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Illinois State University Athletics

Danny Dingers
6
Illinois State ILS 18-30
7
Winner Valparaiso VALPO 20-23
Illinois State ILS
18-30
6
Final
7
Valparaiso VALPO
20-23
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Illinois State ILS 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 6 6 1
Valparaiso VALPO 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 3 X 7 11 0

W: Jablonski, Grant (2-4) L: Dale, Elijah (2-5) S: Nowak, Bobby (2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Illinois State Edged Late by Valparaiso, 7-6

VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Illinois State baseball team was edged by Valparaiso, 7-6, on Thursday at Emory G. Bauer Field as the Redbirds allowed three runs in the 8th inning.

Illinois State (18-30 overall, 7-18 Missouri Valley Conference) will await the result of the Belmont at Bradley game, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT, to see if it still has a chance at qualifying for the MVC Tournament. Illinois State would need Bradley to sweep a three-game series against Belmont, in addition to winning the final two games at Valparaiso.

The Redbirds were led by freshmen Luke Lawrence and Daniel Pacella with Lawrence reaching base four times and scoring three times while Pacella homered and tallied four RBIs. Third-year junior Elijah Dale recorded 11 strikeouts in relief.

Valparaiso (20-23 overall, 10-15 MVC) secured a spot in the MVC Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Valparaiso scored the game's first run in the 3rd inning.

Pacella smacked a two-run homer in the 4th inning. but the Beacons responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.

Pacella added a two-RBI double in the 6th inning to regain the lead for Illinois State, but Valparaiso tied it at 4-4 through six innings.

In the 7th inning, Lawrence tallied an RBI ground-rule double just inside the left field line before third-year junior Auggie Rasmussen went off the center field wall for an RBI triple.

After the leadoff batter reached on a strikeout in the 8th inning, Valparaiso rallied to take a 7-6 lead.

ISU got a runner on via a dropped-third strikeout with two out in the 9th inning but Lawrence's line drive to deep left-center was hauled in on the warning track to end the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Lawrence hit leadoff for the first time in his career.

  • Dale has 65 strikeouts on the season, the second-most by a Redbird reliever since 2000 (Kenny Long had 74 in 2010)

  • Fourth-year junior Erik Kubiatowicz struck out the lone batter he faced.

UP NEXT

Illinois State is scheduled to play Valparaiso Friday (1:00 p.m. CT) and Saturday (1:00 p.m. CT).

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). 

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.

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