April 8, 2009
Final Stats
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Mike Stalowy drove in four runs and Evan Kohli knocked in three while helping lift the Illinois State Redbirds to a 12-11 win over Purdue at Lambert Field Wednesday.
Stalowy finished 2-for-4 with a home run and a triple, while Kohli went 3-for-3 and reached in all five of his plate appearances. Matt Werderitch earned his first collegiate win after pitching two scoreless innings of relief and Jim Sajewich closed the door in the ninth for his third save.
The Redbirds (14-9) had to rally twice in Wednesday's game, including climbing out of a 5-0 hole after the Boilermakers (13-14) plated five runs in the first inning off of Illinois State starter Ben Hays. Kohli hit a solo home run to cut the lead to four in the second inning and a three-run blast by Stalowy made it 5-4 after three. The Redbirds scored four runs in the top of the fourth and took their first lead on an RBI single by Collin Salzenstein.
Hays, who made his first appearance of the 2009 season, settled down to strikeout two in the second inning and hold the Boilermakers scoreless. He fanned two more in the third before Purdue loaded the bases and he was lifted for Kenny Long. Long struck out Brandon Haveman to end the inning, but pulled within one after plating a pair in the fourth.
Purdue a single run in the fifth to tie the ballgame at eight and then went ahead in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Ben Wogamot to Alex Jaffee, while holding the Redbirds scoreless.
Illinois State scored four runs over the final three innings, tying the game with one in the seventh and building a 12-9 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Werderitch retired six of the seven batters he faced and gave up just one hit. His most impressive work came in a 1-2-3 seventh inning, when he retired Eric Charles, Dan Black and Drew Madia, who had combined to reach in 10-of-12 previous plate appearances.
Sajewich entered the game in the ninth and struck out Wogamot, but Haveman hit a solo home run and the Boilermakers drew a walk after loading the bases to make it a 12-11 contest. Despite the drama, Sajewich got Jaffee to pop-up to first to end the game.
Court, Gabe DeMarco and Tyler McNeely all had two hits for Illinois State and five different Redbirds scored two runs each. Hays finished with five strikeouts and Long notched six in 3.1 innings. In all, Illinois State pitchers fanned 14 Purdue batters.
The Redbirds resume their Missouri Valley Conference slate when they welcome Missouri State for a three-game series at Duffy Bass Field, starting Friday at 6 p.m.
