The friendly confines of Redbird Field never looked so good to the road-weary Illinois State baseball team which ended a season-high 24-game road trip with a 1-0 victory over Eastern Illinois on Tuesday.
Neal Cotts, Steve Hecker and Brian Horner combined to hold Eastern Illinois (8-12) scoreless on five hits and Jared Dufault provided the offense with the game-winning RBI single as the Birds (8-11) snapped a five-game losing streak with their seventh consecutive victory over the Panthers.
This was a big win for us, we were coming off a rough weekend and it was important for us to get a solid victory like this under our belts heading into the Creighton series, said Dufault, who tallied three of ISUs eight hits in the contests, including the game winner.
Neither team was able to mount a sustained offensive threat through the first four innings as Cotts and Hecker held the Panthers in check while EIU starter Nick Albu effectively kept the Birds off-balanced.
Making his second consecutive start in center field and his first atop the Redbird lineup, senior Jason Scherer got the offense rolling with a one-out double into the gap in right-center field in the fifth inning. Scherer scored two batters later on Dufaults second single of the day to give the Birds all the offense they would need.
Scherer, limited by injuries in his first three seasons, is making the most of his increased playing time this year.
I love every chance I can get to play, especially being here five years and being hurt, Scherer said. Being a leadoff hitter for this lineup, I just know that if I can get on base that the heart of this order is going to produce.
Cotts, the staff ISU ace, got the start and allowed only one hit over two scoreless innings while striking out two. Hecker (3-2) allowed only two hits while striking out three batters to earn his team-high third victory of the year and Horner finished the job with four scoreless innings to pick up his third save of the year.
A sophomore who saw limited duty as a freshman but has since moved into the role of closer for the Redbirds, Horner has impressed ISU head coach Jeff Stewart with his tenacity this season.
Lets hope he can keep this up, Stewart said. Last season, Brian was a little soft in his approach, however, he has been a bulldog this season who has been thrown into the fire more than once and come out on top time and again.
After walking the leadoff man in the eighth, it was Horners battery mate, catcher Steve Reyes, who came up with the biggest play of the game. Trying to move the tying run into scoring position, EIU first baseman Ben Duke popped up a bunt which was snatched out of the air near the backstop by Reyes. Thinking he had an easy shot at advancing with Reyes hung up near the backstop, Josh Landon broke for second but was gunned down by a laser throw from the Redbird catcher to end the rally.
The Redbirds open their home conference season with a four-game series against Creighton beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday.
