Redbirds earn rain-shortened win over MacMurray

[March 24, 2012]  NORMAL -- Strong lightning and storms caused an early end to the Illinois State baseball home opener at Duffy Bass Field Friday, but the Redbirds (14-6) played long enough to earn an 8-0 win over MacMurray (6-3) in five innings.

ISU starter Chris Razo (3-1) earned the victory in five strong innings of work on the mound. Razo allowed just two hits and struck out six batters to pick up his third victory of the season. MacMurray starter Brock Robinson (0-1) was saddled with the loss, after allowing six earned runs on four walks and five hits in three innings.

The Redbirds were led by third baseman Zac Johnson, who went 2 for 2 with two RBIs, a run scored and a walk. Ty Wiesemeyer also had a pair of hits, drove in a run and had three stolen bases for ISU. Derek Crouch and Brayden Johnson had the only hits of the day off Razo for the Highlanders.

Illinois State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first inning. With one out, Wiesemeyer doubled to the gap in left-center field and later advanced to third base on his fourth stolen base of the year. After Matt Mirabal walked and was thrown out while trying to steal second base, Kyle Stanton walked with two outs. A wild pitch to Johnson then allowed Wiesemeyer to score the first run of the inning, as Stanton advanced to second base. A double down the right field line by Johnson scored Stanton for the second run of the inning for the Redbirds.

The Redbirds added another run in the bottom of the second to extend the lead to 3-0. With one out, Chad Hinshaw walked and proceeded to steal second and third base to up his season total to 12. He later scored on a sacrifice fly by Brett Kay to left field to extend the ISU lead to three runs. ISU then tacked on its fourth run of the day on an RBI single by Johnson in the bottom of the third inning to extend the lead to 4-0.

The lead continued to grow for the Redbirds in the bottom of the fourth inning, when they scored three runs on three hits and took advantage of two Highlander errors. Bryan Huff picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice groundout, and Hinshaw scored on a throwing error later in the inning on an attempted steal by Huff. Huff then came around to score on an RBI by Wiesemeyer to cap off the inning for ISU.

The score grew to 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Johnson scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Mark Menneker. Later in the inning, lighting and storms in the area forced the game to be called, and Illinois State came away with the 8-0 victory in their home opener.

Illinois State returns to the field Sunday at 1 p.m. against Webster. Dylan Craig (3-0, 5.01 ERA) will take the mound for the Redbirds against Steve Dooley (0-2, 3.60 ERA) of Webster.

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[Text from file received from Illinois State]