By WJBC Staff

OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami (Ohio) baseball team jumped out to an early lead thanks to four runs each in the second and third innings, and though Illinois State slowly chipped away at the Miami lead while its bullpen silenced the Redhawks’ bats, the Redbirds came up one run short in an 8-7 loss at McKie Field on Saturday.

Miami (1-7) scored all eight of its runs in the second and third innings. The Redbirds, who had scored the first run of the game in the top of the second inning, added three runs in the third, two in the fourth and one in the seventh to get within one run of the lead, but Illinois State (2-5) was unable to score again over the final two innings.

A stellar bullpen effort from Illinois State was highlighted by Colton Johnson’s performance, as the freshman left-hander pitched four shutout innings to keep the Redbirds in the game.

Illinois State scored the first run of the game in the top of the second when Danny Jackson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in Owen Miller. The RedHawks came back with four runs in the bottom of the inning, however, with an RBI single from Steve Sada, a two-run single from Hayden Senger, and a wild pitch that allowed Dallas Hall to cross home plate.

Illinois State tied the game with three runs in the top of the third, with RBI singles from Miller and Nick Zouras, and a Miami error. But the hosts scored four more runs in the bottom of the third on consecutive run-scoring singles from Brooks Urich, Carlos Texidor, Sada and Hall.

The Redbirds got two runs back in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Miller that scored Bryce Grimm, and a Miami error that allowed Noah Sadler to score.

Illinois State added another run in the seventh to cut the Miami lead to one run, at 8-7, when Jordan Libman singled to bring in Zouras.

But while the Redbird bullpen kept the RedHawks off the scoreboard over their final five innings at the plate, the Redbirds could not take advantage of chances late. Illinois State stranded a runner in the eighth and two in the ninth.

Libman (2-for-3) was the only Redbird to collect multiple hits after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. Miller tallied two runs and two RBIs, while Sadler scored a pair of runs for the Redbirds.

Redbird starter Jack Landwehr was charged with eight runs over the first three innings of work. He allowed nine hits and two walks, while striking out four. Johnson took over from there, tossing four sparkling innings of relief, allowing no hits and just one walk over four shutout innings. Jeff Lindgren pitched a clean eighth inning.

The Redbirds return to McKie Field Sunday for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. CT. Links for live stats are available at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter for live updates and more.