Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. – Brady Huffman turned in one of Illinois State's best pitching performances of the season and Collin Braithwaite had a big day at the plate as Illinois State earned a 4-2 win over visiting Dayton Saturday at Duffy Bass Field.
Huffman allowed just one earned run on five hits over seven innings, walking none and fanning six. His outing was the longest turned in by a Redbird pitcher in 2017, and his six strikeouts matched the most by a Redbird hurler this year.
Braithwaite went 2-for-4 from the dish with a two-run home run in the third inning that gave the Redbirds a lead, before later contributing a tie-breaking RBI single that put Illinois State (8-20) ahead for good.
With Huffman exiting the game after the seventh inning, Redbird reliever Mitch Vogrin tossed two scoreless frames to record his second save of the season.
Dayton (10-18) scored first Saturday in the top of the third inning when Brantley Johnson reached on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Bailey Montoya and scored from second on a single up the middle from Conner Wilson.
The Redbirds took the lead in the bottom half of the inning, however, with a two-out, two-run home run from Braithwaite with Joe Aeilts aboard. Â
Dayton tied it on a two-out RBI single from Wilson in the fifth, but Illinois State took the lead on an RBI single from Braithwaite in the seventh, and then made a 4-2 lead moments later on a wild pitch.
Vogrin allowed a Dayton baserunner in each of the game's final two innings, but got out of both unscathed. Vogrin induced a 6-4-3 double play from Cale Dineen to end the game.
Owen Miller, Derek Parola, Braithwaite and Aeilts tallied two hits each for Illinois State.
The Redbirds and Flyers will play the finale of their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. Links for live audio and stats can be found at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter for live updates and more.
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