>>ISU Takes in Missouri Valley Conference Awards
Jacob Hendren has been named the Missouri Valley Conference's Newcomer of the Year, while he and three other Redbirds earned All-MVC honors, the league announced Tuesday.
Hendren was joined on the All-MVC First Team by Redbird teammates Paul DeJong and Mason Snyder, while Joe Kelch was an All-MVC Second Team selection. Hendren was also named to the MVC's All-Defensive Team.
Hendren is the first member of the Illinois State baseball team to win the Newcomer of the Year award. He posted a 10-2 record and a 2.84 ERA in his first season wearing a Redbird uniform, tying Illinois State's single-season wins record. He was tied for the Valley lead in both wins and innings pitched.
DeJong was named to the All-MVC First Team as a utility player, having started games at four different positions, and as the team's designated hitter, in 2015. DeJong slashed .333/.427/.605 and led both the Redbirds and the MVC in home runs, with 14.
Snyder was named the Valley's First Team first baseman. The senior hit .302/.418/.471 in his final season at Illinois State, ranking among the top 10 in the league in doubles (14) and RBIs (41).
Kelch was named to the All-MVC Second Team as a second baseman.
>>Redbirds Open MVC Tournament Against Host Wichita State
The Illinois State baseball team will enter the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as a No. 5 seed and will take on the tournament host, No. 4 Wichita State, when the league tournament begins Wednesday in Wichita, Kansas.
First pitch of Wednesday's game is set for 7:30 p.m.
Illinois State (27-25, 9-12 MVC) entered the final weekend of Valley play in fifth place with a chance to enter the MVC Tournament anywhere between a No. 3 and a No. 7 seed. The Redbirds finished right where they started, however, as Indiana State took two of three games over the weekend at Duffy Bass Field.
The Redbirds will look to junior left-hander Jacob Hendren to start Wednesday's game.
Illinois State won MVC Tournament titles in 1994 and 2010, and has played in the tournament's title game in each of the past two years, falling to Wichita State and Dallas Baptist, respectively, in 2013 and 2014.
All games at the MVC Tournament this week will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
