Arkansas State baseball beats Illinois State in Sunday slugfest

Timely two-out hitting helped the Arkansas State baseball team salvage the final game of a three-game series against Illinois State, with the Red Wolves winning 14-10 Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.

The Red Wolves (4-3) scored 10 of their 14 runs with two outs and hit 10-for-18 (.556) with two men down. ISU (4-3) posted three multi-run innings, but fell victim to four errors in the field.

Wil French finished a triple shy of the cycle, scoring three runs and hitting his first career homer as part of a 3-for-5 effort. Kody Darcy doubled twice and drove in three, while also scoring three times. Brandon Hager and Blake Burris both scored three runs on a pair of hits, with Burris hitting two doubles.

Arlon Butts (1-0) earned the win, striking out for in two innings of relief, with Coby Greiner pitching 1 1/3 innings and Kevin Wiseman finishing the contest with a perfect ninth. Austin Kapela tossed 3 1/3 frames in the start before Aaron Evers hurled 1 1/3 innings.

Adrian Flores reached base four times and went 2-for-3 for the Redbirds, driving in two, while Luke Cheng, Shay Kubo and Dylan Swarmer each scored twice.

Joey Wilmoth (0-1) took the loss in two-thirds of an inning in relief of starter Sean Sinisko, who worked four innings, one of five pitches utilized by the visitors.

A-State struck first with two in the bottom of the first, but Illinois State tied it with two of its own in the top of the second. The Redbirds took a 3-2 lead on a bases-loaded walk to Flores before Cason Campbell drove in Hager with an RBI single to tie it back up at 3-all after three.

Darcy doubled home Allen Grier in the bottom of the fourth, then scored on a two-run single by Daedrick Cail to make it 6-3 through four.

Illinois State answered in the fifth with four runs to take a 7-6 edge. Flores doubled home Kubo, then touched home on a two-run double by Auggie Rasmussen. A fielder’s choice by Cheng then drove in Blake Stenger from third.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Red Wolves plated five runs – all after back-to-back strikeouts to open the frame. Grier kept the inning alive with a walk, followed by a double from French, with both scoring on a double by Burris, who scored on a Hager double. Darcy hit an RBI double to the wall to score Hager, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-7.

The Redbirds pulled within one in the top of the seventh on a pinch-hit three-run double by Connor Olson, but Greiner entered and forced a groundout to end without further damage.

French opened the bottom half with his solo shot on the first pitch he saw, rocketing it into the A-State bullpen. Burris then reached on an error and swiped second before scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Kyler Carmack. A walk to John Hoskyn with the bases full then plated Darcy to put the count at 14-10.

Greiner faced the minimum in the eighth, forcing a double play to end the stanza, with Wiseman retiring the side in the ninth on nine pitches to salvage the series.

NEXT UP

A-State continues its 12-game home stand Tuesday with the first of a two-game midweek series against Mississippi Valley State. First pitch against the Delta Devils is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. The radio broadcast can be heard on The Ticket Radio Network stations 95.3/96.9/104.1/970 AM in Jonesboro.

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