May 20, 2009
Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. - Two of Illinois State's meetings with Missouri State during the regular season were decided on walk-off hits - both ending in the Redbirds' favor. Missouri State turned the tables but kept to the script as they used a walk-off grand slam by Daniel Torrente to claim a State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament-opening win over the Redbirds, 9-6, at Eck Stadium Wednesday.
Torrente entered the game as a pinch hitter with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and lifted a Kenny Long offering up and out of the ballpark to give the top-seeded Bears the win over the sixth-seeded Redbirds. Illinois State used a walk-off hit to hand Missouri State its first conference loss earlier this season, and then handed the Bears their first conference series loss with another in the series finale.
Illinois State entered the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead, thanks to a two-run home run by Gabe DeMarco in the top of the eighth. Long had pitched a scoreless eighth, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth by hitting Brayden Drake to lead off. Brett Marshall followed with a walk and Chris Playter singled to load the bases, before Torrente blasted an offering from Long over the left field fence.
The Redbirds and Bears traded the lead throughout the contest. Illinois State led 2-1 after the second, but the Bears used three runs over the next two innings to lead 4-3. Illinois State tied the game in the fifth but a single run by Missouri State in the seventh made it 5-4. That's when DeMarco hit his home run to give the Redbirds the edge again.
Kyle Nelson was tagged for seven hits in four innings but limited the Bears to four runs. Quinn Ewert surrendered one run in three solid innings of relief, and Long gave up four runs on two hits in just over one inning.
DeMarco drove in three runs and finished 1-for-2. Ryan Court, Evan Kohli, Mike Stalowy all had two hits for the Redbirds. Kohli hit a home run to lead off the second - his third of the season.
Playter, Ben Carlson and Aaron Conway each had two hits for Missouri State. Tyler Ryun drove in two runs, one on a solo home run in the fourth.
Illinois State will meet No. 2 Indiana State Thursday at 3 p.m. and No. 3 Wichita State at 7 p.m. Friday. The Redbirds are grouped with the Sycamores and Shockers in Pod 2 and the team with the best overall record after three days of competition will advance to Saturday's title game against the winner of Pod 1. That game will be televised on the Fox Sports Networks, starting with a pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.
