With a single, two doubles and two RBI, Ryan Cantrell powered the Illinois State baseball team to a 7-4 non-conference win over Iowa Wednesday night at Redbird Field. It was the second win for the Birds over the Big Ten foe this season, with ISU beating the Hawkeyes 14-6 in Iowa City, Iowa, on March 26.
A twenty-minute delay in the third inning slowed the tempo of the game after a foul ball knocked power out of one of the light fixtures at Redbird Field. But play resumed as the Birds (14-18) led 4-2 going into the fourth inning.
Iowa (12-18) scored two runs to tie the score in top of the fourth, however. After a throwing error on Jeremy Accardo, the Redbird shortstop, and an Iowa player landed on base after being hit by a pitch, Brad Carlson singled to center field to drive home both base runners.
Illinois State answered back in the bottom of the inning, when back-to-back singles by Kevin ODell and Jake Perganson landed the runners on first and second before they both advanced and ODell scored on two wild pitches. A ground out by Jon Peacock to the Iowa second baseman plated Perganson for the second run as ISU took the lead, 6-4.
Cantrell knocked in the last run for Illinois State in the seventh when he ripped his second double of the night, this one to left field, and drove home Mike Saunches who walked, stole second and reached third on an error by the Iowa pitcher.
Jeremy Accardo switched from shortstop to pitcher in the ninth to notch his seventh save of the year. He is currently tied for 16th in the national rankings for most saves.
Brad Bouris, who is tied for fifth in the national rankings in batting (.474), was 2-for-4 in the game with one run and one RBI while Dave MacDonald (3-2) pitched 4.1 innings, striking out two batters for the win.
After the lights went out, Dave was a breath of fresh air, head coach Jeff Stewart said. He came in and picked up the pace of the game because before then it was very monotonous. With him on the mound, we were able to put some runs on the board before Jeremy came in and shut it down.
With seven wins in their last eight games, the Redbirds are gaining confidence as they head into their fourth weekend of conference action as Northern Iowa comes to town this weekend for a four-game weekend series. Friday nights game begins at 7 p.m.
I certainly wouldnt want to take the opposite of what we have done these last games, but a tough road is ahead of us, Stewart continued. We have momentum and have done some character building. We are looking at the upcoming weekend as most important right now because our next opponent is who we always need to focus on.
