April 8, 2006
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
Randi Patton and Amber Smith got the Illinois State offense going, and the hits just kept coming as the Redbirds downed Missouri Valley Conference foe Drake in a pair of run-rule shortened games. ISU, which compiled double-digit hits in each game, won 14-6 and 9-1. On the day, Patton went six-for-eight with five runs and four RBI, while Smith had five RBI and four hits, including her 13th home run of the season.
"It was really exciting for us to get our bats going like we did today," Redbird head coach Melinda Fischer said. "Everyone really contributed today. We've been focusing on getting in the box and getting a pitch you can do something with and we really did that today. And we keep reducing our strikeouts with is nice to see."
In the opener, the Redbird hit parade started in the bottom of the first. With one out, Patton singled and Smith brought her in as she sent a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field for her conference leading 13th homer of the season. Following another groundout, Stacy Birk reached on a walk and Casey Gorrell added a single. Katie Guilbault then drove a double into right field as both runners came around to score for a four-run lead. Kaprice Williams and Tiffany Prager hit back-to-back singles to center, plating Guilbault. Then Tricia Gaither reached on a bunt single to load the bases before Patton smacked a grand slam to left field to give ISU a 9-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Illinois State (23-10, 10-3) added three more runs in the third on three hits and a Drake error. Prager started the rally with a single through the right side. Following a fielder's choice, Patton reached on a fielding error by the Bulldog shortstop to put two `Birds on the base paths. Smith drove in both Redbirds with a double to right center, and Kelsey Warning plated Smith with a double of her own for a 12-run Illinois State advantage.
Drake (14-21, 4-8) rallied for a pair of runs in the fourth following a leadoff walk. Three straight singles by Shanna Cook, Emily Hajduk and Susan Slycord gave the Bulldogs their first two runs of the day. They added three more in the ensuing inning after back-to-back singles by Kristin Birocci and Jaci Faidley. A Cook RBI single down the left field line made it 12-3. Hajduk then sent a two-run double down the right field line bringing in both Faidley and Cook. Slycord added a RBI double for the sixth Drake run of the game.
A single by Patton got the offense going in the bottom of the fifth. After Patton stole second, Smith hit a RBI double down the left field line for the 13th ISU run of the game. Then Warning finished it off with a RBI double to centerfield for the final score.
Patton and Smith each had three hits in the opener as ISU tied its season high with 15 hits. Cook, Hajduk and Slycord each had a pair of hits for Drake, while Hajduk compiled three RBI.
Birk recorded the win, striking out three and walking a pair as she scattered seven hits. Jessica Hicks shouldered the loss for the Bulldogs. In her only inning of work, she surrendered eight hits, nine earned runs and walked one.
Illinois State broke open the game in the bottom of the third after Drake stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the frame. Gaither and Patton reached on back-to-back one-out singles and Smith walked to load the bases. Warning's groundout to short brought in Gaither, and Birk was then walked intentionally to keep the bases full. Gorrell was hit by a pitch from starter Cassie Heller as Patton came in to score the second run. Then Jessie Buker sliced a two-run single through the left side to push the lead up to four.
The Bulldogs' lone run in game two was the result of a Faidley home run to right center in the fifth. But the Redbirds countered with a trio of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Birk moved to second on a sacrifice bunt after reaching on a leadoff walk. Then Buker was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Pinch hitter Jen Wright's liner back to the circle went off Heller's glove and got past the second baseman, allowing Birk to score the fifth run of the game. With Buker on third and Williams, who was back in to run for Wright, at first, the pair executed the double steal to perfection as ISU took a 6-1 lead. Prager then singled up the middle, but Williams was thrown out at the plate for the second out. However, Prager managed to score when Gaither doubled down the right field line.
ISU struck again in the sixth as it loaded the bases following a pair of walks and an infield single. Buker came through with a one-out RBI single to right field. Then Birk scored on fielder's choice by Williams as the Drake shortstop threw the ball away on the throw to the plate, which ended the game via the run rule.
Nicholson was the winner in the nightcap, scattering just four hits while walking a pair and striking out three. Heller suffered the loss, giving up ten hits, seven earned runs and three walks.
"I though Shannon did a really nice job for us, especially in that second game," Fischer said. "She struggled a little bit when she came into the first game, but then she really settled down and kept them off balance."
Patton also had three hits in game two, while Gaither and Buker each contributed a pair. Buker led the `Birds with three RBI. Faidley had two of the Bulldogs' four hits in the second game.
Illinois State will complete the series with a noon match-up tomorrow at Redbird Softball Complex.
