NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team took down Missouri State, 4-2, on ESPNU behind a strong outing from fifth-year senior Colton Johnson on Friday at Duffy Bass Field.
Johnson moved into 7th in school history with 231 career strikeouts after recording five strikeouts in six and two-thirds innings, allowing four hits, and one earned run.
Illinois State (19-29 overall, 9-12 Missouri Valley Conference) also got a key solo home run by freshman Ryan Cermak en route to snapping its six-game losing streak.
Jack Duffy recorded his 200th career hit for Missouri State (16-20 overall, 6-11 MVC).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cermak blasted a 407-foot home run to left-center field to put ISU up, 1-0 after two innings.
The Bears got the run back in the 3rd inning.
MSU elected to intentionally walk fifth-year junior Jack Butler but plunked Cermak to force in a run. A sacrifice fly by fifth-year senior Joe Butler extended the Redbirds' advantage to 3-1. Fourth-year junior Kyle Soberano singled to right-center as Cermak hustled home to score on an error by the Bears' right fielder.
Missouri State scored once in the 9th but second-year freshman Erik Kubiatowicz posted the one-out save for ISU.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Fourth-year junior Tyson Hays added two hits and a run scored.
- Fourth-year sophomore Jake McCaw now has 27 hits in his last 54 at-bats. McCaw was 1-for-2 with two walks.
- Soberano is now 13 for his last 26. He was 1-for-3 with a walk.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is scheduled to face Missouri State in a doubleheader on Saturday prior to a single game on Sunday beginning at 1:00 on both days. All three games will be on ESPN3.
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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