March 21, 2009
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. - Evan Kohli went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run Saturday, but a six-run eighth inning sunk the Redbirds in an 8-5 loss to Evansville at Duffy Bass Field. The loss evened the Missouri Valley Conference-opening series at one game each and sets up an important finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
Kohli finished a triple away from the cycle while leading the Redbirds in hits (4), runs scored (2) and RBI (2). In his first at bat, Kohli hit his first long ball as a Redbird over the right-field fence, the second of back-to-back home runs for Illinois State in the first inning. Redbird senior Mike Stalowy hit his first career home run to left field in the previous at bat.
The two-run outburst by the Redbirds answered an Evansville run in the top of the first inning and gave Illinois State a 2-1 lead through the first four innings. A day after UE's Wade Kapteyn and ISU's Ryan Camp went back-and-forth on the mound, Evansville's John Foley and Illinois State's Ryan Copeland went toe-to-toe on the hill.
After giving up the home runs, Foley settled in and retired seven of the next eight batters he faced. Copeland was equally as impressive, retiring eight consecutive after yielding the run in the top of the first.
Illinois State had an opportunity with runners on first and second and no outs in the fourth inning, but a sharp grounder from Ryan Court was turned into a pair of outs and Matt Mirabal struck out looking to end the threat.
Evansville tied the game in the top of the fifth after a throwing error allowed Jim Viscomi to score after stealing third, but the real damage came in the eighth inning when Evansville scored six runs on six hits.
Greg Wallace led off the inning with a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a ground out by Andy Pascoe. Illinois State intentionally walked Nate Smith to put runners on the corners and try for a double play. Instead, Copeland hit Alex Acheson to load the bases. Trentt Copeland followed with a deep fly ball to center field that dropped in for a hit and two RBI after Tyler McNeely fell down adjusting his route to the ball.
The Redbirds went to the bullpen and Kyle Nelson, but UE's Peter Tountas welcomed him to the game with a two-RBI single. Nelson struck out Andrew Gher. Evansville notched another two hits and two more runs before Nelson and Illinois State could get out of the inning.
Illinois State tried to rally in the bottom half of the inning and started a two-out rally on a single by Kohli. The Redbirds scored three runs on four hits and loaded the bases for Corey Maines - Friday night's walk-off home run hero - against Tom Heithoff - Friday night's losing pitcher. Heithoff got Maines on a called third strike to end the threat and worked around a double in the ninth to earn his third save of the season.
Foley struck out eight Redbirds in 7.2 innings and scattered nine hits in the win. Copeland was charged with five earned runs despite giving up just five hits in 7.1 innings.
Illinois State and Evansville conclude the series at 1 p.m. Sunday at Duffy Bass Field. Corey Maines will start for Illinois State against UE's Zach Taylor.
