Illinois State exploded for 14 runs in the final three innings to complete a three-game sweep of Evansville, as the Redbirds defeated the Purple Aces 16-5 in front of 1,209 fans Sunday at Redbird Field. The game ended in the seventh inning after sophomore Nick Crist hit a three-run, walk-off homerun to end the game in the seventh because of the Missouri Valley Conference 10-run rule.
Picking up the win for Illinois State (16-18, 3-6) was sophomore Kitt Kopach (3-3). Kopach came on in relief of Ned Schauff in the fifth inning and pitched 2.1 innings, allowing only two hits and one earned run. Schauff lasted 4-1 innings and allowed only two earned runs in the game.
Fred Jones (4-2) took the loss for Evansville (28-11, 7-5). Jones, who is the reigning national player of the week last 4.2 innings and gave up seven runs and eight hits in the game.
Evansville was able to got on the board in the second inning as Pat Tumilty doubled down the rightfield line to bring in two runs and give Evansville a 2-0 lead.
The Redbirds would respond in the bottom of the third as Matt Bolt and Kris Jenkins would each have RBI singles to tie the game up at two after three.
Evansville would regain the lead in the top of the fifth as two Redbird errors led to two unearned runs in the inning. Eric Jones started the inning off by reaching on an error by first baseman Kyle OBrien. Robbie Minor was up next and hit a ground ball to third baseman Blake Schoonover. Jones was running on the pitch, and when Schoonovers throw couldnt be scooped by OBrien, Jones was able to come around and score from first. Later in the inning, Dustin Knight would single to left to drive in a run and give Evansville a 4-2 lead.
As quickly as Evansville took the lead, Illinois State would respond and knock Jones out of the game. With two outs and nobody on base, the Birds would start their two-out rally with back-to-back singles by Ryan Anetsberger and Jenkins. After Brian Davis walked to load the bases, OBrien came through with a flare to left-center to score two runs and tie the game at four. Schoonover followed OBrien with an RBI single of his own to give ISU a 5-4 lead. With two outs, Lee Fischer would hit a ground ball right back to Jones on the mound, however the tall pitcher misfired on his throw to first and another run came in for ISU.
Evansville then brought in Michael Greenhouse with runners on the corners and two outs to try to get out of the fifth inning. On the first pitch, Fischer broke from first and got Evansville catcher Dustin Knight to throw down to second. Knights throw went into centerfield and allowed Schoonover to come in to score from third, giving ISU a 7-4 lead after the fifth. All five of Illinois States runs came with two outs in the inning.
(Cont.)
After Evansville cut the lead to two in the top of the sixth, the Redbirds would pound out three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 10-5 lead. Bolt and Crist each had RBI hits in the inning to account for two of the runs for ISU. With Crist on first and OBrien at the plate, the Redbird first baseman lifted a high fly ball to left that should have ended the inning, however Tumilty dropped the ball and Crist scored from first to complete the three-run inning.
ISU would finish off the Purple Aces in the bottom of the seventh in impressive fashion. With the bases loaded and one out Anetsberger walked to bring in the first run of the inning. Jenkins then stepped in and doubled to left center to knock in two more and make it 13-5. With Anetsberger on third and Jenkins on second, Crist crushed a 2-2 pitch well beyond the leftfield wall, ending the game and sealing the 16-5 win.
The Redbirds have now won four in a row for only the second time in the last three seasons. They will attempt to make it five when they travel to Champaign, Ill., on Tuesday to take on Illinois. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
