Jeremy Pickrel hit a two-out, two RBI single to right center in the top of the ninth to rally the Illinois State baseball team over UNC-Asheville 9-8 with four runs in the inning on the fifth day of the Pepsi/Johnny Quik in Fresno, Calif. It was the Redbirds' first win in the tournament this season.
"I wanted to be in that situation the entire inning and my teammates gave me the opportunity," said Pickrel. "It was just one of those at-bats where you have to put the ball in play and give my team a chance at the win."
Illinois State improves to 5-5 overall with Jeremy Accardo picking up the victory for Illinois State in relief. Pickrel finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI, while Jay Molina and Greg Blaesing also each went 2-for-5 with two RBI. The Redbirds scattered 14 hits in the game compared to UNC-Asheville's nine.
"This was a great win today, especially the way that it happened," said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee. "Our kids showed a lot of grit in the game especially late and they really bounced back after not starting overly well at the start."
Pickrel drew a lead-off walk to start the game and stole second to put himself in scoring position with no outs, but Bulldog starter Brad Beck retired the next three Redbird batters to keep the game scoreless. UNC-Asheville jumped all over Redbird starter Josh Kauten in the bottom of the first with four straight hits, including a triple by Steve Sherman to left-center, which led to a 3-0 lead an inning.
Kauten settled down in the second and third innings retiring six of the eight batters he faced and allowing only one hit, but in the fourth inning Illinois State gave up three hits, including another triple that resulted in two, Bulldog runs batted in and helped extend UNC-Asheville's lead to 6-0.
Illinois State took advantage of a fielding error with two outs by the Bulldog's third baseman Steve Burnich to keep their fifth inning alive and capitalized by sending Chris Shepherd across the plate off a base hit by Molina to make the score 6-1 after five innings.
The Redbirds got their bats going in the top of the sixth inning with four big hits, including doubles by Blaesing, Pickrel and Molina, which led to four runs cutting UNC-Asheville's lead to one, 6-5.
Jeremy Accardo came into relieve Kauten with two outs in the sixth and the bases loaded, but gave up a base hit to right field that scored two runs and increased the Bulldog lead to three, 8-5. The Redbirds opened the seventh with back-to-back base hits by Jake Blair and Lance McMillan, however, Blair was caught napping at second and was picked off in a 1-5-6-2 rundown, which shut down Illinois State's chances of a rally in the inning.
A double by Jon Peacock to start the ninth inning was followed by an RBI single to left-center by Blair, which gave the Redbirds another run. A fielding error by the Bulldog left fielder advanced Blair to second and he was able to score on a base hit up the middle by Jeremy Accardo. After a Blaesing hit to left, Chris Shepherd drew a big walk off a full count to load the bases. Pickrel hit a 2-2 pitch to right-center to score two and give the 'Birds their first lead of the game.
The Redbirds conclude play at the tournament Saturday with a match-up against either Penn or Bowling Green. The game will start at 12 p.m. central time.
