|
 With the series victory, the Redbirds improved to 22-14 overall
and 4-7 in the Valley. ISU senior Kenny Long, who typically serves
as the team's closer, took the start for the Redbirds after the
multiple injuries to the pitching staff. Long responded with seven
strong innings, the longest outing of his career, and posted his
first win of the season. He allowed five hits and five runs, but
only three were earned, while striking out seven and walking two
batters.
ISU took the early lead with a six-run inning in the second. With
the Redbirds leading 2-0, Ty Wiesmeyer forced the big inning by
clearing the bases on a double to give Illinois State a 5-0
advantage. Wiesmeyer finished with a game-high four runs batted in,
all in bases-loaded situations. On the season, Wiesmeyer is now
batting 6 for 10 with the bases loaded and has 17 RBIs. Wiesmeyer
also scored in the second when Kevin Tokarski drove him home with a
single.
Bradley (20-16-1) starter Patrick Flanagan was pulled in the second
inning and pitched one frame on the day. He only allowed one hit
but surrendered four runs, three earned, and walked two batters.
In the third inning, ISU added to its lead thanks to Eric Aguilera's
first career triple to open the frame. Aguilera scored on a
groundout by Mike Hollenbeck. Wiesmeyer drove home his fourth run of
the game on a fielder's choice, which plated Matt Mirabal, who was
hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.
Bradley cut into the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth.
Two of the runs came off a Bob Schuch two-run home run, but those
were unearned after Aguilera dropped the would-be third out of the
inning in right field. The Redbirds responded with another run in
the bottom of the inning when Hollenbeck drove home Kyle Stanton on
a sacrifice fly.
[to top of second column] |
The single run Bradley added in the sixth inning was forgotten
after the Redbirds posted four more runs in the seventh for the
game's final score. The big shot in the inning was Zach
Johnson's three-run home run over the right-field wall.
ISU's Jeremy Rhoades pitched the final two innings of one-hit
ball to secure the win. Aguilera finished with four hits, while Wiesmeyer and Tokarski each posted two hits.
Illinois State will complete its four-game homestand Tuesday,
when the Redbirds host No. 16-ranked Purdue at Duffy Bass Field.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. It is "Buck Day" at the
ballpark, with $1
hot dogs and $1 soft drinks.
___
Box score
Play-by-play
[Text from
news release received from Todd Kober, associate athletics
director, Illinois State University]
|
