DALLAS – The Illinois State Redbirds led over the first three innings of the game, and remain tied through five; however, the high-powered Dallas Baptist offense scored 10 total runs, ending the season for the Redbirds by a 10-6 final score.
John Rave was 3-for-5 at the plate for Illinois State, while Owen Miller was 2-for-4 with three RBI's. Rave scored twice, while Tyson Hays, Miller, Collin Braithwaite, and Jordan Libman each crossed the plate in the loss.
Dallas Baptist, the visiting team on the scoreboard, struck first with a game-opening solo home run from MVC Player of the Year Devlin Granberg.
The Redbirds rallied in the bottom of the second inning as Braithwaite and Libman reached base with a single and a walk. After a strikeout, Jake McCaw singled through the right side to score Braithwaite, before Jack Butler singled a batter later to drive in Libman, giving the Redbirds a 2-1 advantage.
After DBU scored twice in the top of the third inning to re-take the lead, ISU got a two-run home run off the bat of Miller, his sixth home run of the season over the wall in right field, scoring himself and Rave to put Illinois State back ahead 4-3. Miller ends the season as the program's single-season hits record holder with 88 hits on the year.
DBU tied the game with a run in the fourth, and took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth inning and three more in the seventh to lead 9-4.
The Redbirds would not go down without a fight, as Rave hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman catcher Hays drew a walk immediately after the home run, and was pushed around to score on Miller's RBI double, which cut the deficit to three at 9-6.
ISU got two hits over the last two-plus innings, as DBU scored in the top of the ninth to give the game its 10-6 final score.
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