NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Illinois State rallied for one run in the eighth inning and one run in the ninth inning to force extra innings, before falling to Butler, 7-6, in 10 innings Sunday afternoon in a neutral-site game in Nashville, Tenn. The Redbirds earned a split in the two-game, non-conference series versus Butler.
Trailing 6-4 going into the eighth inning, the Redbirds rallied for a run off Butler relief pitcher Peter Nyznyk. With two outs, Daniel Dwyer singled. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then moved to third base when the final pitch of a walk to Paul DeJong resulted in the second wild pitch of the inning. Brock Stewart then lined a run-scoring single off the left-handed Nyznyk to make it a one-run game. Kyle Allen entered the game for Butler and retired Brian Rodemoyer to end the threat.
In the ninth inning, Mike Hollenbeck lined a leadoff single to left field off Allen. Jack Czeszewski then singled and Sean Beesley added a bunt single to load with bases with no outs. Allen retired Joe Kelch, before Dennis Colon lifted a sacrifice-fly to center field to score Hollenbeck and tie the game.
In the tenth inning, Butler rallied for one run off Jeremy Rhoades (0-1), to secure the walk-off win. Drew Small opened the frame with a bloop-single down the right field line. Alex Horowitz reached on a fielder's choice after Rhoades' fired late to second base on Horowitz's attempted sacrifice bunt. Following a sacrifice-bunt from Michael Fries, the Redbirds intentionally walked Quincy Quintero to load the bases with one out. Nick Bartolone's groundball past a drawn-in Redbird infield ended the game. Allen (1-0) earned the win and tallied one strikeout in 2.1 innings of work.
Illinois State starter Dylan Craig allowed just two runs in six innings of work and finished with a no-decision. Craig struck out six and allowed just four hits before leaving the game with a 4-2 lead.
The Redbirds jumped to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the third inning on DeJong's two-run single, and Butler got one run back in the bottom half of the third on a sacrifice-fly. The Redbirds tagged Butler starter Kyle Kramp for two runs on three hits and chased the Bulldogs hurler from the game after just four innings.
In the fifth, Cody Voelker tallied a RBI-double and Mason Snyder added a run-scoring single, before Butler got one run back in the bottom half of the inning. The Redbirds led, 4-2, after six innings.
Will Headean entered the game for Illinois State in the seventh inning and was tagged for four runs in one inning of work. Butler took advantage of a misplayed ball in center field to load the bases with no outs. A two-out, two-run single from Chris Maranto tied the game at four, before Horowitz's two-run single gave Butler its first lead of the weekend.
Defensively, the Redbirds turned four double-plays and Redbird pitchers tallied 10 strikeouts. Illinois State followed Saturday night's 13-hit performance with 14 hits Sunday.
Illinois State will return to action Friday, Feb. 21, with game one of a four-game series at Arkansas State. First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. from Jonesboro, Ark.
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