Illinois State first-year head coach Steve Holm.
The Illinois State baseball program releases their spring schedule Wednesday afternoon, including various road contests against preseason top-25 teams.
The Redbirds will play a total of 10 games against ranked opponents throughout the 2021 season, the most since 1999. Head Coach Steve Holm said he is hoping their strength of schedule will pay off in the long run.
“There are a few big RPI weekends in the non-conference segments–as 2019 proved, those weekends come in handy during selection time,” said Coach Holm.
For the second time in three seasons, the Redbirds will begin their season with a four-game road series against Belmont starting Friday February 19. This is followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, followed by the series finale Sunday.
Illinois State then heads to Stillwater, Oklahoma the following week for a three-game series against #17 Oklahoma State from Friday February 26 – Sunday February 28.
The Redbirds will stay on the road for a pair of four-game slates against Southeast Missouri State (Friday March 5 – Sunday March 7) and Missouri (Friday March 12 – Sunday March 14). ISU concludes their road trip with a three-game series against #16 East Carolina starting Friday March 19.
For the first time since May 24, 2019 (672 days), the Redbirds will get to play a game at home on Duffy Bass Field. This starts with a three-game series against Arkansas State starting Friday March 26 and one game against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday March 30.
ISU opens up Missouri Valley Conference play Friday April 2 on the road against Southern Illinois. For the first time since 2004, the MVC is returning for a four-game series against all conference opponents. As of now, all doubleheaders will be played on Saturdays with a single game on Fridays and Sundays.
The Redbirds then return home on Friday April 9 to host Indiana State before a four-game series on the road against Milwaukee starting Friday April 16. Illinois State returns to Duffy Bass Field to take on Evansville before finishing the non-conference schedule with a Tuesday game against Southern Illinois Edwardsville on April 27.
The ‘Birds then head to Valparaiso on Friday April 30 followed by a four-game set in Texas against #24 Dallas Baptist on May 7.
Illinois State’s final home series will be against Missouri State starting on Friday May 14. The ‘Birds end the season down I-74 with four games against Bradley.
The 2021 MVC Baseball Championship will be held between Wednesday May 26 and Saturday May 29 in Carbondale, Illinois.
All opponents, dates, times, and locations are subject to change.
As of now, no fans will be able to attend Illinois State events, but ISU Athletics will keep monitoring the situation and provide updates if needed.
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