By ISU Sports Information
EUGENE- The Illinois State baseball team was limited to just two hits over nine innings as No. 9 Oregon earned a 4-2 win at PK Park Friday night behind a strong effort by starting pitcher Cole Irvin.
Illinois State parlayed its two hits into a pair of runs, but Irvin allowed little more as the junior left-hander struck out 12 over seven stellar innings of work.
The Redbird bullpen was solid for the second-straight game, as relievers Jake Sale, Marcus McKinney and Rhett Rapshus combined for three scoreless innings in relief of Redbird starter Jacob Hendren, but Oregon reliever Stephen Nogosek shut the door, pitching two scoreless innings to earn the save.
Oregon (5-0) scored the first three runs of the game in the second inning. Daniel Patzlaff singled up the middle to score Matt Kroon to give the Ducks an early lead. A two-run triple from Austin Grebeck moments later made it a 3-0 lead.
Illinois State (1-4) got two runs back in the third, as Ryan Hutchinson plated Sean Beesley with a triple to right field. Daniel Dwyer then singled up the middle to score Hutchinson, cutting Oregon’s lead to one run.
The Ducks tacked on a run in the fifth, as Jakob Goldfarb singled through the left side of the infield to send Grebeck home.
Oregon’s Irvin left the game after seven innings, but Nogosek was just as good as his predecessor, allowing no hits and just one walk, while fanning four, over two scoreless innings.
Hendren allowed four runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out six over five innings. Sale, McKinney and Rapshus followed with scoreless innings of relief. Sale and Rapshus struck out two batters each.
The Redbirds return to PK Park for the third game of the four-game set Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. CT. Links for live video, audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can receive live updates by following @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter.