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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Illinois State baseball team came up two runs short in its season opener against Belmont Friday at E.S. Rose Park, as the Bruins scored a 7-5 win in the first game of a three-game series.
Joe Kelch went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and a stolen base, but the Redbirds couldn't get the big hits when they needed them, going just 3-for-17 from the plate with runners in scoring position.
I saw more positives than negatives. We outhit them, we made fewer errors, we saw some positives in our bunting game, taking advantage of our speed," said Illinois State head coach Bo Durkac. "The bottom line is we didn't get the big hits with runners on base that Belmont got."
Illinois State tallied the game's first runs, plating a pair in the top of the first inning. Jean Ramirez singled to center field to score Kelch, and Brian Rodemoyer sent Ramirez home with a sacrifice fly.
Belmont got one of those runs back in the bottom half, via a solo home run from Nick Egli, and then added three more in the second inning, two coming on an Alex Ward double to left-center field. The Bruins made it a 5-2 lead in the fourth with an RBI single from leadoff hitter Ben Kocher.
The Redbirds scored two runs in the top of the fifth, thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI groundout from Jared Hendren. Belmont got both runs back in the next inning, however, scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Egli, to give the hosts a 7-4 lead.
The Redbirds cut the lead back down to two in the seventh inning when Ramirez plated Hendren on a ground ball that wasn't handled by Belmont's second baseman, but the Redbirds were unable to score again over the final two innings.
Ramirez and freshman Owen Miller collected two hits each for the Redbirds. Both of Miller's hits were doubles. Daniel Dwyer walked three times and scored two runs. Nick Kowalczuk, Ryan Hutchinson and Miller all recorded their first career hits as Redbirds.
Redbird starter Jacob Hendren allowed nine hits and six runs over five innings of work. He struck out three and walked one. Jack Czeszewski allowed one run over one-third of an inning, before Jack Landwehr tossed 1.2 scoreless frames with two strikeouts. Jake Sale pitched a scoreless eighth.
The Redbirds return to E.S. Rose Park for the second game of a three-game series with Belmont on Saturday. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
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