The Illinois State baseball team built a 10-run lead but couldn't hang on as No. 1 Vanderbilt scored 16 unanswered runs to earn a 16-10 win and complete a three-game series sweep of the Redbirds.
Illinois State (4-5) scored 10 runs over the first two innings of Sunday's contest, but Vanderbilt scored four runs in the fifth inning and six runs in the sixth to tie the game. The hosts then broke the tie with six more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the lead for good.
Paul DeJong and Ryan Koziol recorded two hits each for Illinois State, but the entire Redbird lineup was held hitless between the third and eighth innings. The Redbirds also committed four errors in the game.
Kuziol and Mason Snyder had a pair of runs batted in.
Illinois State is back in action Friday, when it will play the first of eight games in Florida. The Redbirds will play three games in Port Charlotte, Florida, beginning with a game against St. Joseph's Friday. They will play a road game at Florida Atlantic on March 10, before playing four more games in Winter Haven, Florida, finishing up the eight-game trip on March 15.
