April 5, 2006
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's younger players came through with a number of firsts as the `Birds swept a doubleheader against Eastern Illinois on Wednesday at Redbird Softball Complex. Casey Gorrell hit a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the `Birds a 6-5 win in the opener. The Redbirds then came from behind to down the Panthers, 8-3, in the nightcap.
"We talked about reducing our strikeouts before Sunday against Southern (Illinois) and that was something we wanted to continue," ISU head coach Melinda Fischer said. "We wanted to concentrate on good at bats, putting the ball in play and making the defense have to do something with it. I thought we really came out focused in those areas today.
"Today was a great combination of a lot of people doing a lot of different things whether it was coming in to run, pinch hitting or playing defense. We switched a lot of people around on the infield and it was good to see that some of those things worked for us. I wanted to try some different things today within our lineup to see what people could do if we were ever in certain situations, and I was really able to see a lot. We had two pretty exciting ball games today, and I think our players handled things very well."
Illinois State (21-10) got off to a quick start in the opening frame of the day as Tricia Gaither reached on a leadoff double, stole third base and scored on Randi Patton's sacrifice fly to left field. The `Birds added to their run total in the third as Amber Smith hit a two-out solo home run to left field. After a walk, starting pitcher Stacy Birk doubled to right center and Kelsey Warning came all the way around from first to score for a three-run Redbird lead.
Eastern Illinois (21-15-1) got on the board in the fifth as shortstop Chelsea Adams sent a line drive over the wall in centerfield to cut the ISU lead to two. But the Redbirds pushed the lead up to four in the bottom of the frame. Patton started the frame with a double to right field and Smith's second round-tripper of the game, her 12th of the season, made it 5-1.
However, the Panthers fought back with four runs in the following inning. With one out, Angela Danca singled up the middle and came around to score on Rachel Karos' double to right center. The `Birds caught Karos, the lead runner, trying to advance to third on a fielder's choice, but an Adams' triple down the right field line plated a pair of EIU runner to cut the deficit to one. Birk was then pulled in favor of Shannon Nicholson. She allowed a RBI single to the first batter she faced to tie the score at 5-5, but induced a lineout to finish the frame.
The `Birds left a pair of runners stranded in the sixth and were down to their last out in the bottom of the seventh when Casey Gorrell gave ISU the run it needed to escape with a win.
"I give Eastern (Illinois) a lot of credit. They fought hard and came back. Stacy (Birk) seemed to be doing pretty well but then all of a sudden they jumped on her. Then Shannon came in and gave up a hit, but I thought she really settled down after that."
Birk led the Illinois State offense with three hits in three at bats, while Smith contributed two hits and three RBI. Karos and Adams each had two hits for the Panthers, while Adams drove in three runs.
Nicholson recorded the win in relief, striking out one batter and surrendering just two hits. Birk fanned four, walked one and scattered six hits. Kathleen Jacoby (12-6) was saddled with the loss. She walked four Redbirds and struck out four while allowing nine hits.
Once again it was the Redbirds jumping out to an early lead in the nightcap as they successfully executed the double steal with one out in the bottom of the first. Gaither started the game with a walk but was out at second on Patton's fielder's choice. Smith was then intentionally walked and Patton moved to third on a wild pitch to set up the run-scoring opportunity.
A leadoff walk to begin the second inning came back to hurt Illinois State as the ensuing batter, Brittany Castle, hit a home run to left center to give Eastern Illinois it's only lead of the day (2-1). Redbird Jessie Buker evened things up in the bottom half of the frame. She sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall in centerfield for her second collegiate home run.
ISU struck again in the fourth, scoring four runs on four hits. Buker restarted the offense with a leadoff double to right center. After moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, she scored on Gaither's single to centerfield. Gaither then stole second and moved to third on a groundout before Smith was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners. Warning followed with a single to second base to bring in the second run as both she and Smith got into scoring position. Amie Tillery's first collegiate hit, a first-pitch double to left field, plated a pair of runners to give ISU a 6-2 advantage.
After the Panthers put together three straight singles to start the sixth, Birk, who was on in relief, hit the first batter she faced as EIU cut the ISU lead to 6-3. But little did the Panthers know that the Illinois State offense wasn't finished yet as it added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth off a Tiffany Prager double to left field for the final margin.
Warning and Prager each compiled three hits for the `Birds, while three Panthers had two hits apiece.
"Amber (Smith) has been in situations where that `s been possible (home runs) for her all year. Casey (Gorrell) has gotten close before and been robbed a couple times so it was good to see her finally get it (her first home run). She's been driving the ball well and she had a great series at Southern (Illinois), so it was bound to happen. And Jessie (Buker) that's definitely where she can hit ... that gap in right center is her power alley. But I though one of the biggest hits in that second game came from Amie Tillery. That was huge."
Nicholson earned her second win of the day as she improved to 11-5 on the season. She allowed just three hits and struck out one. Karyn Mackie suffered the loss for the Panthers, scattering eight hits and walking five without recording a strikeout.
