Ryan Cantrell and
Jake Perganson led the offense with four hits apiece as the Illinois State baseball team exploded for a season-high 17 runs in support of a dominant three-hit shutout by
Neal Cotts as the Redbirds rolled to an easy 17-0 victory over Saint Xavier in the first game of a four-game non-conference series at Redbird Field.
With the victory, Illinois State (17-17) improves to 7-4 at Redbird Field and snaps a three-game winning streak by Saint Xavier (15-19).
Cantrell got the Birds rolling with the first of two doubles on the day to leadoff the first inning. A single by Perganson put two on for the Missouri Valley Conferences leading run producer,
Mike Saunches, who ripped a double to the gap, plating Perganson and Dufault, who reached on a fielders choice. A triple to the gap in left center by
Ed Tolzien plated Saunches and rounded out the three-run Redbird first inning.
Cantrell struck again with a two-out double in the second inning, he scored one batter later on a bloop single to center by Perganson.
With a four-run lead in hand, Cotts went to work, striking out nine batters while holding the Cougars to only three hits. With the victory, Cotts improves to 6-1 on the year and lowers his team-leading earned run average to 2.10.
ISU head coach
Jeff Stewart was impressed with Cotts effort.
It was a tough day to hit and pitch with the wind today. You never know going in what it's going to be like and St. Xavier has beaten us several times, Stewart said. I think today they looked at the matchup against Neal (Cotts) and probably didn't feel real good about the competitive situation.
Held scoreless for three innings, the Birds erupted for three more runs in the sixth inning. A single to left by Dufault set the table for Saunches who delivered a towering double off the wall in left field. Two pitches later, Ed Tolzien cranked his third homer of the year to give ISU a seven-run cushion.
Once again, Cantrell got the high-octane Redbird offense rolling with a one-out triple to left. Consecutive singles by Perganson, Dufault and Saunches loaded the bases for Tolzien who drew a walk to earn his fourth RBI of the night.
The walk to Tolzien chased Cougar starter Sergio Castellanos and brought in Derek Fivelson. Fivelson was greeted with a sharp single to right by third baseman
Jon Peacock which plated Dufault. Freshman shortstop
Jeremy Accardo chipped in with his team-best fifth sacrifice fly of the season to score Saunches.
A single to left by catcher Greg Blaesing loaded the bases once again for
Jim Chiappetta who cranked his first career grand slam.
The Birds tacked on some insurance in the eighth on Peacocks two run double which plated Dufault and Perganson.
Impressed with his teams performance, Stewart knows Saturdays games wont be as easy.
The guy they threw had only one previous start. He kept in there, he did a nice job and it was 4-0 threw almost six innings. Then when they weren't scoring against Neal and we started putting more runs on the board it became apparent they were thinking about winning the next three games. I would have done the same thing. Mike's a good coach and they're a good team and our guys have to realize that's not what were going to see the next three games.
Cantrell went 4-for-4 with two runs scored, Perganson went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored and Dufault went 4-for-5 to improve his conference-leading batting average to .420. Saunches went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored while Tolzien went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI. Peacock contributed two hits and three RBI.
The victory marked the fourth-straight complete game victory by Cotts.
Neal did a pretty good job and kept the ball in the strike zone for the most part and we played good defense most of the time, Stewart said. We got some big hits when we needed it, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I know it's going to be a different story. It should be some great ballgames.
The two teams resume the action with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
