Redbirds fall 4-3 in 12 innings at Wichita State

[April 01, 2013]  WICHITA, Kan. -- The Illinois State Redbirds (11-12, 0-1 MVC) dropped their Missouri Valley Conference opener 4-3 in 12 innings at Wichita State (25-11, 1-0 MVC) Friday night at Eck Stadium. It marked the second extra-inning defeat for the Redbirds over the last three games.

J.D. Learnard (1-2), suffered the loss, despite throwing 5 1/3 innings of relief work. He allowed one run on two hits, walked six and struck out two. Starter Chris Razo pitched a no-decision, working six innings and allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits. T.J. McGreevy (2-1) picked up the victory, throwing four scoreless relief innings for Wichita State.

Joe Haddox's two-out RBI single off Jeremy Rhoades with two on and two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning ended the game. Rhoades came on in relief of Learnard, who had allowed two batters to reach with an out in the 12th. Rhoades allowed one hit and tallied one strikeout in 1/3 innings of work.

Wichita State scored in the first inning after loading the bases with no outs. Johnny Coy's sacrifice fly made it 1-0 Shockers.

The Redbirds added one run in the second, as Mike Hollenbeck collected an RBI single, tying the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the third, Wichita State scored on a Garrett Bayliff RBI single, plating Tyler Baker and giving WSU a 2-1 advantage.

Illinois State rallied for two runs on two hits in the fifth inning. Brett Kay collected a sacrifice fly and Zac Johnson added a run-scoring double, giving ISU its lone lead of the ballgame at 3-2.

Wichita State tied the game on a Tyler Baker sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The game remained tied until Haddox's walkoff in the 12th.

Both teams met again Saturday for a pair of nine-inning games. First pitch in game one of the doubleheader was slated for 1 p.m. (See report.)

[Text from news release received from Illinois State University]