Neal Cotts fanned 10 batters in eight workmanlike innings and Jared Dufault set a new school record with his 19th career triple in leading Illinois State to victory in the first battle of the War on 74 with a 5-4 victory in Missouri Valley Conference baseball action from Pete Vonachen Stadium Friday.
Illinois State (29-19, 15-10) won for the fourth consecutive game and notched its most victories in conference play since the 1999 team won 17. The 15 Valley wins marks the third-highest total in school history.
The Birds broke out the bats early and staked Cotts to a 3-0 lead after a half inning of play. Center fielder Ryan Cantrell got things going with an infield hit, he came around to score two pitches later when Jake Perganson rifled a double down the right field line.
Jared Dufault, the Valleys leading hitter, wrote a new chapter in the Redbird record book when he slammed his 19th career triple over right fielder Shane Olans head to score Perganson. Dufault would score one batter later on Ed Tolziens single just over shortstop Ryan Sullivans head.
The Braves responded with two runs in the bottom of the first when BU designated hitter Rob Hensel jacked a two-run homer to left.
ISU tacked on another run in the second when Cantrells single up the middle plated catcher Greg Blaesing, who led off the frame with a walk.
Perganson drilled his second double of the game down the left field line to get things going for the Birds in the fifth, he scored on Tolziens two-out single up the middle to give ISU a 5-2 advantage.
Struggling to find the strike zone for much of the day, Cotts was touched for another run in the third without giving up a hit when he walked two and hit another batter.
Uncharacteristically pitching behind in the count early in the game, Cotts issued a season-high five walks in the first five innings before settling down to fan two-of-three batters in the sixth and the side in the seventh.
With 10 strikeouts in the game, Cotts moved past Eric Eckenstahler and surpassed his career-high total of 104 from last season to move into fourth-place on the ISU single season strikeout list. The 10 punchouts mark the sixth double-digit strikeout performance of the season for Cotts and the ninth time in 12 starts that he has fanned at least nine.
Cantrell pitched around a walk, a single and an error by center fielder Jason Scherer to earn his team-high fifth save of the season.
