Jachec, plus opportunism on the bases, equal a win for Sycamores

Apr. 2—The line score from Indiana State baseball's Missouri Valley Conference opener against Illinois State on Friday would suggest the Redbirds had the measure of the Sycamores. Illinois State had an 11-5 advantage in base hits.

However, matters at Bob Warn Field weren't that straightforward. For this was a give-an-inch-and-take-a-mile kind of day for the Sycamores.

While ISU didn't find many gaps with their bats, it's batters were patient and took what was given them. In a word? ISU drew three walks and were hit four times by Illinois State pitchers four times.

So there were baserunners for the Sycamores and ISU pounced when it had them. The Sycamores maximized their chances to the tune of a 4-2 victory over the Redbirds.

All four of ISU's runs were scored via aggressive baserunning moves of some sort. Either a stolen base, moving up a base on a wild pitch, taking an extra base via Illinois State mistakes, or, a bit of good fortune, such as when Illinois State kept the eighth inning alive for ISU with a dropped third strike with two outs.

"I thought [Illinois State starting pitcher Derek] Salata threw very well for them. He was landing three pitches, in and out and up and down. We couldn't get anything going, so I was really pleased with what Matt was able to do," ISU coach Mitch Hannahs said.

"Matt" is ISU starter Matt Jachec, and he continues to be lights out on the mound. Jachec threw 7 2/3 innings and struck out seven against zero walks. He gave up the 11 hits, but only one of them was an extra-base hit.

"We preach that that have to beat us and we won't let ourselves beat ourselves. If we're throwing balls, we're beating ourselves. We have to hit the zone and make them beat you. They got 11 hits on a lot of weak contact," Jachec said.

Jachec's teammates have marveled at his dominance this season. The sophomore now has a 1.69 ERA and has struck out 41 batters against just six walks and no hit batsmen.

"I feel at ease in the outfield. With some guys? You go through so many different situations on where a player might hit the ball based on the pitcher. With Matt? There's so trust in home we're allowed to play easy out there," said ISU right fielder Sean Ross, who was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.

The Sycamores (14-7, 1-0) opened scoring in the third. Jordan Schaffer was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Randall Diaz single to left-center. ISU tacked on another run in the fourth after Diego Gines and Ross were hit by breaking balls on consecutive at-bats. They moved up a base on a wild pitch and then Gines scored on a Tyler Nelson sacrifice fly.

ISU was up 2-0, but that didn't mean Hannahs was satisfied with ISU's approach at the plate. During the fourth inning, he pinch-hit for Parker Stinson mid-at-bat after Stinson fell behind 0-2 in the count with two runners on.

"Sometimes guys go to the plate and they're hitting as opposed to competing. We just weren't competing. We had to try to find a way to find someone to compete in those at-bats instead of worrying about hitting. I feel bad that we had to do that and I explained it to our club that there's a big difference between just playing and competing. I didn't feel we were competing in some moments," Hannahs explained.

Meanwhile, Jachec was bending, but not breaking. The Redbirds (9-10, 0-1) had runners on in three of the first five innings, but Jachec worked out of it each time.

"Everything was working. They did battle all day. No easy outs from them," Jachec said. "I know that getting that first weekend every weekend is so important. I just come out and try to do my job."

Illinois State finally dented Jachec in the sixth with a pair of two-out singles. A wild pitch by Jachec allowed Aiden Huggins to score to make it 2-1.

However, the Sycamores answered in their half of the sixth. Ross led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. Ross scored when a throwing error on what would have been the third out pulled the first baseman off the bag.

Late-game mistakes proved costly for Illinois State generally, though not before the Redbirds put together their biggest threat of the game. Jachec was cruising along, but with two outs, the Redbirds hit three consecutive singles, the last by Ryan Cermak knocked in Adrian Flores to make it 3-2. However, Jachec induced a pop-out to end the rally.

"They're scrappy and they're not an easy lineup to get through. [Jachec] does a really good job of not setting much over the middle of the plate. It's either in or its out. Or it's breaking away and down or running back at you. That fastball turns it over. He has the ability to put it over the plate and send it either direction," said Hannahs on Jachec.

The eighth inning was one to forget for the Redbirds. The promise of a leadoff single by Jake McCaw was dampened when Olson's sacrifice bunt attempt spun right back to ISU catcher Grant Magill, who threw McCaw out at second. Pinch-runner J.T. Sokolove was then picked off at first base.

After Nick Gile singled off Jachec, ISU went to emerging reliever Joey Hurth, but he never retired a batter. Illinois State retired itself when pinch-runner Josh Blount was caught stealing second on a perfect throw by Magill.

ISU added an insurance run in the ninth via a Seth Gergely infield single — this after the Redbirds kept the frame alive with a two-out dropped third strike. Hurth mowed down the Redbirds in the ninth, striking out the side to earn his fourth save of the season.

The same two teams play at Bob Warn Field at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

ILLINOIS STATE (AB-R-H-RBI) — Cermak cf 4-0-1-1, Huggins lf 4-1-1-0, Olson dh 4-0-1-0, Sokolove pr 0-0-0-0, Gile 3b 4-0-2-0, Blount pr 0-0-0, Nichols 3b 0-0-0-0, Sabotnik rf 4-0-1-0, Cheng ss 4-0-0-0, Flores c 4-1-1-0, Soberano 2b 3-0-2-0. TOTALS 35-2-11-1.

INDIANA STATE (AB-R-H-RBI) — Schaffer ss 3-1-0-0, Diaz 3b 3-0-1-1, Urdaneta 2b 3-0-0-0, Gines 1b 2-1-0-0, Ross rf 3-2-2-0, Stinson dh 1-0-0-0, Taylor ph-dh 2-0-0-0, Nelson lf 2-0-0-1, Magill c 4-0-0-0, Gergely cf 4-0-2-1. TOTALS 27-4-5-3.

Illinois State=000=001=100=—=2

Indiana State=001=101=01X=—=4

E — Cheng (2). DP — ISU 1. LOB — ILS 6, ISU 8. 2B — Olson (3); Ross (9). S — Taylor (1). SH — Taylor (1). SF — Nelson (2). SB — Soberano (1); Schaffer 2 (4). CS — Blount (1), Diaz (1).

Illinois State=IP=H=R=ER=BB=SO

Salata (L, 2-3)=5 2/3=4=3=2=2=5

Schubert=2=0=1=0=1=0

Mabee=1/3=1=0=0=0=1

Indiana State=IP=H=R=ER=BB=SO

Jachec (W, 6-1)=7 2/3=11=2=2=0=7

Hurth (SV, 4)=1 1/3=0=0=0=0=3

WP — Salata (2), Jachec (4). PB — Flores (2). HBP — by Salata 3 (Schaffer, Gines, Ross); by Mabee (Nelson). T — 2:44. A — 396.

Next — ISU (14-7, 1-0) and Illinois State (9-10, 0-1) play again at 2 p.m. on Saturday.