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April 13, 2007 SYCAMORES FALL IN SERIES OPENER AT ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State struck first blood against Illinois State, but could not hold the momentum as the ‘Birds plated four consecutive runs in the middle innings and tacked on four more in the eighth to win, 8-4, in the MVC series opener at Redbird Field on Friday afternoon (April 13). ISU falls to 16-15, 1-6 MVC while the ‘Birds improve to 15-16, 6-4 MVC. ISU scored twice in the top of the third inning on a two-RBI double from senior shortstop Ryan Bond. Nick Ciolli led off the frame with a double to right center and moved to third on a ground out by Ryan Strausborger. Sean Osborne was hit by a pitch for the team-leading 16th time this season and both scored for the early 2-0 lead on the Bond double to center field. Ryan Hayes took control of the game by striking out the last batter in the third inning, Matt Bolt, and then all three batters in the fourth, Collin Salzenstein, Ryan Anetsberger and Kevin Dubler. Those are the No. 1-4 batters in the Redbird lineup. Hayes found trouble in the bottom of the fifth by following up those four punchouts with a pair of free passes to Jesse Griswold and Kyle O’Brien. After Mike Stalowy sacrificed both Griswold and O’Brien over, they both scored on a single by Kyle Cherney to tie the game at 2. Bolt singled in Cherney with two outs to five the Redbirds a 3-2 advantage. Illinois State took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Dubler, which scored Anetsberger all the way from second base. Dave Brumagin and Marcus Artner singled to lead off the seventh, and Brumagin scored as Brett Siegmund hit into a double play to make the score 4-3. Bolt hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth and then O’Brien added a three-run shot later to break the game wide open and give Illinois State an 8-3 lead. ISU scored once in the top of the ninth on an RBI groundout by Brumagin, which scored Josh Abercrombie to make the score 8-4. Abercrombie walked to lead off the ninth and then moved to third on a double by Chris Schmidt. The Sycamores’ two-game winning streak was halted with the defeat. Hayes took the loss to move to 3-3 on the season while Redbird starter Eric Theisen improved to 3-4 with the victory. Hayes pitched six innings, allowing five hits and four runs while striking out six, including four in a row, and walking four other Redbirds. Adam Lindsay came on and gave up three hits and four runs in 1.2 innings of work while Andrew Strange recorded the final out in the eighth inning. Bond finished the game 1-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI while Brumagin was likewise 1-for-4 with one RBI. Indiana
State and Illinois State will continue their three-game MVC
series tomorrow, April 14 at Redbird Field. First pitch is set
for 3:00 p.m. (ET). The game can be heard live in the Wabash
Valley on WISU-FM (89.7).
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