Image is courtesy of goredbirds.com.
NORMAL, Ill.- The Valparaiso Beacons offense came alive to take game two of the series against Illinois State 10-2.
After a cold start in game one, the top of the lineup caught fire for the Beacons. Kyle Schmack hit his first of two home runs in the fourth inning to start the scoring. The game was moving along quickly before the sixth inning where the Beacons streaked together a couple of hits and were helped by two Redbird errors to extend the lead to 3-0.
Jake McCaw would walk with the bases loaded to get the Redbirds on the board in the bottom of the sixth. However, Nick Gile struck out looking to get the Beacons out of the jam.
Schmack got the bat going again, blasting a two-run homer to center field to extend the lead to 6-1. A string of doubles in the top of the eighth added to the Beacons lead, making it 8-1.
Brady Renfro would go deep in the top of the ninth to tack on two more for the Beacons. Connor Olson hooked a ball over the right field wall to add one more run for the Redbirds, but it was not enough as they fell 10-2 to the Beacons.
Jake Miller got the win for the Beacons, going five and two thirds’ innings, only allowing one run on three hits and striking out five batters. On the losing side of things was Derek Salata for ISU, allowing only three earned runs through six and two thirds’ innings pitched.
The Redbirds and Beacons are back in action tomorrow at 1 pm.