Illinois State got home runs from Jeremy Pickrel and Joe Burke, but the Chippewas of Central Michigan were nearly unstoppable, as ISU fell 20-8 Saturday afternoon at Redbird Field.
Kyle Bloom (1-2) took the loss for Illinois State (4-8), as he only went one inning, allowing seven hits and giving up eight runs.
Ty Dunham (1-1) went seven innings for CMU, giving up six hits and five runs en route to picking up the win.
Central Michigan (6-9) would get to Bloom early, as three of the first four batters would reach in the top of the first. With the bases loaded and one out, Jeff LaFavors cleared the bases with a grand slam, making it 4-0 CMU. The Chips werent done however, as the next batter Bryan Mitzel also homered.
Our pitchers just cannot get anybody out right now, said Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee. On top of that, were playing terrible defense. Its absolutely embarrassing.
Illinois State would respond back in the bottom of the first, as Burke followed a Nate Whitney single with his second home run of the season, making it 5-2 at the end of one.
CMU would have their first two batters reach base in the top of the second before Kurtis Wells hit the third CMU homer of the game to make it 7-0, knocking Bloom out in the process. Central Michigan would get three more off ISU lefty Kyle OBrien to make it 11-2 after the top of the second.
The Chippewas would put two more on the board in the top of the third, however Illinois State responded back with two in the fourth and one in the fifth. Central Michigan would then score seven more runs over the final four innings, compared to only three for Illinois State, to make the final score 20-8.
The Redbirds had their worst performance of the year defensively, as they had seven errors as a team.
I never thought that I would ever have a team play this bad defensively, added Brownlee. I dont know what to do. Ive been around this game for a long time and Ive never seen anything quite like this.
Illinois State and Central Michigan will complete their three game series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Redbird Field. Illinois State will send freshman Eric Theisen (0-1) to the mound. Sundays game can be heard on AM 1230 WJBC or on www.wjbc.com, with pregame coverage beginning at 12:45 p.m.
