ISU wins Game 1 at State Farm MVC tournament against UE

[May 23, 2012]  SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Eric Aguilera went 3 for 5 with three doubles and two RBIs to lead Illinois State to a 10-3 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship opening-game victory against Evansville Tuesday morning at Hammons Field. With the win, which was Mark Kingston's 100th victory as ISU's third-year head coach, the Redbirds will advance to play the winner of the Indiana State versus Evansville game Wednesday at 4 p.m.

"Today was a complete effort by our team," Kingston said. "It started with Chris Razo on the mound. He really pounded the strike zone and let the defense work behind him, and his stuff was as good as it's been. Our defense was really good behind him, and our offense had a lot of quality at-bats today."

Razo (7-4) allowed just two earned runs with two strikeouts through seven innings of work, while Evansville's Cole Isom (2-9) suffered the loss after giving up five earned runs with one strikeout in a 3 1-3-inning outing. Redbird relievers Ryan Camp and Justin Hauer teamed up to secure the win.

Illinois State's offense teamed up for 11 hits, including eight extra-base hits. Along with Aguilera's performance, Ty Wiesemeyer went 2- for 4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Trentt Copeland led Evansville with a 3 for 4 effort, including one run scored.

Chad Hinshaw set the tempo early, leading off the bottom of the first with a double, and he scored on an Aguilera double. Kevin Tokarski then scored on a groundout by Matt Mirabal to give ISU an early 2-0 lead. The Redbirds added two more runs in the second inning, as Wiesemeyer tripled home two runs.

Then in the fourth inning, Illinois State broke the game open with four more runs. Mike Hollenbeck led off with a double and scored on a double by Brett Kay. Kay later scored on a throwing error, and Tokarski and Aguilera both doubled to drive in two more runs.

A sacrifice fly by Kay in the fifth inning increased Illinois State's lead to 9-0. Evansville got on the board for the first time with one run in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Redbirds capped their scoring with an RBI single by Mirabal, while the Purple Aces plated a final run in the ninth to make the score 10-3.

No. 4 Illinois State will play No. 8 Creighton in the second round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Wednesday at 4 p.m., as the Bluejays upset No. 1 Indiana State Tuesday afternoon behind a complete-game, one-hit shutout by Creighton starter Ty Blach. There will be live audio on GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com, and live video on ESPN3.com.

[Text from news release received from John Twork, graduate assistant, athletics communications, Illinois State University]