Jared Dufault, the leading hitter in the Missouri Valley Conference, cranked out three more hits, including a homer, to lead Illinois State past Northern Illinois, 7-4, in non-conference baseball action from Redbird Field Tuesday.
With the victory, Illinois State has now won nine of 10 games and improves to 25-18 on the season while Northern Illinois falls to 22-24.
Consecutive singles by Rob Marconi and Jason Ciarrachi and a walk to Dave Garcia loaded the bases for the Huskies with one out in the second inning. Shortstop Bilal Omar, who committed three errors on the day, plated Marconi with a groundout to shortstop to give NIU a 1-0.
The 'Birds answered right back when sophomore third baseman Jon Peacock, who has hit .403 over the last 12 games, continued his recent hot streak with a one-out single to center to get the 'Birds started in the second inning. A single by freshman shortstop Jeremy Accardo and an error by NIU third baseman Rob Marconi on catcher Greg Blaesing's grounder loaded the bases for Scott Legan who plated Accardo with a sacrifice fly to right.
Back-to-back one-out singles by Accardo and Blaesing put the 'Birds back in business in the fourth inning. ISU got a little help from Omar when he booted a potential double play ball hit by Legan and then compounded the mistake by throwing the ball into right field, allowing Accardo to score and moving Blaesing and Legan into scoring position. Cantrell plated Blaesing with a grounder to the right side to push the Redbird lead to 3-1.
The Redbirds struck again in the fifth when Dufault, cranked the second of three hits on the day, a towering homer that cleared the wall in left center.
Blaesing got things going for ISU in the sixth when he smacked his third hit of the day, a single to right, he was followed by Legan who was hit by a pitch. With two on and no outs, Ryan Cantrell sent a shot to the gap in right center that was tracked down by speedy Noel Danielson who fired the ball back into second base to double up Blaesing.
Undeterred by the double play, the Redbirds kept the heat on with a single up the middle by Jake Perganson to put runners on first and second for Dufault who cranked a double down the line to score Legan.
Bilal's third error of the day put Blaesing on first to start the Redbird seventh. Singles by Accardo and Blaesing loaded the bases with no outs. Following a popup by Legan and a sharp lineout by Cantrell, Perganson ripped a single up the middle to score Blaesing and Accardo to give the 'Birds a 7-1 advantage.
The Huskies rallied for three runs in the eighth inning before Cantrell extinguished the fire to earn his third save of the year.
Earning his third save in the last two weeks, Cantrell has become accustomed to his new role as a closer.
"I think the coaches have a lot of confidence in my ability to come into a tough situation and get outs," Cantrell said. "I feel good on the mound right now, I'm not the type of pitcher who's going to come in and overpower people, I just try to work around the zone and get ground balls."
Despite the impressive performance by Cantrell, ISU head coach Jeff Stewart was forced to use six pitchers on the day.
"We knew we wanted to get some of our younger guys some work today, but what we saw out there was really disappointing," Stewart said. "Our guys need to get after it while they're on the mound and compete with some fire in their bellies.
"Seeing our guys come into the game and not being able to throw strikes is a problem. I felt that some of our guys looked like they didn't want to compete and that's unacceptable."
Making his second start of the year, Kyle Zaleski allowed one run on six hits and three walks in three and two-thirds of an inning before giving way to fellow freshman Todd Stein. Stein (1-0) pitched one and two-thirds scoreless innings to pickup his first collegiate victory.
Dufault led the way on offense with three hits and two RBI, while Accardo and Blaesing chipped in with three hits apiece. Peacock and Accardo scored two runs each.
The Redbirds return to action with a crucial four-game series at conference rival Northern Iowa beginning on Friday.
