ISU road trip ends with SIUE midweek game

[March 21, 2012]  EDWARDSVILLE -- The Illinois State baseball team will wrap up its stretch of 19 consecutive road games with a midweek contest at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Redbirds open their home schedule Friday against MacMurray.

The Redbirds (13-5) have won three straight games after going 6-2 on their spring break trip to Florida. ISU won one game against Navy and two versus Army over the weekend.

"All in all, we saw a lot of good things during the road trip," said Illinois State head coach Mark Kingston. "We saw a lot of individuals step up, and we were able to see a lot of players fill different roles. So it was very beneficial for us, and I'd like to see us continue to build off of it."

Ty Wiesemeyer continues to lead the Redbird offense with a .394 batting average, including 13 RBIs on five doubles, one triple and one home run. As a team, Illinois State is averaging 8.7 runs per game, which ranks fifth nationally among NCAA Division I programs.

SIU Edwardsville (9-10) is led by James Vazquez's .321 batting average with six RBIs and five doubles. The Cougars are coming off a 1-3 series performance at home against South Dakota State last weekend. Wednesday's game marks SIUE's final nonconference contest before the Cougars begin Ohio Valley Conference competition Friday.

Right-hander Johnny Lieske (1-0) will make his first collegiate start for ISU against SIUE. He has appeared five times out of the bullpen without allowing an earned run this season. Lieske has issued 10 strikeouts and six walks through 9 1-3 innings of work. The Cougars are expected to counter with right-hander Thad Hawkins (0-0). Hawkins is also making his first career start. He has amassed a 6.23 ERA through 13 innings.

Wednesday's game marks the 16th meeting between ISU and SIUE, with the Redbirds leading the all-time series 10-5-1.

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Redbird game notes

[Text from file received from Illinois State]