Redbird baseball gives up late lead in loss at Indiana State

Posted on April 17, 2016

By WJBC Staff

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Illinois State baseball team surrendered a late lead and fell to Indiana State 6-5 Saturday at Bob Warn Field.

Illinois State (9-24, 1-3) led 5-1 after the fourth inning, but gave up five-unanswered runs through the fifth and seventh innings in the loss.

Blake Molitor gave the Redbirds their first lead with a solo home run to left field in the second inning, his first of the season.

In the third inning, Indiana State (22-13, 3-2) took advantage of a two-base throwing error by Illinois State starter David Meade. Meade fielded a comebacker and threw wide to first base allowing the runner to reach third with no outs. Dane Giesler singled to right field to tie the game, 1-1.

The Redbirds responded with a big fourth inning. Illinois State put together six hits and scored four runs in the inning. Derek Parola and Jared Hendren had back-to-back two-out RBIs bringing the Redbird lead to 5-1 after four innings.

Meade started the fifth by giving up consecutive hits to the Sycamores. The Sycamores scored a runner from third with a fielder’s choice. With two outs in the inning, Illinois State center fielder Sean Beesley lost a fly ball in the sun and it dropped for a run scoring triple cutting the Redbird lead to 5-3.

Rhett Rapshus relieved Meade after 4.2 innings. In the sixth, Meade gave up a game-tying two-run home run to Chris Ayers. The score was tied 5-5 after six innings.

Then in the seventh inning, with runners at first and third, Indiana State’s Andy Young singled to left center to score the go-ahead run. Indiana State led 6-5 after the seventh.

Indiana State brought in Jeremy McKinney out of the bullpen in the seventh. McKinney walked the first batter he faced but retired the next nine Redbirds on his way to victory. Indiana State took game two of the three-game series, 6-5.

Meade lasted 4.2 innings and allowed seven hits and two earned runs. Jack Czeszewski pitched just a third of an inning, but took the tough-luck loss after having the go-ahead run attributed to his tally.

Molitor went 2-for-3 Saturday afternoon, with a home run, a walk and two RBIs. Ramirez put together consecutive multi-hit games going 2-for-4 on the day.

The Redbirds and Sycamores will battle in the rubber match Sunday starting at 12 p.m. CT. Jacob Hendren will look to help the Redbirds take the series. The game can be heard here at WJBC.com. 

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