Going into the eighth inning, the Illinois State baseball team thought they had a shut out in the making. However, when Western Kentucky tied the game in the eighth, the Redbirds had to battle back and scored two runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Hilltoppers 6-4, winning two out of three games in the series in Bowling Green, Ky.
Matt Fowles (1-0) came on in relief of Ned Schauff and Eric Theisen to get the win for the Redbirds, now 4-5 overall. Fowles pitched two innings, giving up just two hits and one run on the day. Miles Orman (0-1) took the loss for the Hilltoppers (3-9), giving up two runs on two hits in one inning of relief.
Junior center fielder Chris Frank put the first run on the scoreboard for the Redbirds. Frank, who got the start in center, hit a two-out homerun over the left field wall in the third inning. The at-bat was just the third at-bat in a Redbird uniform for Frank.
The Redbirds got on the board again in the fourth inning. Sophomore Matt Bolt led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a stolen base. Freshman Ryan Anetsberger advanced Bolt to third on a deep infield single to the shortstop. That set the stage for junior Jay Molinas sacrifice fly, scoring Bolt from third to bring the score to 2-0.
Kris Jenkins added another run in the sixth inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Anetsberger from third base. Molina drove in his second run of the day, on his second sacrifice fly on the day in the eighth, scoring Bolt from third to extend the Redbird lead to 4-0 after eight innings.
However, the Hilltoppers would not go quiet and ruined the shutout attempt by scoring 4 in the bottom of the eighth, tying the game at 4-4. Junior Matt Ransdell led off the inning with at triple down the third base line. After starter Ned Schauff walked Hilltopper third baseman Tim Grogan, first baseman Marcus Ross singled in Ransdell to give Western Kentucky their first run of the day.
Eric Theisen came on in the seventh in relief, but struggled and Matt Fowles came on in relief with two runners on and no outs. Sophomore Jordan Newton tied the game in the next at-bat, hitting a three-run homerun over the left field wall making the score 4-4.
The Redbirds battled back in the ninth, scoring two runs on two hits and one error. With two on, Bolt chopped a single to shortstop and reached base on an errant throw, which scored Frank from second base. The 'Birds tacked on an insurance run to end the inning, as freshman Lee Fischer scored while Bolt was caught in a run down bringing the final score to 6-4.
The Redbirds continue their non-conference schedule Wednesday, March 9, against the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
