Feb. 17, 2007
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas -
It has been a long journey back to the baseball diamond for Illinois State junior pitcher Eric Theisen. A shoulder injury forced the right-hander to miss the entire 2006 season, and Saturday's start against New Mexico at the UT-Arlington Invitational marked Theisen's comeback. It was a successful return for the Adrian, Mich., native as he threw seven shutout innings for the Redbirds (1-1) and secured a 9-0 win over the Lobos (3-5).
Theisen (1-0) allowed just four hits in his seven innings on the mound and struck out nine UNM hitters. Junior Tyler Cox and sophomore Jim Sajewich each pitched scoreless innings of relief each to secure the Redbird shutout. New Mexico starter Stephen Smith was saddled with the loss after he allowed eight runs, six of which were earned, in seven innings on the hill.
Illinois State head coach Jim Brownlee was impressed with Theisen's work on the mound.
"What he did lifts the whole team up because none of knew what to expect from him today coming off his injury," said Brownlee. "He's worked as hard as any player I have ever coached coming off a shoulder injury and he deserves everything he gets because he's put in the work. What he did today was one of the best performances I have ever seen for a pitcher who has not thrown for 12 months."
For the second game in a row, ISU jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Kevin Dubler reached first on a throwing error by UNM first baseman Daniel Stovall and then advanced to second base on a bunt single by Matt Bolt. Ryan Anetsberger followed with a double down the left field line on a 1-0 pitch to score both runners and put the `Birds up 2-0.
ISU worked with two outs in the top of the second inning and pushed its third run across the plate. Freshman Dan Weston singled into centerfield to start the rally and then stole second base. Leadoff hitter Collin Salzenstein then followed with a RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Weston and put the Redbirds up 3-0.
The `Birds then tacked on another run in the top of the third when Dubler scored on a Jesse Griswold double to push the score to 4-0 in favor of ISU. After a scoreless fourth inning, Dubler led off the fifth inning with a triple down the right field line and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bolt to widen the Redbirds' lead to 5-0.
ISU then put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the eighth inning. Jesse Griswold's two-run home run to deep left-center started the scoring extended the ISU lead to 7-0. The home run was Griswold's first of the season and his fourth in a Redbird uniform. Kevin Konsler followed and laced a pinch-hit single off the wall in left field and then advanced to second base on a balk by UNM reliever Sean McKee. Konsler later scored on a Kyle O'Brien single into centerfield to put the lead to 8-0 in favor of ISU. With two outs, Dubler singled to right field and brought in Salzenstein from second base to cap off the four-run inning for the `Birds and bring the score to 9-0.
The Redbird offense pounded out 17 hits in the win, with Dubler and Anetsberger leading the way with three hits apiece. Griswold contributed two hits and three RBI for ISU as well. The Redbirds finish up the three-day UTA Invitational on Sunday against the nationally-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. Senior Luke Baughman will take mound for ISU in the finale, with the first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Clay Gould Ballpark.
