NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Illinois State baseball team beat Belmont, 11-7, at E.S. Rose Park on Sunday behind 14 Redbird hits and seven stolen bases.
Third-year junior Auggie Rasmussen had four hits, three runs scored, while joining second-year sophomore JT Sokolove with a trio of steals apiece.
Fourth-year junior Greg Nichols and third-year sophomore Judah Morris each had two hits and three RBIs.
Fourth-year junior Erik Kubiatowicz recorded the win, throwing three innings and allowing one run while sixth-year senior Jared Hart posted his second save of the season by striking out the lone batter he faced.
The Bruins' (14-12 overall, 2-1 MVC) had their seven-game winning streak snapped.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bruins struck in the opening inning before Sokolove singled in a run and fourth-year junior Shaydon Kubo doubled home a run in the 3rd inning to put the 'Birds ahead, 2-1.
Fifth-year senior Dylan Swarmer hit his first official home run in the 4th inning, a solo shot to left field.
In the 5th inning, Nichols singled home Rasmussen before Morris knocked in two 'Birds to extend the ISU lead to 6-1, but Belmont responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning.
Kubo (RBI single), Nichols (two-RBI double), and Morris (RBI single) bumped the Redbird lead to 10-4 after six innings before the Bruins cut the gap to 10-6 in the 8th inning.
Second-year sophomore Blake Stenger singled, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error, then scored on a sacrifice fly by third-year junior Luke Cheng in the 9th inning to extend the Redbird lead to 11-6.
Belmont led off the 9th inning with a solo home run and stranded runners on first and third base to end the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Rasmussen and Sokolove are the first pair of Redbird teammates with three steals in a game since at least 2000. No Redbird had stolen three bases in a game since Sean Beesley on 4/10/2014 vs Robert Morris.
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Seven steals (Rasmussen, Sokolove three each; Stenger, one) is the most steals in a game for ISU since 5/14/2017 vs Southern Illinois (also seven)
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The Redbirds had gone five-straight games without a steal prior to Sunday.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is scheduled to face 19-3 Iowa at home with a 5:00 p.m. CT start time at Duffy Bass Field.
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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