GREENVILLE, N.C. – Third-year sophomore Gunner Peterson doubled off the center field wall to drive in two runs, tying the game in the 9th inning at No. 7 East Carolina. The Pirates ultimately prevailed, 4-3, in the 11th inning on a ground ball through the left side on Friday at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
Fifth-year senior Colton Johnson threw seven innings, conceding seven hits, three earned runs, and striking out nine batters for Illinois State (5-10 overall).
Fourth-year junior Colin Wyman provided 3.1 innings of relief, giving up one earned run while fanning six Pirates.
Illinois State left the bases loaded twice in a game that featured 32 strikeouts between the two teams.
East Carolina (14-3 overall) got two home runs from Thomas Francisco and retired 16 consecutive Redbirds from the 3rd to 8th innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fifth-year junior Aidan Huggins led off the game with a double down the left field line and was eventually driven in by a sacrifice fly from fifth-year senior Jordan Libman.
Francisco narrowly homered over the right field wall in the bottom of the first and homered to in the 6th inning to put ECU up, 3-1.
Fourth-year juniors Tyson Hays and Jack Butler each reached before Gunner Peterson delivered the game-tying blow.
Wyman held the Pirates at bay, but ECU was able to scratch across a run in the 11th inning to pull out the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The 32 combined strikeouts were the most in an ISU game since there were 33 against Missouri State on 5/7/2010. The 15 strikeouts pitched were the most by the Redbirds against a ranked team this century. The last time ISU struck out 15 batters in total was against Indiana on 5/31/2019 in the NCAA Tournament.
- Wyman's six strikeouts were the most by a Redbird reliever since Colton Johnson fanned seven on 5/5/2019.
- Johnson now has three-straight outings with 8+ K's and 29 in his last three starts. He joins Neal Cotts and Corey Maines as ISU pitchers with multiple three-game stretches with 28+ strikeouts this century.
- 23 of the 25 batters that stepped up to the plate in game struck out at least once.
- Illinois State has now lost on a walk-off hit for the third time this season. It beat Western Illinois on a walk-off hit on 3/9.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will face to seventh-ranked East Carolina March 20-21 for two more games. First pitch Saturday is at 3:00 p.m. CT. 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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