LOUISVILLE – Illinois State rallied in the top of the ninth inning with two runs to tie the game against No. 7 national seed Louisville at 3-3, but the Cardinals (47-16) pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Redbirds (36-26) and win the Louisville Regional at Jim Patterson Stadium Monday afternoon.
Top Hitters:
•   Derek Parola: 2-for-3, 1 Run, 1 BB
•   Joe Butler: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Pitching Breakdown:
•   Colton Johnson (Starter): 7.1 IP (career high), 6 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (career high)
•   Jacob Gilmore (L, 2-2): 0.2 IP, 0 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 1 BB
•   Mitch Vogrin: 0.2 IP, 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB
Scoring Breakdown:
•   Louisville took advantage of an error in the bottom of the first inning to push across an unearned run and make the score 1-0.
•   A two-out RBI single off the bat of Butler scored Parola from second base in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1.
•   Pinch hitter Zach Britton came up big for the Cardinals yet again in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single off of Johnson to put Louisville up 2-1.
•   The Cardinals tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth to increase their lead to 3-1.
•   ISU rallied in the top of the ninth inning to knot the game at 3-3 … Jordan Libman scored on a Joe Aeilts fly ball that was misplayed in center that allowed Aeilts to move to third and he later scored on a RBI single to right field by Butler to tie it up headed to the bottom of the inning.
•   The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and Alex Binelas laced a single up the middle to give Louisville the walk-off winner and the regional title.
Tournament Notes:
•   The Redbirds won multiple games in the postseason for the first time in program history and advanced to their first Regional final.
•   Starting pitcher Matt Walker and first baseman Jack Butler were named to the All-Louisville Regional Team after strong performances … Walker threw a complete game to earn the victory against Louisville on Friday and Butler hits over .300 with four hits while playing stellar defense at first base.
•   ISU finishes the season with 36 wins, a 14-win improvement over last year, and the most wins for the Redbirds since winning 39 in 2013.
Quote from Coach Holm On Ending The Season In The Regional Final
"This is not the outcome we were looking for, but you know at the end of the day a bloop hit for them or a bloop hit for us could have changed the whole thing. You can't be more proud of this group and what they've accomplished in one calendar year, it's amazing. We'd like to thank all of our seniors, and some of our juniors who will move on in the draft for everything they did for the program and for us."
Up Next:
The MLB draft begins tonight, as several Redbirds hope to hear their names called over the next several days. For updates on Illinois State Baseball in the MLB Draft, 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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