No. 4 ILLINOIS STATE 10, No. 5 EVANSVILLE 3
ILS (32-17); UE (31-26)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – In game one of the State Farm MVC Baseball Championship, No. 4 Illinois State took down No. 5 Evansville, 10-3. The Redbirds will face the winner of the Indiana State/Creighton contest, while the Purple Aces will take on the non-winner of the Sycamores/Bluejays game.

Eric Aguilera went 3-for-5 with three doubles and two RBI to lead Illinois State to a 10-3 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship opening-game victory against Evansville Tuesday morning at Hammons Field. With the win, which was Mark Kingston’s 100th victory as ISU’s third-year head coach, the Redbirds will advance to play the winner of the Indiana State versus Evansville game Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Razo (7-4) allowed just two earned runs with two strikeouts through seven innings of work, while Evansville’s Cole Isom (2-9) suffered the loss after giving up five earned runs with one strikeout in a 3.1-inning outing. Redbird relievers Ryan Camp and Justin Hauer teamed up to secure the win.

Illinois State’s offense teamed up for 11 hits, including eight extra-base hits. Along with Aguilera’s performance, Ty Wiesemeyer went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Trentt Copeland led Evansville with a 3-for-4 effort, including one run scored.

Chad Hinshaw set the tempo early, leading off the bottom of the first with a double, and he scored on an Aguilera double. Kevin Tokarski then scored on a groundout by Matt Mirabal to give ISU an early 2-0 lead. The Redbirds added two more runs in the second inning, as Wiesemeyer tripled-home two runs. Then in the fourth inning, Illinois State broke the game open with four more runs. Mike Hollenbeck led off with a double and scored on a double by Brett Kay. Kay later scored on a throwing error, and Tokarski and Aguilera both doubled to drive in two more runs.

A sacrifice fly by Kay in the fifth inning increased Illinois State’s lead to 9-0. Evansville got on the board for the first time with one run in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Redbirds capped their scoring with an RBI-single by Mirabal, while the Purple Aces plated a final run in the ninth to make the score, 10-3.

Illinois State advances in the 2012 State Farm MVC Tournament to face the winner of No. 1 Indiana State and No. 8 Creighton contest.