Illinois State Beats SIUE Three Games Saturday, Sunday

NORMAL, Ill. -- Illinois State swept a doubleheader from SIUE baseball Saturday winning the opener 2-1 and 11-8 in the nightcap at Duffy Bass Field. Both games were seven-inning games.

The Cougars dropped to 16-24 overall. Illinois State improved to 23-22.

A Dustin Woodcock solo home run was the lone SIUE run in game one. Woodcock led off the fifth inning with the homer, his fifth of the year, to put the Cougars up 1-0. Woodcock finished the game 2 for 3. Keaton Wright also was 2 for 3 for SIUE.

The Redbirds answered in the bottom of the inning against Cougar starter Jarrett Bednar.

Dennis Colon walked to start the inning. Daniel Dwyer followed with a single. Paul DeJong doubled to the left field wall to score Colon. Dwyer scored on a sacrifice fly later in the inning for the final 2-1 margin.

"It was a close game," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "What it boils down to is in a close game when your team scores a run to put you up you can't go out and walk the first guy in the inning and change the momentum back around."

Jacob Hendren (9-1) went the distance for ISU. Bednar worked into the fifth, allowing both runs on seven hits. He struck out three, walked one, and dropped to 2-5.

The Cougars scored eight runs on 13 hits in the second game, but it wasn't enough to overcome the big inning.

SIUE took an early lead in game two. Alec Saikal led off the second inning with his seventh home run of the year to make it 1-0. Nick Lombardo made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the third inning.

Illinois State then scored six runs on four hits, all with two outs, in the bottom of the third inning to lead 6-2. Joe Kelch capped the inning with a 3-run home run off Cougar starter Ryan Daniels (3-6).

"The difference is the six-spot in the third inning," Stoecklin said. "It's very hard to overcome that. It's disappointing because it all came with two outs."

Drew Johnson made it 6-3 with a sac fly in the fourth inning, before Illinois State scored three more times in the fifth inning to lead 9-3.

Daniels allowed eight runs on five hits. He walked five and struck out three.

"I'm disappointed for Ryan; I am not disappointed in Ryan," Stoecklin added. "He's working his tail off and it's just not coming together for him."

The Cougars scored three times in the sixth inning on five hits against Illinois State reliever Jack Czeszewski. Skyler Geissinger and Denton Reed each singled to drive in runs. Woodcock added a sacrifice fly to trim the Redbirds lead to 9-6.

It was 11-6 in the seventh when Saikal added his second home run of the game, a two-run shot for the 11-8 final

"The middle of our lineup swung the bats pretty well," Stoecklin said. "Keaton took good at-bats. Skyler and Saikal did a good job as well."

Saikal was 3 for with the pair of home runs and is now tied with Parker Guinn for the team lead with eight home runs. Geissinger finished 4 for 4 with the RBI and two runs scored.

Effingham graduate Chase Green had a single and scored a run in the opener then had a single in the second game.

Illinois State starter Steve Heilenbach allowed a run on seven SIUE hits Sunday as the Redbirds closed out the four-game series with a 7-1 win over the Cougars at Duffy Bass Field.

Illinois State won three of the four games in the weekend nonconference series. The Redbirds improved to 24-22. SIUE dropped to 16-25.

Heilenbach walked one, struck out three, and needed just 99 pitches to throw his first career complete game.

"He pounded the strike zone," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said of Heilenbach. "He got ahead and he made us chase his pitch. We didn't square many balls up."

The ISU starter didn't allow a hit over the first 3 2/3 innings.