By ISU Sports Information
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Illinois State baseball team won both games of a doubleheader Sunday at Western Kentucky, prevailing by scores of 12-4 and 4-3 at Nick Denes Field.
Illinois State scored eight runs over the final two innings to break a 4-4 tie in the opener, and then fended off a late comeback bid by the Hilltoppers in the nightcap, stranding the potential game-tying run at third and potential winning run at second in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Illinois State improved to 4-8 with the wins. Western Kentucky fell to 6-11.
Game 1
Illinois State broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the eighth inning and five more in the ninth to win the opening game of Sunday’s twin bill.
Illinois State cranked out a season-high 20 hits in the win to end the team’s seven-game slide. John Rave, Noah Sadler, Nick Zouras and Joe Butler registered three hits each in the win, while Mitch Vogrin pitched three scoreless innings in relief to finish off the game and earn his second victory of the season.
The Hilltoppers scored first in the opener when Colie Currie scored on a Redbird error in the bottom of the second, moments before Steven DiPuglia plated Kevin Lambert with an RBI single.
The Redbirds got one run back in the fourth when Owen Miller scored on a WKU error. Illinois State then tied the game when Rave took advantage of another Hilltopper miscue in the fifth. The Redbirds took the lead with an RBI double from Sadler and a run-scoring single from Jordan Libman later in the fifth to make it a 4-2 lead.
Western Kentucky tied it up on a two-out, two-run single from Kaleb Duckworth in the bottom of the fifth, but the Redbirds reclaimed the lead in the eighth. Miller drove in the first run with an RBI groundout. Sadler then provided the biggest hit of the inning – an RBI triple to the left-center field gap – before Zouras capped the rally with a run-scoring single to left, making it a 7-4 lead for the Redbirds.
Illinois State added ample insurance in the ninth. Derek Parola started the rally with an RBI double. Rave and Miller followed with RBI singles before Connor Moroder capped the scoring with a two-run single.
Redbird starter Brent Headrick was solid over the first four innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out three. Trevor Cross allowed two runs over the next two innings before Vogrin took over, allowing just one hit over three scoreless innings to finish off the win. Vogrin struck out a pair.
Game 2
Bryce Grimm reached base in all five of his plate appearances and strong outings from the pitching trio of Brady Huffman, Colton Johnson and Matt Walker helped the Redbirds complete the sweep.
Grimm went 3-for-3 with a double, two walks and an RBI. Huffman, making his first collegiate start, allowed just two runs (one earned) over the first four innings, before Johnson followed with three scoreless frames. Walker finished out the game to pick up his first career save, stranding the potential game-tying and winning runs at third and second base, respectively.
Illinois State ran out to an early lead in the nightcap, thanks to three runs in the top of the second. Zouras scored the first run on a WKU error. Collin Braithwaite singled to score Ryan Hutchinson and Parola later scored on a balk.
Western Kentucky’s Steven Kraft doubled in a run to cut into the lead in the third, but the Redbirds got the run right back in the fourth with an RBI double from Grimm. The Hilltoppers cut it back down to a two-run lead on Leiff Clarkson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth.
Neither team scored again until the bottom of the ninth, when the Hilltoppers strung together a walk and two singles to push a run across. But, with two runners on and only one out, Walker induced a pair of ground balls to finish off the win for the Redbirds.
Illinois State returns to action Tuesday at Tennessee Tech.
