NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team's comeback attempt came up short as the team dropped the series finale against Missouri, 12-7, on Sunday at Duffy Bass Field.
ISU trailed 7-0 after three innings but could never quite get over the hump as it got as close as 9-7 in the contest.
Fifth-year senior Jordan Libman led Illinois State (5-9 overall), going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Fifth-year junior Aidan Huggins was 1-for-2 with a double, RBI, run scored, and three walks.
First-year freshman Josh Dima provided two scoreless innings in relief.
The Redbirds drew 12 walks but left nine runners stranded on the day.
Missouri (7-10 overall) had eight different players score at least one run and had six players with multiple hits.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tigers scored two runs in the 1st before putting in four more in the 2nd and scratching across another in the 3rd, making the score 7-0.
A bases-loaded walk in the 4th inning by first-year freshman Luke Cheng pushed a Redbird run prior to a two-RBI single by Libman.
Fifth-year senior Joe Butler scored on a wild pitch in 5th inning to cut the MU lead to 7-4, but a two-out hit in the top of the 6th moved the score out to 9-4, in favor of the Tigers.
The Redbirds responded, though, as Huggins doubled plate Libman before third-year sophomore Gunner Peterson knocked in Huggins to trail the Tigers, 9-6, through six innings.
ISU added another run in 7th, but Missouri scored a trio of runs in the final two innings to pad its lead before the final out.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The 12 walks drawn are the most in an ISU loss since 3/1/2015, when the team drew 12 at top-ranked Vanderbilt a 16-10 loss. The 12 walks are the most by the Redbirds since the team drew 15 at Belmont on 2/15/2019 in a 27-11 win.
- Illinois State had five players (Huggins, Joe Butler, fourth-year junior Jack Butler, fourth-year sophomore Jake McCaw, second-year freshman Ryan Cermak) draw at least two walks.
- The 17 assists are the most for the Redbirds since 3/10/2018 (17 at Washington).
- Cheng was active defensively, recording five putouts, four assists, and an error at shortstop.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will head to ninth-ranked East Carolina from March 19-21 for a three-game set. The games will be on ESPN+.
For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Baseball).
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