Feb. 24, 2007
Box Score
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -
There is no doubt that Illinois State freshman pitcher Ryan Copeland will ever forget his first collegiate win. On Saturday, the young left-hander battled for seven innings and gave up 10 runs, six of which were earned, but still held on to earn the victory for ISU (2-3) over No. 5 ranked Arkansas (8-3) in front of 6,876 fans at Baum Stadium.
Copeland (1-1, 7.50 ERA) surrendered 11 hits to score the 10 runs, but gave up just two runs in his final two innings after allowing an eight-run fifth inning. Kyle O'Brien then came on and threw two scoreless innings of relief to pick his first save of the season and of his career at ISU. Travis Hill (1-1) suffered the loss for the Razorbacks, after giving up three earned runs in one inning of work in relief of starter Duke Welker.
ISU head coach Jim Brownlee was proud of the way his young starter threw on Saturday.
"We decided to stay with Ryan after the eight-run fifth because he really hadn't thrown that many pitches yet," said Brownlee. "He really pitched great. His line may not show it, but he made some good pitches and was really in control of his pitches for most of the game. He deserved this win and hopefully he can build on this for the rest of the season."
The Razorbacks jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of a Logan Forsythe home run over the left field wall. The Redbirds would answer in the top of the third with a run of their own to knot the score at 1-1. With one out, Kyle O'Brien walked and then advanced to second on a ground out by Dan Weston. Leadoff hitter Collin Salzenstein then singled through the right side of the infield, scoring O'Brien from second before Salzenstein was thrown out at second trying to advance on a throw from right field.
Following a scoreless bottom half of the third inning for Arkansas, ISU exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-1 lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Ryan Anetsberger singled to right field and Kyle Cherney scored for the first run of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Welker balked allowing the runners to move up a base and Kevin Dubler to score from third base to make the score 3-1.
That ended the day for Welker and Edwardsville, Ill., product Shaun Seibert came into the ballgame for Arkansas to face Jesse Griswold. Griswold proceeded to drive a Seibert pitch deep to centerfield for a sacrifice fly, which scored Matt Bolt for the third run of the frame. After O'Brien struck out for the second out of the inning, Dan Weston was hit by a pitch to load up the bases once again. Salzenstein then walked to bring in Anetsberger from third base for the fourth run of the inning, widening the Redbirds' lead to four runs.
However, the Razorbacks would put up eight runs on six hits and a costly error in the bottom of the fifth inning, highlighted by a Wayne Hrozek three-run home run to left-centerfield, to take a 9-5 lead. The Redbirds would then answer with three runs on five-consecutive hits in the top of the sixth inning with two outs, highlighted by three-straight RBI singles by Salzenstein, Cherney, and Bolt that cut the Arkansas lead to 9-8.
ISU followed the three-run sixth inning with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning to regain the lead 11-9. Griswold got the scoring started with a RBI single that scored Anetsberger. After Mike Stalowy advanced Griswold to second on a sacrifice bunt, O'Brien then followed with double down the right field line to score Griswold for the second run of the inning. Weston then brought in O'Brien for the third run of the inning on a single to widen the lead to two runs.
Arkansas would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh on a dropped fly by O'Brien in left field to cut the Redbirds' lead to one at 11-10. O'Brien then came in to pitch for Copeland in the top of the eighth and shut down the Razorbacks to send the game to the ninth inning. Mike Tokarski, who came in as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the eighth, led off the inning with a single and then advanced to second base on an errant throw by Arkansas third baseman Casey Coon. Tokarski then advanced to third base on a ground out by O'Brien and later scored on ground out by Weston to widen the ISU lead to 12-10.
Brownlee was impressed with the way his team battled all day to get the victory, and hopes it's a sign of things to come.
"I'm really proud of our kids to battle back and win like that, because I don't think I've ever seen a team score eight runs in an inning and lose," said Brownlee. "We were playing then No. 5 team in the country and their home ballpark and still found a way to get the victory, and that says a lot about the heart of this team. This is a win that you can really build off of and it was a great day for Redbird baseball. "
Five Redbird players had two hits on the day, including Salzenstein who led the way with three RBI and a run scored. ISU and Arkansas will complete the three-game weekend series on Sunday at Baum Stadium. Senior Luke Baughman (0-1, 12.27 ERA) will take the mound for the Redbirds, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
