WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Dylan Craig (3-0) fired a career-high 10 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings to lead Illinois State (8-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley Conference) to a 2-0 shutout victory Saturday over LIU Brooklyn in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Craig has amassed 19 strikeouts over his last 13 innings and has won his last three starts for the Redbirds.
Craig worked a season-best seven innings and did not allow a run on six hits. The left-hander issued one walk and worked three 1-2-3 innings. The win marked the 11th-career victory for the Murphysboro, Ill., native. David Suarez (2) collected his second save of the season and blanked the Blackbirds over the final two innings. Suarez added one strikeout. Bobby Maxwell (1-2) suffered the loss and allowed one earned run in five innings of work.
Dennis Colon sparked the Illinois State offense in the first inning, reaching on a one-out single before collecting the first stolen base of his Illinois State career. Mike Hollenbeck drove a 1-1- pitch into the outfield to score Colon and give Illinois State an early 1-0 advantage.
The Redbirds had scoring chances in the second, third, and fourth innings before adding to their lead in the sixth inning. With relief pitcher Nick Freijomil throwing, Mason Snyder launched a one-out double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a two-out single off the bat of Daniel Dwyer.
Craig worked 1-2-3 innings in the first, third and sixth frames. He struck out the side in the third inning and fanned the last two batters he faced in the seventh inning. Suarez allowed a two-out single in the eighth inning before fanning John Ziznewski to end the scoring threat and pitched a perfect ninth inning to secure the win.
Illinois State is now a season-best five games over .500.
The Redbirds continue play in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Sunday and will oppose Bucknell. Jeremy Rhoades will make his first start since 2012 and the contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST start.
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