ASU Red Wolves split Sunday baseball games with Illinois State
Offensive fireworks, mainly by the Arkansas State baseball team, stole the show on Sunday for Arkansas State baseball, as the Red Wolves scored 20 total runs in the 14 innings en route to splitting two contests at Illinois State to conclude the three-game nonconference series.
Arkansas State opened play on Sunday by finishing Saturday's game that was suspended in the fourth (tied 2-2) due to rain and battled back to cut a 9-2 deficit down to 9-8, but the Redbirds closed out game two of the series with a 10-8 victory.
In the second game, the Red Wolves (5-14) saw that momentum carry over as they cranked out a season-high 19 hits enroute to a 13-6 win over the Redbirds (7-14) in the series finale. Liam Hicks led all players with a career-best four hits and reached base five times in six plate appearances.
ASU's first game of the day was halted midway through Saturday due to rain, forcing the two teams to complete the game on Sunday. The Red Wolves were tied at 2-2 with the Redbirds in the bottom of the fourth when play resumed.
The Redbirds picked up three runs in the fifth off to reclaim a 52 lead, then one more in the sixth on a wild pitch. Illinois State would make it a 9-2 lead in the seventh on a two-run homer by Ryan Cermak and then an error scoring Hayden Jones.
The Red Wolves made it a 9-8 contest with a six-run eighth inning capped off by a grand slam.
In the ninth, Tyler Duncan took the first pitch into left field for a leadoff double before Jaylon Deshazier drove him in with an RBI single. An error on the play then allowed Deshazier to reach second, putting the tying run on with one out.
Derek Salata picked up the onepitch save by forcing the flyout while Mason Burns earned the win for Illinois State after starting the fifth on the mound.
In the second game started Saturday and finished Sunday after being suspended due to weather, the Red Wolves churned out a season-best 19 hits in the series finale, scoring five of its 13 runs in the ninth inning to defeat Illinois State 13-6. Six Red Wolves had multiple hits.
The Red Wolves opened a 3-0 lead after scoring a run in the first and two in the second. Illinois State responded with six unanswered runs, including a four-run fifth inning before ASU answered.
In the sixth, an RBI groundout and two-run homer by Deshazier tied the game at 6-6. ASU tacked on two more in the seven on back-toback RBI singles.
Contagious hitting was the definition of the ASU ninth inning getting five runs on six hits to lead 13-6.
Palestine-Wheatley's Will Nash got the pitching start for the Red Wolves and worked three innings on Saturday, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and one strikeout.