CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Fresh off a 13-run offensive output, the Illinois State baseball team's bats fell flat at SEMO as the team dropped the series finale, 8-1, on Sunday at Capaha Field.
Fifth-year senior Joe Butler was 2-for-4 with a home run, double, RBI, and run scored for Illinois State (3-6 overall). The run was his 100th career run scored, becoming the 44th Redbird to score 100 career runs.
Fifth-year senior Jordan Libman was also 2-for-4, recording his third-straight two-hit game and extending his season-opening hitting streak to nine games.
SEMO (5-6 overall) got seven of its 10 hits out of the 7-8-9 batters in the lineup.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redhawks scored the first five runs of the game, sparked by a three-run home run in the 3rd inning.
Joe Butler's home run provided a run for the 'Birds in the 6th inning, but a three-run 7th inning for SEMO broke the game open in favor of the Redhawks.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Illinois State was out-hit for the first time in 2021 as SEMO had a 10-8 advantage in hits.
- First-year freshman Josh Dima recorded two pickoffs in the 5th inning.
- Third-year sophomore Derek Salata got back on track in his third appearance of the year, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is scheduled for its first home game in 655 days on Tuesday, a 6:00 p.m. game against Western Illinois. The game is tentatively scheduled to be on ESPN+/3 and will be the earliest home opener in school history.
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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