By ISU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE – The Illinois State baseball team earned a shutout win in the opener before Evansville rallied back for an extra-inning walk-off win in the nightcap as the two teams split a doubleheader Friday at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
Illinois State 4, Evansville 0
Steve Heilenbach pitched six shutout innings before giving way to relievers Jake Sale and Jack Landwehr, as Illinois State scored a shutout win in the opener.
Heilenbach scattered four hits and walked three without allowing a run. He struck out two. Sale and Landwehr combined on three scoreless frames without allowing a hit or a run. Each pitcher struck out one batter.
Illinois State (13-28, 3-7 MVC) grabbed an early lead in the opener when Blake Molitor doubled to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch to begin the top of the fourth inning. Jean Ramirez plated Molitor for the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Redbirds added three more runs the next inning. Daniel Dwyer singled up the middle to score Brian Rodemoyer, who had doubled with one out, for the first run of the inning. The Redbirds then scored two runs on a sacrifice fly from Molitor, bringing Owen Miller and Joe Kelch in to score.
Neither team scored the rest of the way, as Illinois State earned its second shutout win in as many Missouri Valley games. The Redbirds shut out Southern Illinois, 1-0, April 24 at Duffy Bass Field.
Dwyer and Miller tallied two hits each, as eight of nine batters in the Redbird lineup collected at least one hit.
Evansville 4, Illinois State 3 (11 innings)
Evansville scored a walk-off winner in the nightcap as the Purple Aces took advantage of a throwing error to earn the doubleheader split.
Josh Jyawook flied out to center field for the second out in the bottom of the 11th inning. Trey Hair advanced to third base and scored on a throwing error by Miller.
Evansville (24-16, 7-4) jumped out front early in the nightcap, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Jyawook provided a two-out, two-run single to start the rally, and later scored on an infield single from Jonathan Ramon.
The Redbirds got two runs back in the third on Sean Beesley’s two-out, two-run double. They tied it in the eighth on Ramirez’s RBI single up the middle that scored Molitor, who had reached with a double.
Neither team scored until the 11th, when the Purple Aces earned the doubleheader split in walk-off fashion.
Beesley registered a game-high three hits. Molitor added a double, two walks and scored two runs.
Redbird starter Jacob Hendren settled in after allowing three runs in the first inning. He allowed seven hits and one walk over 4.2 innings, striking out four. David Meade pitched four shutout innings in the first relief appearance of his Illinois State career, limiting the Purple Aces to one hit and three walks, while striking out three. Jack Czeszewski got the final out of the ninth inning to send the game into extras. Rhett Rapshus took the loss after allowing one unearned run over 1.2 innings. He struck out two.
Illinois State will return to action Saturday, weather permitting, at 2 p.m. Links for live stats are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updated by following @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter.
