March 29, 2008
Final Stats
OMAHA, Neb. -
Senior Kyle Cherney and junior Quinn Ewert each connected on their first home runs of the season, but it was not enough, as the Illinois State baseball team (9-12, 0-5 MVC) dropped its seventh-straight game, 15-6, to Creighton in a Missouri Valley Conference game Saturday afternoon at the Creighton Sports Complex.
Ewert finished the game with career-highs in hits (two) and RBI (three), as the Crystal Lake, Ill., native collected a double and a solo home run. Cherney hit the third home run of his career, finishing the day 1-for-4 with two RBI. Junior Kevin Dubler batted 1-for-3 with a single and two walks.
Freshman Corey Maines suffered his third loss of the season, as he pitched 4.1 innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on six hits. Maines (1-3) struck out four and walked two, while throwing 103 pitches. The Redbird pitching staff squandered a 5-3 lead after three and a half innings, as the group combined to give up 12 hits and allowed 12 base runners on walks (six) and hit batters (six). Creighton (17-7) improved to 3-2 in conference play, as the Bluejays scored runs in seven of eight innings at the plate.
"We surrendered six walks and six hit batters, and I don't think I have ever seen that," said head coach Jim Brownlee. "We didn't pitch very well today, but after we grabbed a 5-3 lead I felt pretty good. But we gave up runs in every inning except one; it wasn't a good day. Quinn was the only bright spot today, as he got his first chance in the outfield. Now he will get a chance to stay in the lineup for a while because he did a good job. He was competitive and gave us a big lift. He had a couple of big hits, including a home run. Our freshmen pitchers really struggled and I'm not sure why."
Illinois State threatened to score in the top of the first, after junior Mike Stalowy led off the inning with a bloop single to right field. The Redbirds then loaded the bases, as Dubler and sophomore Gabe DeMarco followed with walks with only out in the frame. But for the first time this season, the Redbirds were unable to score when Stalowy led off a game with a hit, as the next two batters were struck out to end the frame. After avoiding the potential big inning by the Redbirds, the Bluejays grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Creighton put two runners on via single and a hit batter, and third baseman Steve Winkelmann followed with a three-run homer to left field.
But the Redbirds came back and broke out of their offensive slump by scoring five runs, as Cherney blasted his first home run of the season. Dubler led off with a single to the hole at short and scored on a double to center field from DeMarco. Cherney followed with a towering, opposite field shot to left field on a 0-1 count to tie the game at three apiece. But Illinois State was not done, as freshman Ronnie Calvird walked and senior Kevin Konsler hit a ground rule double to left centerfield to put two runners in scoring position.
Ewert stepped up and hit a ground ball that got past the diving third baseman, allowing Calvird and Konsler to score and put the Redbirds ahead, 5-3. Ewert's double was his first hit in a Redbird uniform.
Illinois State's lead was short lived, as Creighton scored a run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game at 5-5. The Bluejays re-gained the lead in the following inning, as catcher Brett Mieras roped a double to right field to push across two runs and force Maines out of the ballgame. The Bluejays padded their lead with another run in the frame, as they took an 8-5 advantage into the sixth inning.
Creighton added to its offensive onslaught, as right fielder Nick Nordgren took a hanging curveball from relief pitcher Ben Hays deep over the left field wall to put two more runs on the board, 10-5. Ewert tallied the Redbirds' final run of the ball game, as he turned on a 3-2 fastball and sent it over the left field wall in the eighth off ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte. The Redbird pitching staff continued to have problems with control, allowing five more runs to cross the plate in the seventh and eighth innings.
The Redbirds will wrap up their three-game series at Creighton Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at the Creighton Sports Complex.
