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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team rallied late but came up short in an 8-6 loss to Southern Illinois Saturday at Duffy Bass Field.
Illinois State (10-27, 1-6 MVC) scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and brought the potential game-tying run to the plate, but could not continue the rally.
The loss spoiled a solid outing by Redbird starter David Meade, who did not allow an earned run over six innings of work. Meade scattered four hits and walked two, while striking out five. His only blemish was a two-out, bases-clearing double in the fourth inning that was preceded by a Redbird error that kept the inning alive for the Salukis.
After the error, Taylor Martin cleared the bases with a double to the left-center field wall, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Illinois State got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when Sean Beesley's groundout scored Danny Jackson, but Southern Illinois cushioned its lead with three more runs the next half inning. Run-scoring singles from Jared Schmidt, Martin and Dyllin Mucha gave the Salukis a 6-1 lead in the top of the eighth.
Southern Illinois (23-16-1, 4-4) added two more insurance runs in the ninth on a two-run double from Martin.
Illinois State's offense came to life in the ninth, however, as Joe Kelch started the rally with an RBI single to left field. Blake Molitor followed with a run-scoring double. Owen Miller then clubbed a two-run double to chase Saluki reliever Seth Hackett. Daniel Dwyer singled up the middle to score Miller, but Southern Illinois closer Ryan Netemeyer struck out Derek Parola to end the game.
Kelch, Molitor, Miller and Dwyer collected two hits apiece for the Redbirds Saturday. Five of the team's 13 hits came in the ninth inning.
Illinois State returns to action Sunday for the series finale, beginning at 1 p.m. Admission is free. Links for live video, audio and stats can be found at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates from the games via Twitter, by following @RedbirdBaseball.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
