Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Illinois State baseball team's improbable run through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament came to an end in the tournament's title game Sunday as Dallas Baptist scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to break open a 6-6 tie on its way to a 10-6 win at Hammons Field.
Dallas Baptist (40-19) earned the league's automatic NCAA postseason berth, while Illinois State (16-40) saw its season come to an end. The loss ended an unlikely run for the tourney's No. 8 seed, as Illinois State twice defeated top-seeded Missouri State to reach the title game, including once earlier in the day Sunday.
Illinois State spotted the Patriots a six-run lead as Dallas Baptist scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning, but the Redbirds got three back in the bottom half of the inning, and then three more in the eighth, courtesy of a three-run home run from Noah Sadler, to tie the game.
But Dallas Baptist scored four runs in the top of the ninth to break the tie and earn the title.
Illinois State was well-represented on the all-tournament team, with Brady Huffman, Derek Parola and Nick Zouras all earning the honor.
"I'm sure the Missouri Valley Conference didn't expect Illinois State to be hanging around until championship Sunday but we earned it because we played our tails off for four or five days down here," said Illinois State head coach Bo Durkac. "I'm so proud of our guys for the way they competed down the stretch, going back to the Missouri State series at the end of the regular season. The members of the MVC won't forget this Illinois State team that gave some big dogs all they could handle."
Sunday's title game was a pitchers' duel for five innings, as Redbird starter Jeffrey Barton and DBU's MD Johnson took turns putting zeros on the scoreboard. Barton was aided by double-play balls that got him out of the second and third innings.
Dallas Baptist got on the scoreboard first, though, with a two-out binge in the sixth. Jon Skidmore was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to start the rally. A two-out, two-run single from Jameson Hannah moments later made it a 3-0 lead for the Patriots. One pitch after a Redbird pitching change, DBU's Devlin Granberg hit a three-run home run to give the Patriots a 6-0 lead.
Illinois State got half those runs back in the bottom of the inning, however. An RBI single from Parola plated Ryan Hutchinson. Then, with the bases loaded, Joe Butler drove in Owen Miller on a fielder's choice, while Parola came in right behind on a throwing error.
The Redbirds then tied it up in the bottom of the eighth on Sadler's blast to right field, but three hits, an error and a walk doomed the Redbirds the next half inning.
Granberg singled through the right side against a drawn-in infield to plate the Patriots first run of the inning. A sac fly from Matt Duce brought in another, and a two-run double from Tim Millard provided more insurance.
Jeff Lindgren, David Meade, Jack Bellinger, Matt Walker and Colton Johnson all pitched in relief of Barton. Sadler was the Redbirds lone player with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-4.
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