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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team took a one-run lead into the ninth inning but visiting Illinois tied it there and scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the 10th in a 6-5 win over the Redbirds Tuesday at Duffy Bass Field.
In Illinois State's annual "Stuff the Duff" game, a season-high crowd of 1,812 fans watched the Redbirds battle the Illini.
Illinois State (9-21) took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning on Noah Sadler's RBI single, but Illinois tied it in the ninth on a throwing error and won it in the 10th on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly from Tyler Engel.
Owen Miller did most of the heavy lifting for the Redbird offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, double, two walks and two runs scored.
Illinois (12-18) scored first Tuesday on an RBI groundout from Ben Troike in the top of the third inning. The Redbirds tied it in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run from Miller that cleared the left-field fence.
The Illini reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth on a two-out, two-run double to right field from Michael Massey. The visitors added another run in the sixth on a two-out RBI double from Jack Yalowitz to make it a 4-1 lead.
The Redbirds rallied in the seventh to tie the game. An RBI double from Collin Braithwaite plated Sadler for the first run in the inning. Nick Zouras chased home Braithwaite moments later with a single through the right side of the infield. Derek Parola capped the rally and tied the game with a two-out double to left-center field.
Illinois State grabbed the lead with on an RBI single up the middle from Sadler in the bottom of the eighth, but Illinois fought back to tie the game in the ninth, capitalizing on Mitch Vogrin's throwing error to first base to even the score.
The Illini came then scored the game-winner in the top of the 10th on Engel's sac fly.
Redbird starter Colton Johnson allowed three runs (two earned) over a career-long start of 4.2 innings. He scattered six hits, walked three and fanned one. Trevor Cross followed with 2.1 innings in relief, allowing just one run and striking out five. Vogrin allowed just the one unearned run over two innings in the eighth and ninth innings. Jack Landwehr suffered the loss after allowing the Illini run in the 10th inning.
The Illinois State baseball team returns to Duffy Bass Field on Wednesday to take on Illinois Wesleyan in the annual Horenberger-Bass Classic. First pitch is at 4 p.m. Admission is free and links for live video, audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also follow @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter for live updates and more.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
