Illinois State would not go down quietly, however two costly Redbird errors early proved to be to big of a hole to dig out of, as the Redbirds fell to Louisville by a score of 6-4.
With the loss, Illinois State drops to 1-1 on year, while the Cardinals move to 3-2 on the 2004 campaign.
The Cardinals were able to put three on the board in the first inning off of Illinois State starting pitcher Josh Kauten. After Kauten retired the first two batters he faced, Mark Jurich reached on an infield single keeping the drive alive. Following a walk to Ron Braun, Isaiah Howes hit a home run to right center making the score 3-0 after one.
In the second inning, Louisville again tacked on runs, as a two-run Mark Jurich bomb knocked Kauten out of the game and gave the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. Ned Schauff would come on in relief to record the final two outs of the second.
The Redbirds finally cracked the scoring column in the top of the fourth, when Chris Shepherd tripled to right center, knocking in Matt Bolt.
Illinois State would draw to within one after a three-run, two-out rally in the seventh inning. Kopach drew a walk, followed by another free pass to Nate Whitney and a hit batsman in Joe Peterson. With the bases loaded, Jay Molina singled to knock in one and Jeremy Pickrel followed it up with a single of his own, knocking in two and making the score 5-4 after the top of the seventh.
After Illinois State left the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, Jurich belted his second homer of the game in the bottom half to give the Cardinals a 6-4 lead.
The two teams conclude their weekend series tomorrow from Cardinal Stadium, with the first pitch set for noon. That game can be heard via the internet on www.wjbc2.com.
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