Luke Baughman pitched eight shut out innings and Brandon Gale pitched a scoreless ninth as the two Illinois State right-handers combined to shut out Illinois Institute of Technology 8-0 Tuesday afternoon at Redbird Field.
Baughman (1-1) picked up his first win of his collegiate career in the game as the sophomore gave up nine hits and had two strikeouts in his eight innings of work.
Taking the loss for IIT (6-10) was senior Jose Medina (0-4). The right-hander lasted seven innings and gave up 10 hits and two earned runs.
Illinois State (10-12) was extremely aggressive on the base paths, as the Redbirds stole seven bases on the day. Freshman Lee Fisher led the way with three swipes.
The Redbirds got on the board in their first at bat, as three straight hits would give ISU a 1-0 lead after one. Ryan Anetsberger led the game off with a double and Chris Frank would beat out a bunt for hit, giving the 'Birds first and third with no outs. Matt Bolt would then single to bring in Anetsberger for the first run of the game.
The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when a costly error by IIT would lead to three Redbird runs. After Bolt reached on an error to start the inning, he then stole second and third. Jay Molina would then drive him in from third for the first run of the inning with a single to center. Kyle O'Brien would follow Molina's single with one of his own to put two runners on. Pinch-hitter Kevin Konsler and Brian Davis would then have back-to-back groundouts, but each groundout brought in a run, giving ISU a 4-0 lead after five.
ISU would add a serious cushion to its lead in the bottom of the eighth. Anetsberger would knock in Fischer from third to make it a 5-0 game and the Birds would eventually load the bases for OBrien. OBrien would single to center scoring two runs, however IIT attempted to throw a runner out at third and threw the ball into the Redbird dugout, allowing all three runners to score and OBrien to move up to third as Illinois State took a 8-0 lead.
Illinois State will continue its 10-game homestand on Wednesday when the Redbirds host Iowa in a non-conference game. First pitch from Redbird Field is set for 3:00 p.m. Kitt Kopach (1-3) will make the start for Illinois State.
