By Matt Wing ISU
NORMAL – Dallas Baptist capitalized on two errors and two wild pitches to score five unearned runs in the ninth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie and securing a Missouri Valley Conference win over Illinois State’s baseball team Friday at Duffy Bass Field. Dallas Baptist won by a 7-2 score.
Dallas Baptist’s late comeback spoiled a strong starting effort from Illinois State’s Steve Heilenbach, who pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out four.
Daniel Sweet singled to lead off the ninth for Dallas Baptist and moved to second on a wild pitch. He then scored when Redbird third baseman Ryan Hutchinson overthrew first base on a bunt from Luke Stratman. Dallas Baptist then scored four more runs after chasing Redbird reliever Jack Czeszewski, as the Patriots capitalized on Hutchinson’s second error of the inning to build a two-run lead.
A Jack Landwehr wild pitch brought in the third run of the inning. Darick Hall drove in another run with a bases-loaded single to left field, and Camden Duzenack plated the fifth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. All five runs scored in the ninth were unearned.
Friday’s game was the first Missouri Valley Conference game for both teams.
Dallas Baptist (19-10, 1-0 MVC) scored first when Stratman delivered a two-out single to score Duzenack in the top of the second. Illinois State (8-21, 0-1) tied it in the bottom of the inning, however, when Daniel Dwyer tripled and scored on Jared Hendren’s sacrifice fly.
The Patriots went back ahead in the third when David Martinelli plated Tim Millard on a triple to right-center field. Illinois State tied it again in the fourth, when Hutchinson singled to score Dwyer.
Neither team scored again until the ninth, when Dallas Baptist took advantage of Illinois State’s miscues to win the game.
Dwyer was Illinois State’s top hitter, as the senior outfielder went 2-for-2 with a triple and two walks. Hutchinson also collected two hits for the Redbirds.
Illinois State returns to Duffy Bass Field for the second game of the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. Admission to all Illinois State home baseball games is free, and links for live video, audio and stats for this weekend’s game can be found at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates from the games via Twitter, by following @RedbirdBaseball.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
