Preview: Belmont Bruins at Illinois State Redbirds

NORMAL, Ill. (March 22, 2026) (Interstat) — The Illinois State Redbirds will look to complete a three-game Missouri Valley Conference sweep of the Belmont Bruins on Sunday at Duffy Bass Field.

First pitch is scheduled for the afternoon under cloudy skies with a temperature near 75 degrees.

The Redbirds (15-7) have dominated the series so far, winning 9-4 on Friday and 10-4 on Saturday to extend their strong start to the season. The Bruins (8-15) aim to salvage the finale and snap a four-game skid.

A player to watch for Belmont is third baseman Landon Godsey, who has provided much of the Bruins’ offense in the series. He homered and drove in three runs in Friday’s loss and added another home run with two RBIs on Saturday. For the season, he is batting .300 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.

Illinois State will counter with momentum and a recent standout performer in pitcher Michael Addari. The right-hander earned the win Saturday with five scoreless innings of relief, allowing five hits and striking out seven. In his last four appearances, all in relief, he has pitched 20 innings, allowing just four earned runs while striking out 21.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-4 victory for Illinois State, while its ELO rating system gives the Redbirds a 61.6% probability to win.

Following Sunday’s contest, Belmont returns home to host Lipscomb on Tuesday. Illinois State stays home to face Iowa on Tuesday before a conference series at Evansville next weekend.