Matt Bolt had four hits, Brian Wilkin, Chris Shepherd and Nick Crist each had two RBI and Eric Theisen and Josh Kauten combined to five-hit Indiana State in Illinois States 14-5 win over the Sycamores at Sycamore Field in Terre Haute, Ind., on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, Illinois State keeps hope alive and stays in contention to make the conference tournament at the end of the year.
Theisen (4-5) picked up the win for Illinois State, going five innings and allowing only three hits and two earned runs in the game. Kauten game on in relief in the sixth inning and yielded only two hits and one earned run in four innings of work, picking up his first career save.
Taking the loss for Indiana State was Brian Omogrosso, who in his first career start, gave up six hits and only two earned runs in five innings of work.
Illinois State (19-31, 9-19) got on the board first in the ballgame, as two Sycamore errors helped the Birds get four in the top of the third. Greg Blaesing reached on an error to start the inning and was followed by a Shepherd single and a Nate Whitney walk. Pinch-hitter Nick Crist then tried to duck out of the way of an Omogrosso pitch, but to the surprise of everyone, the ball hit Crists bat and went into fair territory. Omogrosso fielded the ball and threw home but his catcher was not expecting it, missing the throw, and allowing two runs to score. Matt Bolt and Joe Burke would each follow with RBI singles in the inning, giving ISU a 4-0 lead after the top of the third.
Shepherd would drive in another Redbird run in the top of the fourth to make it 5-0 in favor of Illinois State, but the Sycamores would get on the board in the bottom of the fifth. The leadoff man reached on an error and the next Indiana State hitter would double. Mike Miller would then single in two runs with the bases loaded to cut their deficit to 5-2. The Sycamores would leave the bases loaded in the inning.
The Redbirds would quickly get those two runs back, as Whitney and Crist would have back-to-back RBI singles, giving Illinois State a 7-2 lead after the top of the sixth.
Indiana State (20-31, 12-16) showed they werent done yet either in the bottom of the sixth. Theisen walked the first two batters of the inning and was pulled in favor of Kauten, who gave up RBI singles to Rance Fosdick and Josh Prickett, making it 7-5 Redbirds after six.
The Birds made the bats rattle again in the top of the seventh, when they put up three more runs against Indiana State. Bolt led the inning off with a single, his fourth of the game, and Jay Molina followed with a single of his own. After Burke reached on an error, Luke Baughman knocked in a run on a groundout to third. Wilkin then doubled to the gap in left-center, driving in two and giving ISU a 10-5 lead.
The Redbirds would add another in the top of the eighth, when Crist would hit his first home run of his career, giving ISU a 11-5 lead. The Redbirds would add three more in the top of the ninth on only one hit, making it a 14-5 game. Indiana State committed three errors in the inning to hurt their cause.
Illinois State will now finish the season with five straight games at Redbird Field, beginning with a 6:00 p.m. game against Iowa on Wednesday night. That game can be heard on www.wjbc2.com. Gametracker will also be available to follow along with the live-scoring at www.redbirds.org.
