Jay Molina went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs, but the Illinois State baseball could not overcome a three-run sixth inning by Pennsylvania and fell to the Quakers, 5-4, in the third day of the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic at Pete Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif.
Brady Salter (0-1) picked up the loss for the Redbirds allowing two hits and two earned runs, but allowed five walks and hit two batters which led to four total runs. Jeremy Pickrel and Kyle Zaleski each had nice outings for Illinois State Wednesday going 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 respectively and each scoring a run.
I think Brady did a good job on the mound today, but if you are looking at how teams are scoring on us it mental errors, said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee. Our guys need to learn how to close out close games, especially with conference games right around the corner.
Illinois State, 4-4 overall, got three hits in the first two innings of the game against Quaker starter Remington Chin, but could not string any runs together leaving three Redbird runners stranded. Jake Blair continued his hot tournament hitting in the bottom of the third inning when he sent a ground ball into right-center for an RBI single that sent Jay Molina home from third and gave Illinois State the 1-0 lead.
Redbird starter Brady Salter pitched well early allowing no hits in the first three innings. However, after giving up a single to Nate Moffie to right field in the fourth, Salter allowed a stand-up double to Brian Winings down the left field line to open the fifth inning and later scored on a passed ball by Molina to tie the game at 1-1.
The Birds missed out on a golden opportunity to score in the bottom of the fifth with Zaleski and Pickrel on third and second respectively and one out heading into the heart of their batting order. However, back-to-back strikeouts by Peacock and Blair closed out the inning and kept the game knotted at 1-1 through five frames.
Salter led off the sixth with a walk and a hit batter to put two runners on with no outs. The Quakers took advantage of the situation when pinch-hitter Jon Slaughter came in to hit a two-RBI single to left field with the bases loaded to put Penn up 3-1. Winings hit a sac fly to center field to score one more in the inning giving the Quakers a 4-1 advantage in the sixth.
After a base hit by Zaleski in the bottom of the sixth, Molina was able to send him home from first with his second double of the day down the left field line to make the score 4-2. Molina advanced to third on a passed ball and later scored on a wild pitch by Quaker reliever Josh Appell narrowing the Penn lead to one, 4-3.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Slaughter hit a triple to left-center and was able to score on the throw to third that resulted in a fielding error by Redbird shortstop Chris Shepherd, which advanced to home and gave the Quakers a 5-3 lead.
Pickrel hit a one-out double in the bottom of the nine to left-center and scored on a sac fly by Molina to close to within one run at 5-4. Peacock hit a shot to the left field warning track, but it was not hard enough to clear the wall and the Quakers were able to earn their first win of the season improving to 1-4.
The Redbirds continue the tournament Thursday with a match-up against the Blue Divisions No. 1 team either Cal-Poly or Gonzaga. The game time for Illinois State will be determined following Wednesdays games.
