Box Score | Bo Durkac Postgame
NORMAL, Ill. – The Indiana State baseball team scored in six of nine innings to slowly build and sustain a lead as the visiting Sycamores earned a 9-6 win over Illinois State Friday night at Duffy Bass Field.
Illinois State (12-32, 1-12 MVC) was plagued by three errors and unbalanced production from its lineup. The top five hitters in the Redbird lineup combined to go 13-of-24 from the plate, while the bottom four went 0-for-15.
John Rave, Owen Miller and Collin Braithwaite tallied three hits each, and Miller hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season in Friday's loss. Miller extended his hitting streak to a team-best 10 games, while also driving in three runs, marking his seventh-consecutive game with at least one run driven in.
Illinois State grabbed an early lead Friday as the first four Redbirds singled to start the bottom of the first. Miller's single to left field scored Rave, and Braithwaite plated Noah Sadler with a single up the middle.
Indiana State (22-20, 8-5) got a run back in the second on Clay Dungan's home run that just cleared the right-field fence. The Sycamores then took the lead in the third when Dane Geisler first tied the game with a sacrifice fly before Tony Rosselli doubled down the left-field line on a bloop that fell harmlessly between three Redbird fielders.
The Redbirds came back to tie it in the bottom of the third. Miller cleared the left-field fence for a solo homer and Braithwaite later scored when Nick Zouras grounded into a double play.
The Sycamores reclaimed the lead, though, with an RBI single from Dominic Bifano, and then made it a three-run lead, at 7-4, on Rosselli's two-run homer in the fifth.
Illinois State scratched out a run on Derek Parola's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth, but the Sycamores got it back in the top of the seventh on Cody Gardner's RBI groundout.
The Redbirds got back within two runs on Miller's RBI groundout in the eighth, but the Sycamores reestablished a three-run lead on Gardner's run-scoring single in the ninth.
Redbird starter Brady Huffman allowed seven runs (six earned) over the first 5.2 innings. Colton Johnson allowed one unearned run over 2.1 innings to follow. Jeff Lindgren allowed one run in the ninth.
The Redbirds return to Duffy Bass Field Saturday at 2 p.m. for the second game of their weekend series with Indiana State. Links live audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com and fans can 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.
