NORMAL, Ill. – An 11-4 win in the regular season finale gave the Illinois State Redbirds a share of the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. ISU finished the regular season 32-22 and 14-7 in MVC play heading into the conference tournament held next week in Normal.
Top Hitters
Pitching Breakdown:
- Brett Wicklund (Starter): 2.0 IP, 6 Hits, 3 Runs, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's
- Jeff Lindgren (W, 5-4): 5.0 IP, 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's
- Colton Johnson: 1.0 IP, 0 Hits, 1 K's
- Jacob Gilmore: 1.0 IP, 0 Hits, 2 K's
Quote from Coach Holm on winning a share of the championship
"This is what we set out to do. We talked about it the first day of school, and it just means we had the right plan, and the team bought into it."
Scoring Breakdown:
- In the home half of the first inning, Joe Butler singled to left field to score John Rave to put the Redbirds up, 1-0.
- The Purple Aces responded with three runs in the top half of the second inning to take the lead, 3-1.
- Aeilts singled to left field in the bottom of the third inning to score Rave again to cut the lead in half, 3-2.
- Evansville scored one run in the top of the fourth inning on a solo home run to make it a two-run game, 4-2.
- Aidan Huggins singled to center field in the bottom of the fourth inning that scored Jack Butler to cut the lead in half again, 4-3.
- In the home half of the fifth inning, Joe Butler ripped a double down the left field line to score Jordan Libman to tie the game, 4-4. Later, Zouras doubled down the left field line as well to score Joe Butler to make the score, 5-4.
- Zouras doubled for the second time of the day in the home half of the seventh inning to drive home Libman and Peterson to extend the Redbirds lead, 7-4.
- In the eighth inning, the Redbirds scored four runs on three hits. Aeilts got it started reaching on a fielder's choice driving home Huggins. Joe Butler singled to left field to bring home Derek Parola. The next batter, Peterson singled to right field to bring home Aeilts and Butler to cap off the inning, 11-4.
Up Next:
The Redbirds return to action next week for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Duffy Bass Field. Illinois State will open its tournament action on Wednesday, May 22 when the team will play the winner of the first round game between Bradley and Southern Illinois in a 3 p.m. first pitch. For updates on Illinois State Baseball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (@isuredbirdbaseball).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
###
