Twork, graduate assistant, athletics communications, Illinois State University]