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NORMAL, Ill. -- Sophomore first baseman Kane Sweeney tied up the game with a bases loaded triple in the top of the ninth, but the Morehead State baseball team was downed by an Illinois State walk-off single in the bottom half of the inning to fall, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field.
Senior right fielder Eric Agulilera smacked the game winner to right field for the Redbirds in his only hit of the contest.
With the series sweep, the Redbirds improved to 19-15 on the 2013 campaign. The Eagles, who have now dropped 12 straight, fall to 9-27 on the year.
Sweeney, who went 2-for-5 on the day, extended his reached-base streak to 27 straight games.
Both starting pitchers were solid in the contest, with MSU freshman right-hander Matt Anderson allowing only two earned runs on six hits and ISU senior righty Brad Sorkin coming one out short of throwing a complete game, giving up only one earned run on eight hits.
Despite giving up the game-tying triple, sophomore right-hander Jeremy Rhoades picked up the win out of the bullpen, his first of the season. Senior righty Matt Duncan (1-3) took the loss for the Eagles.
In the bottom of the first, the Redbirds forced in the first run of the game when Anderson plunked ISU freshman designated hitter Daniel Dwyer with the bases loaded.
The Eagles answered in the top of the second when senior catcher Drew Williams drove in freshman third baseman Alan Mocahbee to even the game up at 1-1. ISU drove in two more in the bottom half of the inning on a single to center field from senior third baseman Zac Johnson.
From that point, the pitchers took over, combining for four straight scoreless innings before ISU plated a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single to right field from freshman left fielder Sean Beesley to bring the Redbird lead to 4-1.
Freshman second baseman Trey Gross went 3-for-4 on the day in the first multi-hit game of his career. Senior left fielder Taylor Pickens joined Sweeney and Gross with the only multiple hit efforts for the Eagles and went 2-for-4 from the plate.
The Eagles return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Charleston, W. Va., for a mid-week game with West Virginia at Appalachian Power Park. First pitch in that contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
