EDWARDSVILLE – The sign of a good baseball team is the ability to bounce back from a game that didn't go the way they had hoped.
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Edwardsville did just that Saturday afternoon in the second half of a twin bill at Tom Pile Field, this one against Naperville Central – a team that featured pitcher Zac Bianucci, who recently signed to attend Michigan State.
Bianucci didn't last long against the Tigers, though, going 1.2 innings, allowing the Tigers to get out to a 7-2 lead on his Redhawks as EHS bounced back from a opening-game loss to Parkway South with a 11-4 win.
The win put the Tigers' record at 10-2 on the year heading into a three-game stretch this week that includes a pair of key Southwestern Conference games.
Getting the win over the Redhawks was especially important considering the Tigers had dropped a decision in the game preceding the one against Naperville to Parkway South. “We knew Naperville Central's got a heck of a club and they had their pitcher going to Michigan State (Bianucci) on the mound,” said Tiger coach Tim Funkhouser. “We knew we were going to be in a heck of a challenge.
“To bounce back and have that setting here with (Bianucci) pitching against us, we responded (from the loss) really well. We learned a lot about ourselves today; that's why we designed the schedule, to make sure we're challenged and stretched, sometimes beyond what we'd like to see. But I think those are great learning moments; it was one of those grind-it-out battles.”
The weather conditions for both games was less-than-ideal; heavy winds, gusting sometimes up to 40 miles an hour, at times were a part of the game. “The wind was something beyond what a normal windy day is,” Funkhouser said. “The elements were tougher there and the field playing fast; you just have to overcome it and control what you can control.”
The Redhawks broke ahead in the top of the first when leadoff hitters Connor Gurnik and Beau Buchanan were both hit by Austin Reusch pitches; they were singled home by Connor Joyce to put Naperville ahead very early, but the Tigers responded with a three-run bottom of the first, with Jake Garella singling home Dylan Burris, Joel Quirin lifting a sacrifice fly to left that brought home Cole Cimarolli and Tyler Stamer driving in Collin Clayton with a single to put EHS up 3-2 through one.
Edwardsville scored four more runs in the second to chase Bianucci, Garella stroking a RBI single and Joe Wallace bringing home two runs on a single to extend the lead to 7-2 through two innings. Naperville cut the lead to 7-4 on a two-run Ryan Eilerman in the third, but the Tigers responded by Burris scoring in the bottom of the frame to get the Tigers back to 8-4.
Garella helped extend the lead in the fifth when he stroke a two-run homer to right-center to score Clayton for the final tallies of the game.
Burris was 2-for-4 with a double for EHS, with Clayton going 2-for-3 with a RBI, Cimarolli 1-for-2 with a double, Garella was 3-for-4 with a RBI and the homer, Quirin had a RBI on the sac fly and Kade Burns was 1-for-3 with a double and RBI to highlight the Tiger attack.
Reusch went five innings for the win, conceding four earned runs on five hits and four hit batsmen while striking out two.
The Tigers host Alton in a key Southwestern Conference game at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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