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 Dennis Colon gave the Redbirds an early edge with a pair of RBI
doubles, while ISU starter Steve Heilenbach settled down after the
first inning with four scoreless frames. The Redbirds drew three
bases-loaded walks in the nine-run sixth, and all three scored on
Paul DeJong’s three-run double.
The Redbirds won the three-game series after splitting a
doubleheader on Saturday.
“Any time you play 27 innings in just over 24 hours, you’ve got to
have some mental and physical fortitude,” said Illinois State head
coach Bo Durkac. “One of the reasons why we work our guys so hard in
the weight room is to be able to outlast the competition, and we did
that this weekend.”
Bradley (32-15, 10-8 MVC) scored two runs in the top of the first
inning, thanks to an RBI single from Paul Solka and a sacrifice fly
from Drew Carlile.
The Redbirds got one of those back in the second inning with Colon’s
first RBI double, and then tied it with his second in the fourth
inning. Illinois State (26-23, 8-10) took the lead moments later
when Colon scored on a wild pitch, and added another run in the
fifth when Ryan Koziol scored on passed ball.
Illinois State took firm control of the game in the sixth, however,
with nine runs in the frame. Koziol got things started with a RBI
single to center field. Mason Snyder followed with a sacrifice fly
before Logan Leverett, Colon and Daniel Dwyer drew consecutive
bases-loaded walks. DeJong then cleared the bases with a three-run
double down the left-field line, and scored moments later on a
Bradley error.
The Braves got two runs in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI
groundout from Isaac Smith and a sacrifice fly from Spencer Gaa, but
were unable to cut any further into the Redbirds’ lead the rest of
the way.
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Heilenbach allowed just two runs on five hits and three walks. He
struck out three. Jack Landwehr allowed two runs in the sixth inning
before Jack Czeszewski pitched two scoreless innings to follow and
Mitch Vogrin finished off the win with a scoreless ninth.
Koziol led the Redbirds with three hits. DeJong, Snyder, Kelch and
Colon added two hits apiece. Sean Beesley reached four times with a
hit and three walks.
The Redbirds return home to Duffy Bass Field for their final home
games of the 2015 season, against Indiana State, with a three-game
series beginning Thursday.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics
tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird
merchandise, photos and more.
[Matt Wing, Illinois State
University]
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