DALLAS BAPTIST @ ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY 
April 5-6 | Normal, Illinois | Duffy Bass Field  
 
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
DBU Audio: Patriot Broadcasting Network
ISU Media: Redbird TV
Facebook: DBU Athletics
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Dates: April 5-6, 2014
Time: 12 PM (Sat. DH - Game 2 will follow 30-45 minutes after Game 1), 1 PM (Sun.)
Stadium: Duffy Bass Field (1,100)
Broadcast: Patriot Broadcasting Network
Talent: Reagan Ratcliff, Brendan Smith, and Nate Frieling
 
PROBABLE STARTERS

Saturday, April 5 (Game 1 DH)
DBU – RHP Paul Voelker (4-2, 3.16 ERA, 42.2 IP, 16 BB, 46 K)
vs.
Illinois St. – RHP Dan Savas (7-0, 0.94 ERA, 48 IP, 16 BB, 34 K)
 
Saturday, April 5 (Game 2 DH)
DBU – RHP Cy Sneed (4-1, 2.08 ERA, 47.2 IP, 14 BB, 37 K)
vs.
Illinois St. – LHP Dylan Craig (3-1, 2.57 ERA, 42 IP, 18 BB, 47 K)
 
Sunday, April 6
DBU – RHP Cory Taylor (2-0, 3.03 ERA, 38.2 IP, 14 BB, 49 K) 
vs.
Illinois St. – RHP Jeremy Rhoades (2-2, 1.41 ERA, 32 IP, 7 BB, 51 K)
 
FIRST PITCH – The Dallas Baptist Baseball Team travels to the state of Illinois for the second consecutive weekend when they face the Illinois State Redbirds in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series, starting on Saturday.  Game one of the three-game set, which was scheduled for Friday, has been moved to Saturday, due to inclement weather in Normal, Illinois.  DBU and Illinois State will play a double-header on Saturday, followed by the series finale on Sunday.
 
The Patriots (21-7, 3-0) opened conference action last weekend with a three-game sweep over Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.  With the sweep and a win on Tuesday at home versus Texas Southern, DBU enters Saturday's game riding a six-game win streak.
 
With this weekend's three-game series, the Patriots will wrap up a stretch of seven of their last eight contests coming away from Horner Ballpark.  DBU is off to a solid start on the road this year, posting a 9-4 record away from the friendly confines.
 
In their last two road series, the Patriots have swept MVC conference opponents, Missouri State and Bradley.  The three wins over Missouri State counted as non-conference affairs for the Patriots.  The two teams will meet again at  Horner Ballpark on May 2-4 in a series that will count towards each team's conference record.

LAST TIME OUT – Back in the friendly confines of Horner Ballpark, the Patriots improved to 12-3 at home and survived a ninth-inning rally to top Texas Southern University, 6-3, in non-conference action Tuesday night.
 
The Patriots struck early, plating a run in three of the first four innings. Sophomore, Austin Listi, hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Drew Turbin in the first inning for the game's first run.  Turbin continues to set the table for the Patriot offense, going 3-for-3 on Tuesday with three walks and reached base safely all six times at the plate.

Sophomore right-hander, Drew Smith, tossed three scoreless innings.  It was the first start for Smith in exactly one month, since he incurred an injury on March 1st in his last start against Penn.  Freshman, Trevor Conn, picked up where Smith left off, keeping the Tigers scoreless over the next three innings.
 
Taking a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning, Texas Southern cut the deficit in half with a two-run blast off the bat of Jag Gordaya.
 
DBU responded with a run of their own, when Trevin Sonnier singled to left to drive in Tagg Duce.  Both teams scored a run in the eighth, setting the stage for Joseph Shaw to work with a three-run lead in the ninth.
 
Texas Southern would threaten in the last frame, putting runners on the corners with no outs, before Shaw retired the next three batters in order to earn his team-high, fourth save of the season.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH – Making his eighth start in the past nine games, Drew Turbin has become a solid addition to the lead-off role in the Patriots' lineup. The junior from Hayden, Idaho, has hit safely in five of the last seven game and is 10-for-22 (.455) over that seven game span.  In his 42 at bats on the season, Turbin is hitting .357 and has driven in 12 runs.
 
Freshman, David Martinelli, has smacked a base hit in eight of the past 10 games, including an active team-best, five-game hitting streak. In DBU's last 5 games, Martinelli is 11-for-22 (.500) with eight RBI, three doubles, and two home runs. His offensive outburst last week, earned him Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors, making him the third Patriot this year to earn such honors.  
 
Senior, Mike Wesolowski, continues to be the mark of consistency in the DBU offenese and is second on the club with a .306 batting average, 29 runs scored and leads the team with 34 hits. The first baseman has hit safely in seven of the last nine games and reached safely in six-straight.  In the last five games, Wesolowski has seven RBI and two homeruns.
 
Redshirt-sophomore, Daniel Salters, is near the top of most every offensive category for the Patriots.  He leads the team in RBI (24), doubles (12), triples (4), and is third on the squad with 26 runs scored.  Salters went 2-for-5 in Tuesday's affair to extend a team-high, five-game hitting streak. In those five games, Salters is 11-for-22 (.500).
 
Sophomore, Austin Listi, leads the club with five home runs on the season. The outfielder ranks second on the team with 28 runs scored and 23 RBI. A pair of those occurred in DBU's latest victory, despite Listi going hitless on the evening.  
 
ON THE BUMP – Through 256.2 innings, DBU hurlers have allowed 114 runs, 85 earned, to compile a 2.98 ERA for second in the Missouri Valley. In addition, the Patriots lead the league with 260 strikeouts.
 
Junior, Paul Voelker, takes the hill on Saturday in game one of the double-header.  It will be his eight start of the year to open a weekend series.  The righty is second on the team with 46 strikeouts and tied with a team-high, four wins. In his most recent outing at Bradley last Friday, the Plymouth, Minnesota, native pitched five innings while allowing three runs on four hits.  Voelker had plenty of support in that start, as the Patriot offense tallied 17 runs on the night. 
 
Boasting the lowest earned run average among the weekend starters is Cy Sneed. The junior from Twin Falls, Idaho, owns a 2.08 ERA after eight innings of two-run ball last Saturday.  Sneed has pitched at least 7 innings in the past four trips to the rubber, including two eight inning performances.
 
Sophomore, Cory Taylor, went four innings last time out, but did blow away eight Bradley batters to eclipse the team-lead for strikeouts. His strikeout total now stands at 49, with the righty from Owasso, Oklahoma, recording 38 of them in his past four starts. HIs career-high 11 strikeouts came in his start at Missouri State on March 15.  Taylor enters this weekend ranked ninth in nation in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (11.41).  This Sunday, the sophomore will make his fourth-straight start in the weekend rotation where he has gone 1-0 and allowed just four earned runs through 19 innings in that role.
 
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS – Illinois State (18-8, 4-2) played its home opener on Tuesday, grabbing a win over Eastern Illinois, 9-4, to claim their ninth victory in their past 12 games. The Redbirds utilized 11 walks and capitalized with a six-run second inning to jump out early and never look back.
 
Paul Dejong and Mike Hollenbeck tallied multi-hit efforts with two-hits apiece. Hollenbeck produced a big night at the plate, collecting three RBI, while Daniel Dwyer drove in two of his own.
 
Offensively, Illinois State ranks amongs the Missouri Valley's top hitting clubs, compiling a .297 average, tied for the league's best mark with Bradley.  The Redbirds have also scored 169 runs, ranking second in the MVC behind DBU (207).  Five players with at least 71 at bats have broken the .300 mark, led by Dejong with a .384 clip.  Dejong also leads the team in home runs with three.
 
Hollenbeck is right behind Dejong with a .374 average and Dwyer has displayed a .364 average with a team-best 26 RBI.  Wrapping up the group of .300 hitters are Joe Kelch and Sean Beesley at .338 and .316, respectively.
 
Serving in more of a part-time role with 40 at bats is Jack Czeszewski, although he's second highest on the club with a .500 slugging percentage, pounding two home runs, and a .300 average to go along with 10 RBI.
 
The Redbirds' pitching staff has thrown 218.1 innings and has produced a 3.63 ERA.  The weekend rotation of Dan Savas, Dylan Craig, and Jeremy Rhoades has combined to go 12-3 on the season in 17 combined starts.
 
Leading the way is Saturday's opening series hurler, Dan Savas, with a 0.94 and an unblemished record at 7-0. The right-hander's seven wins ties him for the second most in the nation, and his ERA ranks 21st overall nationally.  
 
The Patriots will see a southpaw, Dylan Craig, in game two on Saturday.  Craig has a 2.57 ERA and has held opponents to a .212 batting average.
 
In the series finale on Sunday, Jeremy Rhoades will take the hill for the Redbirds.  Rhoades has made nine appearances on the season, including three starts and has gone 2-2 with a 1.41 ERA.  In 32 innings this year, Rhoades has been a strikeout machine, racking up 51 strikeouts, a number that ranks tops in the nation in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (14.34).
 
This weekend's match-up between DBU and Illinois State will be the first time these two teams have ever met on the diamond.
 
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NUMBERS – The defending Missouri Valley Conference champions went 16-5 in 2013 in league action and claimed the MVC regular season title.  This year, the Redbirds have gone 4-2 within the conference, taking two of three at Indiana State last weekend.  It's the second series win for the Redbirds in league play, as they claimed two of three over Bradley in their conference opener.  
 
Dallas Baptist swept Bradley last weekend, outscoring the home team, 34-15 in the three-game series.  The Patriots are 3-0 and sit atop of the conference standings as the lone undefeated team. Illinois State is ½ game behind the Patriots.
 
DBU also swept Missouri State, a league opponent, but the match-ups counted towards non-conference results due to a scheduling agreement made prior to the 2014 season.
 
This weekend's series features the top two clubs in the MVC in runs scored, as well as the top two pitching staffs in strikeouts.  The Redbirds have totaled 228 punch outs, one of three teams in the conference to eclipse 200, while Dallas Baptist continues to rank at the top with 260 overall.  DBU's staff ranks sixth in the nation in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (9.1) and also boast the nation's 50th best ERA at 2.98.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE – Following this weekend's series, Dallas Baptist is back at Horner Ballpark on April 7 versus TCU for a 6:30 pm first pitch. The two teams met back on March 4th in Fort Worth, where the Horned Frogs claimed a 5-4 win in a 15 inning marathon that lasted over five hours.
 
Following Tuesday's game, DBU faces Baylor, April 11-13.  Friday night's game is scheduled for 6:30 pm at Horner Ballpark, while the next two are in Waco, Texas, at Baylor Ballpark.  The last time DBU squared off agains the Bears came in the 2012 NCAA Waco Regional Championship at Baylor Ballpark.  The Patriots close the three-game road trip at Texas Tech on Tuesday, April 15.