CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team piled up the runs as the Redbirds bounced back from an extra-inning loss at Southern Illinois Friday night with a 13-4 win over the Salukis Saturday afternoon at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Mason Snyder hit a grand slam for the Redbirds while starting pitcher Jacob Hendren came within one out of pitching a nine-inning complete game, which would have been the Redbirds' first in nearly two years.
"It was completely the opposite of last night," said Illinois State head coach Bo Durkac. "Last night was a complete team loss. We didn't hit well enough, we didn't pitch well enough, we didn't defend well enough. Today, Jacob pitched outstanding, and certainly 13 runs is a great result, offensively."
The Redbirds got on the scoreboard first Saturday as Daniel Dwyer and Jared Hendren singled to set the table. Dwyer scored on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Koziol and Hendren scored on a RBI single from Jean Ramirez.
Illinois State (18-17, 5-6 MVC) extended its lead with five runs in the fourth inning, with four of those runs coming on Snyder's grand slam. Sean Beesley also scored on a Southern Illinois error just before Snyder's fifth home run of the season.
Southern Illinois (8-31, 4-7) scored one unearned run in the fifth inning off Jacob Hendren, but Illinois State added six insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning. Jared Hendren plated the inning's first run with a sacrifice fly before Koziol drove in another run with a single to left field. Ramirez followed with a run-scoring infield single before the biggest hit of the inning, a three-run double from Logan Leverett.
Braden Mosley hit a three-run home run for Southern Illinois with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but ISU reliever Mitch Vogrin came on to record the final out of the game.
Jacob Hendren allowed four runs (three earned) over 8.2 innings of work, which matches the longest outing by a Redbird pitcher this season. Hendren scattered eight hits and walked just one, while striking out four.
Dwyer and Snyder collected three hits apiece in the win, accounting for half the Redbirds' 12 hits. Ramirez added a pair of hits and Dwyer scored a game-high three runs.
The final game of Illinois State's three-game series at Southern Illinois is Sunday. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
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