Murray State
Indiana State
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'Breds Drop Pitchers' Duel In The Ninth
3/17/2006 6:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Murray State Thoroughbreds led a hard-fought pitchers' duel 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, but host Indiana State hit four straight hits in the inning to forge the 2-1 win.
Senior left-hander Kalen Gibson (0-4) pitched eight-plus innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, striking out seven and walking two. Senior lefty Andrew Bishop came on with the bases loaded and no outs in the ninth and threw one pitch, a two-run single up the middle by pinch-hitter Kyle Kolb.
“It really was a hard-fought pitchers' duel,” said MSU head coach Rob McDonald. “Kalen pitched his guts out, and their pitcher (ISU's Andrew Galle) pitched a great game, too. We just came out on the short end today.”
Murray State (6-11) scored its run in the sixth inning, when Tyler Owen led off the inning with the ?Breds' first hit, a double to right field. Owen moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Chaz Ebert, then scored on a single by Justin Yount.
MSU could only eke out hits by Jason Payton in the seventh inning and Owen again in the eighth. Payton extended his hitting streak to a team-high seven games. Seth Hudson saw his hit streak halted at seven games and his on-base streak ended at 11 games. Brett Mullins saw his on-base streak end at 18 games, dating to last season.
In the first four innings, Indiana State (8-5) had two hits, but in each case, the runner was caught stealing. In the other two innings, the Sycamores were retired in order.
In the fifth, ISU had runners on first and second, but flew out into a double play to kill the threat. Gibson was able to pitch out of trouble in the sixth inning, with a runner on second base and one out, then retired the side in the seventh and eighth innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, ISU's Tim Brewer singled up the middle, then Nevin Ashley singled him to second. Jake Eigsti legged out a bunt single to load the bases, and Bishop came on to pitch to Kolb.
“I jammed him,” Bishop said, “and he hit it up the middle -- double-play ball. But then, I realized the infield was drawn in, and I knew it was going to go through after it got past me.”
"It felt really good to pitch well for my team," said Gibson. "I was throwing strikes, and the defense played really well behind me. It was a tough loss, late in the game, but sometimes, the ball just doesn't bounce your way. There's always tomorrow."
Galle (2-0) went the distance for the Sycamores, allowing one run on four hits, striking out seven and walking none in nine innings.
Owen went 2-for-3 for Murray State, while Eigsti had two hits for ISU.
In the field, MSU first baseman Jamie Leidolf had 10 putouts, while shortstop Yount had four assists. For Indiana State, first baseman Marcus Artner had 12 putouts, while Artnerand catcher Ashley each had five assists.
Murray State will play Game 2 of this three-game series tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 p.m. CT.
