Bob McNamara went 2-for-3 with a home run, triple and four RBIs as the Illinois State baseball team shut down Murray State 9-3 in non-conference action Sunday in Murray, Ky.
Redbird starter Josh Kauten (1-0) had a stellar performance in his Illinois State debut on the mound allowing only one hit in seven innings. The Birds improve their record to 2-1, while the Thoroughbreds fall to 2-2. ISU recorded 11 hits in the game.
Josh did a great job for us today especially in his first start at the Division I level, said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee. Joshs performance set the tone for everyone on the team and so far this is turning out to be a pretty successful trip for us.
Illinois State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Jake Blair was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored from second on an RBI, two-out single to right field by Nate Whitney.
Kauten continued to dominate on the mound early in the game keeping the ball in the infield and retiring 12 of the first 14 Breds batters he faced. In the fourth inning, McNamara hit a solo shot to right field that carried over the wall for his first homer as a Redbird.
I had pretty good command on three of my pitches today, said Kauten. Anytime you have command of two or more of your pitches, you are going to have successful day. My teammates stepped up today, especially in the infield and it is a nice feeling having those guys on your side.
With Illinois State ahead 2-0 in the fifth, McNamara responded again for the Birds with the bases loaded and two outs when he hit a triple off the right field wall scoring Kevin ODell, Jon Peacock and Jake Blair on Thoroughbred reliever Ian Moore.
Kauten had another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to send the Redbird batters into the sixth frame with a 6-0 advantage and Murray State still hitless. Illinois State tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning with Moore walking Chris Shepherd and Jeremy Pickrel with one out and the two were later able to score on back-to-back singles by ODell and Peacock respectively.
A double by Lance McMillan in the top of the ninth sent Jay Molina across the plate for the Birds to extend their lead, 9-0. Murray State scored its three runs in the bottom of the ninth
The Redbirds wrap up the Murray State series Monday with a nine-inning game scheduled for 2 p.m.
