NORMAL, Ill. – Trailing 2-0 through six innings, the Illinois State Redbirds rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, but could not score in the extra inning, falling to the SIUE Cougars by a 7-2 final score.
Freshman Tyson Hays led the Redbirds by going 2-for-4 on the day, as the team's other five hits came from five different batters. Jack Butler and Hays scored the team's two runs, as Hays and John Rave drove in the runners.
The teams played through three scoreless innings, before the Cougars scratched the scoreboard first with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, jumping ahead to a 2-0 lead.
Neither team could find the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Pinch hitter Butler hit a one-out single to put the first runner on base in the seventh inning, before Hays hit a two-out double to the left field wall, scoring Butler and cutting the deficit in half. A batter later, Rave singled to center field, chasing home Hays, and knotting the score at two runs apiece.
The Redbird defense came up big in the top of the eighth inning when the second SIUE batter of the inning advanced to third on a single and a two-base error; however, a batter later the Cougar batter hit the ball directly to shortstop Owen Miller who threw home to catcher Hays for the tag-out, keeping the tie score intact.
In the top of the 10th the Cougar offense erupted, scoring five times, while Illinois State was unable to get any offensive action in their half of the 10th inning, falling 7-2.
The Redbirds used eight pitchers in the game, as redshirt freshman Jacob Gilmore got the start and went two innings, striking out three batters in the no-decision. Paul Turelli picked up his first loss of the season in relief. The eight Illinois State pitchers combined for nine strikeouts and just four walks over the 10 innings of the game.
Illinois State returns to action on Wednesday, April 18, when the team travels to Charleston, Illinois, to take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers in a 3 p.m. first pitch.
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