Jared Dufault, the Missouri Valley Conferences leading hitter, homered twice and Ed Tolzien cranked his second three-run homer of the afternoon to support a strong pitching peformance by Matt Hines as Illinois State defeated Northern Iowa 10-4 in the second game of Sundays doubleheader from Riverfront Stadium.
With the win, the Redbirds (28-19, 14-10) took three-of-four games from the Panthers (26-25, 13-15) and solidified their hold on fourth-place in the MVC standings, only one game behind Wichita State and Evansville in second-place.
Tolzien, who cranked a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right field in the first game of Sundays doubleheader, broke open a 1-1 game with his second three-run homer of the game, a towering shot over the left field wall in the third inning.
Dufault, cranked the first of two homers on the day when he slammed a three-run homer over the center field wall in the fourth inning to extend the Birds lead to 7-1.
UNIs player of the year candidate, Ryan Brunner, cranked a solo homer, his 22nd of the year, in the bottom of the inning to pull the Panthers within 7-2.
The Birds responded with a solo run in the fifth when Scott Legans single plated Jon Peacock who had led the inning off with base hit up the middle.
Dufault added to the lead when he belted his second homer of the game and sixth of the year over the wall in center in the sixth.
The benefactor of the Redbird offense was starter Matt Hines (4-2), who allowed four runs on seven hits over six and one-third innings of work to earn his fourth win of the year.
Freshman Todd Stein worked effectively for two and two-thirds scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out three while allowing only two hits.
The Birds tacked on their final run of the game when Ryan Cantrell and Jake Perganson smacked back-to-back doubles down the left field line to leadoff the eighth inning.
Peacock continued his hot hitting, leading the Redbirds with three hits while Dufault, Perganson and Scott Legan chipped in with two apiece.
In winning the series, the Redbird pitching staff held UNIs offense, ranked No. 6 nationally, to a 4.36 earned run average.
