The Illinois State baseball team needed only eight innings to rack up 18 runs and 15 hits against the Fordham Rams and picked up their second win of both the Johnny Quik Classic and the season, 18-3, in the fifth day of the tournament in Fresno, Calif. Kyle Bloom (1-2) picked up the win for the Birds.
It was the first time this year where we were able to swing the bat, hit the ball and keep putting runs on the board all game, said Illinois State head coach Jeff Stewart. We had consistent contact and we spread the hitting around today. It was a total team effort. We had a great first inning and just went from there. Bloom threw pretty well today despite a few wild pitches.
Ryan Cantrell and Mike Saunches each went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Birds. Cantrell scored four runs and had two RBI, while Saunches had a home run, three runs and five RBI. Freshman Jeremy Pickrel had a good performance going 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Illinois State, 2-9 overall, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with three hits including an RBI double to left-center by Jake Perganson. Chris Shepherd also had a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Perganson. The Birds went through eight of their nine batters in the lineup in the first inning. Fordham was able to put one up on the board off a solo homer with two outs by Kurt Thomas.
The Redbirds added two more runs in the second with a RBI double by Cantrell that scored Pickrel from first base and a RBI ground out to third base by Saunches to score Cantrell making the score, 5-1, in favor of Illinois State.
Fordham, 2-11 overall, cut the lead to three runs in the bottom of the fourth with a RBI single to center field by Jeremy Bourgeois that scored Stuart Tisdale from second and made the score, 5-2.
In the fifth, Illinois State went through their entire line-up en route to five runs off of three hits, three walks and two errors. Greg Blaesing, Jeremy Accardo and Cantrell all recorded singles in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Mike Saunches crushed a three-run homer to center field that made the score, 15-2, Illinois State.
The Redbirds got their final two runs in the seventh inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Saunches and Bouris respectively. Fordham got its final run in the bottom of the seventh on a RBI ground out to third base by Timothy Boyle to make up the final score, 18-3.
All three Fordham pitchers allowed 11 Redbird walks in the eight inning game and recorded only two strikeouts. The Johnny Quik Classic record for team walks allowed in a game is 12. Fordham also tied the tournament record for team errors in a single game with eight.
Illinois State concludes tournament action Saturday, March 16, in the fifth place game at 3 p.m. central time against either Liberty or Gonzaga.
