NORMAL, Ill. – In the first home games of the 2018 season, the Illinois State Redbirds dropped a pair of games to the Creighton Bluejays, falling 5-1 in the opener and then 7-5 in the evening finale.
The opening game saw the Redbirds out-hit the Bluejays 7-to-5; however, the visitors held the edge in runs, scoring five times from their five hits, while ISU had just one run in the contest. Jordan Libman went 2-for-4 at the plate for the 'Birds, as Brady Huffman picked up a tough-luck loss. The sophomore went five innings and gave up three hits and allowed one earned run while striking out five.
Creighton struck first in the game when Clark Brinkman singled to open the game, stole second, advanced to third on a fly-out, and then scored on a Redbird error for an unearned run. The visitors added to their lead with two runs in the fifth inning, one of which was unearned.
Illinois State struck back with one out in the inning when John Rave clubbed a solo home run just inside of the right field fair pole. The visitors added two more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-1 lead, a margin that would remain through the remainder of the contest.
The Redbirds took the first lead of the second game of the doubleheader when Nick Zouras tripled down the right field line, before scoring a batter later on a wild pitch, pushing the Redbirds to a 1-0 lead after two innings.
Illinois State added to their lead in the third inning when Collin Braithwaite grounded into a bases-loaded fielder's choice, scoring Derek Parola. After a walk to Joe Aeilts and a pitching change, Noah Sadler singled home Braithwate and Rave, pushing the Redbird lead to 4-1 after three innings of game play.
Creighton scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Redbird advantage in half at 4-2, and then took the lead on the back of a four-run seventh inning, claiming a 6-4 advantage. Another run in the seventh pushed the Bluejay advantage to 7-4.
The Redbirds got a run back in the bottom of the eighth inning when Aeilts scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to two at 7-5. That would be the extent of the runs scored in the game, as Illinois State's ninth-inning rally could not produce a run, ending the game at 7-5.
The two teams are currently scheduled to meet on Saturday, March 24, at 2 p.m. at Duffy Bass Stadium.
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