March 17, 2006
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
Through seven innings of Friday's home opener for the Illinois State baseball team, things seemed to be evenly matched between the Redbirds and the Central Michigan Chippewas, with the score tied at 7-7. However, six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled ISU to a 13-8 come-from-behind defeat of the Chippewas at Redbird Field. ISU improves its record to 3-11 overall, while the Chippewas fall to 7-7 on the season.
Freshman Dan Sorce earned the win for the Redbirds, after pitching 2.2 innings in relief of ISU starter Luke Baughman. Sorce surrendered just two hits and one run in the outing, while striking out two Chippewas and recording a perfect ninth inning. James Ricchio suffered the loss for the Chippewas, after giving up three runs on two hits and recording just one out in relief.
The Chippewas got on the scoreboard early against Baughman, scoring three runs on five hits in the top of the first inning. Ben Humphrey's one out double to deep left field scored Troy Moratti and J.T. Jones for the first two runs of the day and a 2-0 CMU lead. The Chippewas would tack on one more run on a Kurt Laushcer RBI single to left field that scored Humphrey from second base and extend the early lead to 3-0.
ISU would answer with a run in the first inning when Matt Bolt scored as Ryan Anetsberger hit into a double play to cut the lead to 3-1. The `Birds would then tie the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the second after scoring two runs on three hits. After Jesse Griswold led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Nick Crist grounder to the pitcher, freshman Kevin Dubler drove in Griswold with a single to right field to make the score 3-2. Kris Jenkins' single later in the inning scored Dubler and tied the score going into the third inning.
Central Michigan would add two more run in the top of the third inning to break the tie at 3-3. A bases-loaded walk to Noah Lankford brought in Moratti from third and put the Chippewas up 4-3. Later in the inning, the Chippewas would add another run when Humphrey scored as the Redbirds were turning a double play of their own to make the score 5-3 after three innings.
Both teams cooled off for the next three innings until CMU put two more runs on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning to extend the lead to 7-3 going bottom of the seventh inning. But, it wasn't long for the `Birds to begin their rally, as Dubler led off the inning with a home run over the right field wall, his second of the year, to cut the lead to 7-4. With the bases loaded later in the inning, a ground out by Mike Stalowy scored Kevin Konsler from third to make the score 7-5. Jenkins then scored when Anetsberger reached on an error by Moratti to cut lead to 7-6. A Jay Molina single then scored Bolt from third to tie the score at 7-7 after seven innings.
After the Chippewas broke the 7-7 tie in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Jones to take the lead 8-7, ISU exploded for six runs on six hits in the bottom half of the frame. Two-run singles by Molina and Kyle O'Brien complimented a bases-loaded walk to Stalowy for the first run of the inning and a Dubler RBI single for the final run of the game to bring the final score to 13-8.
Dubler paced the Redbird offense with three hits, three RBI and two runs scored and Molina contributed two hits and three RBI. In all, six `Birds had RBI in the game and nine players combined to tally the 16 ISU hits. Humphrey was 3-for-5 with four RBI in the loss for CMU, with Moratti adding three hits in the loss.
ISU returns to action tomorrow for a double-header with the Chippewas that begins at noon at Redbird Field. Kitt Kopach (0-2) will take the mound in the seven-inning first game, while Ian Berger (1-2) will start the second game, a nine-inning contest, that will begin approximately one half hour after the completion of the first game.
