Razo goes 9, Redbirds defeat Creighton 9-2

[May 04, 2013]  NORMAL -- Under overcast, rainy skies the Illinois State Redbirds (30-16, 10-3 MVC) maintained their first-place conference standing, rolling past Missouri Valley Conference foe Creighton (24-12, 8-5 MVC) 9-2 Friday night at Duffy Bass Field. It marked the 11th consecutive victory for the Redbirds, tying the program-record winning streak that was set by the 1976 Redbirds.

Chris Razo (6-0) fired his fourth complete game this season, three of which have come versus Valley foes, allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits. The senior right-hander struck out eight and walked just one. Creighton starter Tommy Strunc (6-2) received his second loss of the season, allowing six runs on seven hits in two-plus innings.

The Redbirds opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles by Brett Kay and Chad Hinshaw. After a groundout by Zac Johnson, which advanced the runners to second and third, Eric Aguilera grounded out to second base, scoring Kay and giving ISU an early 1-0 lead. Kyle Stanton followed with an RBI with a double to right field, scoring Hinshaw and giving the Redbirds a 2-0 advantage.

ISU maintained its offensive momentum from the first inning, as the Redbirds scored four more runs in the second. Paul DeJong reached base on a walk and moved into scoring position off a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Dwyer. Brock Stewart clubbed a double to center field to drive in DeJong from second, making it a 3-0 ISU lead. After a deep fly ball to right field by Kay advanced Stewart to third, Hinshaw got his second hit of the day to right field, scoring Stewart. Johnson added a run-scoring triple down the right-field line and Aguilera knocked a RBI single, giving ISU a 6-0 advantage after two innings.

Creighton scored an unearned run in the fourth and the lone earned run off Razo in the seventh.

The Redbirds added a solo run in the sixth and two more in the eighth to cap the scoring.

With the victory, the Redbirds have now won at least 30 games in each of the first four seasons Mark Kingston has been head coach.

The series continues Saturday at Duffy Bass Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

[Text from news release received from Illinois State University]