Feb. 23, 2007
Box Score
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -
The Illinois State baseball team knew it had a tough task ahead of it on Friday when the team faced No. 5 ranked Arkansas. Through the first four innings of the game, the Redbirds went toe-to-toe with the Razorbacks and held strong, but a four-run fifth inning for Arkansas (8-2) propelled the nationally-ranked squad to a 12-1 victory over Illinois State (1-3) in front of 7,824 raucous fans at Baum Stadium.
ISU starter Eric Theisen (1-1) was saddled with the loss for the Redbirds in four and a third innings after giving up five runs, four of which were earned, while walking two batters and striking out three. Arkansas starter Nick Schmidt (2-0) earned the win for the Razorbacks in six innings after allowing no runs on three hits.
In order for the Redbirds to have a shot to win the game, head coach Jim Brownlee knew his pitchers were going to have to perform well, but for ISU that was not the case.
"We didn't pitch very well today and when you make mistakes to a good team like Arkansas, they tend to make you pay for it," said Brownlee. "We had our chances early and didn't execute as well as we should have. Schmidt's a good pitcher, he's not going to give you very many opportunities and that's why he's an all-American."
The Razorbacks scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs in the inning, Tim Smalling reached base on an errant Ryan Anetsberger throw and then advanced to second base on a Theisen balk. Jake Dugger followed with a double to right field to score Smalling and give Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
Arkansas added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning that knocked Theisen out of the game with out and the bases loaded. Dan Sorce came in to relieve Theisen and proceeded to strike out pinch-hitter Wayne Hrozek for the second out of the inning. However, designated hitter Danny Hamblin walked and the fourth run of the inning came across the plate to make the score 5-0 in favor of the Razorbacks, before Jacob Julius struck out to end the inning.
Two more runs crossed the plate off Sorce in the bottom of the sixth inning to widen the Razorbacks' lead to 7-0 heading into the seventh inning. After a scoreless top half of the inning for ISU, Mike Hlavacek came in to pitch for Sorce and Arkansas pushed two more runs across the plate to take a 9-0 advantage.
With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Kyle O'Brien pinch hit for Matt Bolt and singled past third base to keep the `Birds alive in the inning. Jesse Griswold followed and crushed a triple off the glove of Julius in left field, who proceeded to slam into the wall trying to make the catch, and O'Brien scored to foil the shutout and make the score 9-1.
Freshman Josh Schultz made his collegiate debut in the bottom of the eighth inning and ran into some trouble. The Razorbacks scored three unearned runs on two errors to put the game away at 12-1 and take a 1-0 series lead. Griswold led the way for the Redbirds with two hits and a RBI. Four Arkansas players had two hits apiece to pace the Razorbacks on offense.
The two teams return to action tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Baum Stadium. Freshman Ryan Copeland (0-1, 7.20 ERA) will take the mound for ISU hoping to even the series at one game apiece.
