NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State and Illinois State were scoreless into the ninth inning Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field before the fireworks broke out in the final two frames, resulting in a 2-1 victory in 10 innings for the Redbirds on a day when the wind was consistently blowing in at 15-25 miles per hour.
Jake Eddington threw five shutout innings with six strikeouts and two singles allowed for the Bears (13-13, 2-4 Missouri Valley Conference), while ISU (9-13, 2-4) starter Jayson Hibbard matched him pitch for pitch in seven two-hit innings.
The Bears did not have a baserunner until Mason Hull’s one-out single in the fifth extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and a leadoff single in the seventh by Nick Rodriguez was MSU’s second runner, but both were erased by double plays while the Redbirds faced the minimum through 25 batters.
Missouri State’s 26th batter of the game was Cam Cratic, who slugged the Bears’ first pinch-hit homer since April 2019 for a 1-0 lead with one out in the top of the ninth.
The Redbirds immediately responded with consecutive doubles to tie it at 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, bringing Trey Ziegenbein in from the bullpen to tie Bryan Young’s school record with his 88th career appearance.
After MSU was retired in order in the top of the 10th, ISU’s leadoff hitter was hit by a pitch, stole second and sacrificed to third to set up Greg Nichols’ game-winning single to right field.
Missouri State is back in action Tuesday, April 4, with a 3 p.m. game at Kansas.
