Whitbread, Tofteland help Indiana State to series sweep
Great Lake Canadians alum Tyler Whitbread (Camlachie, Ont.) allowed just one run and one hit in six innings to lead the Indiana State Sycamores to a 6-1 win over Illinois State on Sunday. Photo: Indiana State Athletics
May 5, 2019
By Tim McCaughan
Indiana State Athletics
Sycamores Earn Series Win Over Redbirds; Sit atop MVC Standings
NORMAL, Ill. -- Indiana State baseball claimed a series victory after defeating Illinois State Sunday afternoon, 6-1, at Duffy Bass Field. With the win, Indiana State moved into sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Indiana State improved to 34-11 on the year and 11-4 in MVC action while the Redbirds move to 28-20 overall and 10-5 in conference play.
The Sycamores outhit Illinois State 7-2 in the game and were led by Dane Tofteland (Grande Prairie, Alta.) and CJ Huntley who finished with two hits apiece. Tofteland went for a single and a home run in the game, driving in three runs for the Sycamores while Huntley went for two base hits while driving in a run and scoring one.
Indiana State jumped out to a lead in the third inning of action. All with two outs on the scoreboard, Jake Means and Jarrod Watkins drew walks before CJ Huntley singled up the middle to score the first run of the game. Roby Enriquez loaded the bases after being hit-by-pitch for the 11th time this season, before Toftleland’s two-RBI single to left extended the ISU lead to 3-0.
Means worked his second walk of the day to begin the fifth inning of play and Watkins followed with bloop single to right to force a pitching change for the Redbirds. After a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, Means took advantage of a passed ball to score the fourth run of the game. A batter later, Watkins came home on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-0 in favor of Indiana State.
After Whitbread retired the first nine Redbird batters he faced, Illinois State finally put a runner on base in the fourth inning on a fielding error. That runner would not advance past first base as a fielder’s choice, a fly ball and a ground ball to second ended the inning.
Illinois State picked up their first true baserunner of the day in the sixth when Aidan Huggins worked a one-out walk. Huggins moved to second on a fielder’s choice a batter later before Derek Parola brought him home on a ball just out of reach of a diving Watkins at second.
Tofteland connected on his second home run of the season in the eighth inning to extend the ISU lead to 6-1. The solo shot to left field marked the second base hit of the day for the senior.
Whitbread improved to 6-1 on the year after going six complete in his 11th start. He allowed just three baserunners -- one an error in the fourth -- on the day and struck out five and issued just one walk to Illinois State.
Tyler Ward closed out the final three innings of action, retiring four on strikeouts, including two in the seventh. The Rockport, Indiana product earned his fifth save of the season after allowing just one base hit.
Matt Walker fell to 3-7 on the year for the Redbirds after allowing three earned runs on five hits in four innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked three in the start.
Up Next
The Sycamores wrap up a seven-game road swing next weekend with a trip to Texas to face Dallas Baptist.