Southern Illinois (23-25, 6-8) vs. Evansville 26-21, 7-8)
Abe Field, Carbondale, IL
- 3:00 p.m. Friday (Cornell, SIU vs. Dennis, EU)
- 2:00 p.m. Saturday (Forer, SIU vs. Johns, EU)
- 1:00 p.m. Sunday (Hoelscher SIU vs. TBA, EU)
The Salukis are on the heels of the Bluejays in the conference standings. The Jays are in the club house at 9-12. After a six-game winning streak the Salukis were swept last weekend by Middle Tennessee State. FIrst baseman Chris Serritella brings a 19-game hitting streak into the weekend. It is the longest streak for a Saluki since a 21-game streak in 2007.
Junior Cody Fick continues to impress, entering the weekend with a Valley leading 15 home runs. After being swept by the Bluejays two weeks ago, the Purple Aces responded by taking two of three against the Sycamores. The Purple Aces hold a slight edge over the Jays for the fourth seed in the Valley tournament with two weeks to go.
Illinois State (24-18, 12-3) vs. Bradley (17-27, 5-10)
Duffy Bass Field, Normal, IL
- 6:00 p.m. Friday (Maines, ISU vs. Bircher, BU)
- 2:00 p.m. Saturday (Sorkin, ISU vs. Booden, BU)
- 1:00 p.m. Sunday (Learnard, ISU vs. Altback, BU)
Reigning MVC Player of the Week Kevin Tokarski leads the Redbirds against the Braves. The second baseman is batting .469 to lead the conference. Last weekend he went 8-14 including his sixth home run. The Redbirds hold just a half game lead in the standings over Wichita State.
Bradley comes in losing two in a row after losing the final two games to SIU-Edwardsville. Joe Bircher needs to get them off to a good start on Friday night. He already has two complete games under his belt so far this season, games in which Bradley has split. Expect a close one in the intrastate rivalry game.
Wichita State (32-17, 13-5) vs. Missouri State (18-28, 4-11)
Eck Stadium, Wichita, KS
- 7:00 Saturday (Cooper, WSU vs. Booden, MSU)
- 2:00 Saturday (Kelley, WSU vs. Doyle, MSU)
- 1:00 Sunday (Smith, WSU vs. Kiticham, MSU)
Wichita State has the opportunity to keep within striking distance against conference leader Illinois State. Two back in the loss column, the Shockers take on last place Missouri State. The Shockers are fresh off a sweep in Omaha, the first time that happened since 1998. Johnny Coy and Bret Bascue hit back-to-back home runs in Saturday’s game and the Jays were never able to recover. This will be the Shockers’ last Valley series before hosting the conference tournament.
Missouri State can play spoiler this weekend against favorite Wichita State. The Bears, in the bottom of the Valley, have nothing to lose this weekend. They have lost five of their last six conference games. Last Saturday the Bears stole 8 bases against Illinois State in an 11-9 loss. They were two off their school record of 10. Getting on base on this weekend will be tougher against the Shocker pitching staff.