After a heart-breaking loss in Saturdays nightcap against Evansville that ended the Redbirds chance of a Valley Tournament birth, the Illinois State baseball team bounced back in game two of Sundays doubleheader against Evansville to end its 2002 season with a 10-4 victory. ISU lost game one 8-7.
The Redbirds end the season 24-30 overall, 12-18 in the Missouri Valley Conference. ISU finished seventh in the regular-season standings while Evansville finished eighth with a 22-33 overall record, 12-20 in the Valley. This is only the second time in six years the Redbirds have missed the six-team MVC Tournament. With the two losses yesterday to the Aces, the Birds lost their chance of claiming the sixth seed in the 2002 MVC Tournament.
In game two of Sundays doubleheader, the Birds scored six runs in the second inning, jumping out to a quick 6-1 lead after one and a half innings of play. Two doubles, back to back, by Brad Bouris and Ryan Cantrell led to two more singles as ISU went through the whole lineup in the frame.
Evansville scored a second run in the fifth after three hits by the Aces but ISU led 8-2 going into the seventh inning. Jeremy Pickrel hit a solo shot in the top of the seventh after Blaesing scored on a groundout by Jeremy Accardo to give the Birds a 10-2 lead and the Aces plated one more runner in the eighth off a triple by Blake Whealy.
The 10-3 lead for ISU stayed, however, as the Birds finished the year with a victory but Evansville notched one more run in the bottom of the ninth off an Andy Rohleder double.
Kyle Zaleski got his fourth win of the season after pitching eight innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. Sean Sosonko was the losing pitcher for Evansville. He falls to 1-6 on the season.
In game one, with Illinois State leading 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Evansville connected for four hits and five runs to come from behind and score the game-winning run on an error on catcher Greg Blaesing to take game one, 8-7, from the Redbirds. Both teams had 10 hits apiece while ISU had three errors to the Aces two. Kyle Bloom threw six innings resulting in six UE earned runs before Howie Frank stepped in and got the loss on the mound in the seventh, allowing two hits and two runs.
A three-run home run by Jon Peacock in the third, his ninth of the year, put the Birds ahead 4-1. ISU tied Evansville in the inning after Brad Bouris dropped a hit in left center to score Kevin ODell who singled and stole second to start the inning. Ryan Cantrell walked to land runners on first and second for Peacocks round tripper. A Greg Blaesing strikeout ended the Birds inning of four runs on three hits.
In the bottom of the fourth for Evansville, an error on Bloom led to a bases-loaded situation for the Aces but Bloom bounced back, striking out Mike Justice to end the inning with the tying run on first.
ISU scored another run in the fifth when Lance McMillan drove home Peacock on a single to left field. Peacock reached base on a stand-up double down the right line, his second hit of the day. The Redbirds held the lead, 5-1, until Michael Snyder hit a double to left center in the sixth to score two runs, cutting ISUs lead to 5-3.
Cantrell hit a solo homer, his eighth of the year, before Greg Blaesing hit an RBI single to top off the scoring in the seventh inning of game one before UE came back for its third win of the series.
