Redbirds drop finale to Shockers 8-6 in extra innings

[April 09, 2012]  NORMAL -- Two late runs for the Illinois State baseball team forced Sunday's series finale against Wichita State into extra innings, but the Redbirds (19-10, 2-4 MVC) eventually fell to the Shockers (19-15, 4-2 MVC) by a score of 8-6 in 10 innings at Duffy Bass Field.

Each team used four pitchers in the game, with ISU's Kenny Long (0-1) suffering the tough loss after allowing two runs in 4 2-3 innings of relief. Wichita State closer Cale Elam (2-2) earned the victory, after striking out three and not allowing a hit in two innings of work.

Eric Aguilera continued his strong weekend and finished the day 3 for 5, with a double, home run and three RBIs to lead the way for the Redbirds. Kevin Tokarski also added a pair of hits and drove in a run for ISU in the loss to the Shockers. Casey Gillaspie led the way for the Shockers with four hits and drove in a run.

The Redbirds got out to a hot start, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Chad Hinshaw led off the game with a single and then scored on a RBI triple to right-center field off the bat of Ty Wiesemeyer for the first run of the day. Wiesemeyer then scored on a sacrifice fly by Zac Johnson for the second run. Matt Mirabal followed and flied out for the second out of the inning, before Mike Hollenbeck singled and advanced to third on a single by Tokarski. Hollenbeck then scored the final run of the inning on a double to right field by Aguilera to get the Redbirds the lead.

It didn't take long for the Shockers to get one of those runs back, as designated hitter Johnny Coy crushed a home run over the left-field wall in the top of the second inning to cut the ISU lead to 3-1. WSU added another run in the top of the third inning on an RBI ground out by Don Lambert that scored Josh Halbert to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Redbirds.

ISU got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning when Mirabal scored on an RBI single by Aguilera to extend the lead to 4-2 after three full innings of play. The lead would be short-lived, as the Shockers took the lead 5-4 thanks to five hits in the top of the fifth inning, which forced Rhoades out of the game. WSU would add one more run in the top of the sixth inning on a RBI single by Taylor Doggett to increase its lead to 6-4.

Aguilera continued his solid day with a leadoff home run over the right-field wall to cut the Shocker lead to 6-5 in the bottom half of the inning. After a scoreless seventh inning for both teams, the Redbirds tied the game at 6-6 when Tokarski scored on an RBI single by Bryan Huff in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The game stayed tied through the ninth inning and then went into extra innings, when the Shockers plated a pair of runs in the top of the 10th to take an 8-6 lead off Long. Elam then shut down the Redbirds in the bottom half of the inning to secure the victory and the series win for the Shockers.

The Redbirds return to the field Tuesday for a nonconference road game against in-state foe Northern Illinois in DeKalb, with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m.

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[Text from news release received from Illinois State]