NORMAL, Ill. - Dylan Craig pitched eight scoreless innings and tallied a career-best 11 strikeouts to guide Illinois State (19-10, 5-4 Missouri Valley Conference) to a 3-1 victory over Dallas Baptist (23-8, 5-1 Missouri Valley Conference) Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. The victory marked the 1,700th career win for Illinois State baseball.
Craig (4-1) earned his first victory since March 8 and worked a season-best eight innings. He retired 11 batters in a row at one point and worked four 1-2-3 innings. David Suarez (3) allowed one run in the ninth inning, but finished the game for the save. Cory Taylor (2-1) was ticketed for three earned runs in seven innings for the defeat. He struck out three and walked two.
The Redbirds tallied all of their scoring in the sixth inning. Sean Beesley opened the frame with a single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice from Daniel Dwyer. With two outs, Mike Hollenbeck knocked an infield single up the middle to plate Beesley and give the Redbirds a 1-0 advantage. After two walks loaded the bases, Jack Czeszewski ripped a two-run single to cap the Redbird scoring.
Dallas Baptist knocked consecutive doubles in the ninth inning to score once off Suarez, but the Redbird closer retired KJ Alexander to end the game.
Illinois State will return to action with a non-conference contest Tuesday afternoon at Northern Illinois. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m. from DeKalb.
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