LOUISVILLE - No. 3 seed Illinois State jumped out to a five run-lead over No. 2 seed Indiana after six innings of play, before IU fought back to tie the game in the seventh inning. However, 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Joe Carter Player of the Year Joe Aeilts came up big with a RBI double in the top of the eighth inning to propel the Redbirds (35-24) to an 8-7 win over the Hoosiers (36-22) in the Louisville Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium Friday afternoon.
Top Hitters:
•   Derek Parola: 5-for-6, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
•   Jack Butler: 4-for-5, 2B, 2 Runs, 1 RBI
•   Joe Aeilts: 2-for-4, 2B, 1 Run, 1 RBI (game winning RBI in 8th)
Pitching Breakdown:
•   Brent Headrick (Starter): 6.0 IP, 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 4 BB, 14 K
•   Colton Johnson: 0.1 IP, 1 Hit, 3 Runs, 3 ER, 2 BB
•   Jeff Lindgren: 0.1 IP, 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
•   Dalton Harvey (W, 1-0): 2.1 IP, 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 3 K
Scoring Breakdown:
•   The Hoosiers jumped out to a quick lead on a two-run homer off the bat of Elijah Dunham in the bottom of the first inning
•   ISU answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second on RBI singles by Aidan Huggins and Parola to tie the game at 2-2
•   The Redbirds tacked on two more runs in the top of the third to take a 4-2 lead on a RBI groundout by Nick Zouras and a RBI single by Jack Butler
•   Illinois State added three more runs in the top of the sixth inning to push the advantage to 7-2 … Parola drove in his second run of the day to start things off and Jordan Libman followed with a RBI single of his own before a RBI groundout by Joe Butler plated the third run of the frame
•   Indiana pushed five runs across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game headed into the eighth
•   The 'Birds responded with a run in the top of the eighth to take the lead back at 8-7, after Aeilts doubled off the left field wall to drive in Parola for the go-ahead run
•   Harvey slammed the door in the ninth, striking out the final batter of the game with a runner on third to preserve the victory
Quote from Coach Holm On The Late Scare From The Hoosiers
"That's obviously not the way we drew it up in the seventh inning. We had a huge performance to start from Brent Headrick and things got squirrely in the seventh, but Dalton Harvey came in and bailed us out. Our offense swung the bats really well and balls were falling in for us most of the game. We got a lot of momentum that way and it carried us to the win today."Â
Game Notes:
•   The win for the Redbirds is their third in NCAA Tournament play (one each in 1976 and 2010) … the tournament-opening win was their second, matching the opening win in 1976Â
•   The 18 hits are the most for ISU in a NCAA Tournament game and the eight runs scored tie a program high in the postseason
•   Headrick struck out a career-high 14 batters but did not factor into the decision
•   Parola tied a career high with five hits in the win over the Hoosiers
•   The win on the mound for Harvey was his first of the season and of his career at ISU
Up Next:
The Redbirds will face host Louisville tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT. For updates on Illinois State Baseball at the NCAA Regional, 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.
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