By: WJBC Staff
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Illinois State baseball team built an early 11-run lead but it wasn’t enough as Memphis rallied back to force extra innings and won it in the 11th inning when Colton Neel drew a bases-loaded walk to lift the hosts to a 12-11 victory at FedEx Park.
Illinois State led 11-0 after the top of the third inning, but Memphis scratched out two runs in the bottom half of the inning before plating seven more in the fifth. A two-out RBI single from Zach Schritenthal in the bottom of the ninth sent the game into extra innings, and the Tigers won it there in walk-off fashion.
Illinois State (2-3) scored in the first inning for the second day in a row Saturday, as Owen Miller’s double to left-center field scored Bryce Grimm, who singled to start the inning.
The second inning started with a bang as Collin Braithwaite homered on the first pitch he saw. After loading the bases, Miller delivered a two-run single. Nick Zouras followed with an RBI double and Noah Sadler drove in the next run when his grounder wasn’t handled by the Memphis shortstop. Another error – the Tigers’ third of the inning – allowed Sadler to score, making it an 8-0 lead for the Redbirds.
The offensive fireworks continued in the third inning. An RBI fielder’s choice from Miller and a two-run double from Sadler boosted the Redbirds’ lead to 11-0.
Memphis (3-2) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, although Redbird starter David Meade limited the damage after loading the bases with no outs. Run-scoring groundouts from Chris Carrier and Alec Trela gave the Tigers their first two runs of the game.
The Tigers continued their comeback in the fifth inning with seven more runs. Memphis loaded the bases with no outs again, and went station-to-station on a single from Tyler Webb and a walk drawn by Carlos Williams. Trent Turner then reached on an error to bring in another run before Kyle O’Keefe cleared the bases with a three-run triple. O’Keefe later scored on Jason Santana’s RBI groundout, cutting the Redbird lead to 11-9.
Memphis trimmed the lead to just a single tally with a run in the eighth inning. Webb’s two-out double sent Neel to third, but Neel was able to scurry home on a Redbird error.
Schritenthal’s RBI single in the ninth sent the game to extra innings and Neel’s bases-loaded walk in the 11th brought the game to its final score.
Ryan Hutchinson, Joe Aeilts, Grimm, Miller and Sadler tallied two hits each for the Redbirds. Sadler and Miller drove in three and four runs, respectively.
Meade took a no-decision after allowing six runs in 4.1 innings. Brent Headrick allowed three runs (one earned) in one inning of work before giving way to Mitch Vogrin, who allowed two runs (one earned) over 3.2 innings. Jeff Lindgren suffered the pitching loss after allowing the game-winning run, though it was an unearned run.
The Redbirds return to FedEx Park for the finale of their three-game series with Memphis Sunday at 1 p.m.
