Two Jordans Carry Huskies Past Redbirds, 5-2

Saturday, March 10

Seattle, WA

2:05 PM

University of Washington

7-6

Illinois State

6-5

Illinois State

Washington

Jordan Jones threw his first career complete game

March 10, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Brian Tom

SEATTLE – It was a good day to be named "Jordan" if you were a Husky baseball player on Saturday. Pitcher Jordan Jones threw a complete game and shortstop Levi Jordan hit a pair of home runs to lead Washington to a 5-2 victory over visiting Illinois State at a sun-soaked Husky Ballpark.

Jones (2-2) struck out a career-high 11 batters and retired the final 16 Redbirds' batters he faced in picking up his second win of the season. He gave up four hits, did not walk a batter and surrendered two unearned runs in his 114-pitch masterpiece.

Jordan supplied most of the offense that the Huskies needed to support Jones' effort on the mound. He was 3-for-3 at the plate with his two home runs, three RBI, a stolen base and scored three times.

The two Jordans' performances were just what the doctor ordered after the Huskies (7-6) struggled both at the plate and on the hill in a 3-2 loss the night before.

"It was maybe a perfect time for a complete game and Levi had a good day today at the plate," Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs said following the quick two-hour, five-minute game in front of 511 fans.

"Jordan retired 16 batters in a row to end the game, which is not an easy thing to do against a team that can swing the bats like Illinois State. And all of our hitters enjoyed the nice weather today with the wind blowing out a little bit. All in all, it was a good day."

A day after struggling to find any offense, the Huskies got a power surge from an unlikely source in the first inning. Jordan took a 1-0 pitch from Illinois State starter Brent Headrick (1-1) over the left-field fence for his third career blast. Braiden Ward, who was hit by a pitch to start the game, scored ahead of Jordan to give the Huskies a quick 2-0 lead.

Jones had retired eight-straight entering the fourth inning before an error at shortstop by Jordan opened the door for the Redbirds. Owen Miller reached first when Jordan's throw pulled Brandon Leitgeb off the bag at first base. Collin Braithwaite doubled on the next pitch, scoring Miller on the play. Braithwaite was later sent home on a sacrifice fly for the Redbirds' second unearned run of the inning.

The Redbirds would go on to record a couple of two-out hits in the inning, but that was it for them on the day. Jones hit cruise control and would go on to set down the final 16 hitters he faced.

"I was able to push the tempo and force them to take bad swings," Jones' said following his first career complete game. "We used a lot of arms yesterday, so it was just a great feeling to go out there and help my team."

Jordan atoned for his fourth-inning error in the Huskies half of the inning when he led off with a solo home run. He took a 2-0 pitch he saw from Headrick to nearly the identical spot of his first inning blast.

"He missed with a few off-speed pitches, so I expected him to come at me with another fastball," Jordan said after his first career multi-home run game at any level. "Luckily he threw it, and I did what I did with it."

His blast gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead, but they weren't done in the inning.

Nick Kahle followed Jordan's blast with a double to right field just out of reach of the Noah Sadler's glove. He took third when Sadler struggled to find the ball in the outfield and came around to score when Noah Hsue beat Headrick in a foot race to first base for an infield single and RBI.

The Huskies made it 5-2 in the sixth inning on a two-out, RBI single by Kaiser Weiss. His single scored Jordan, who led off the inning with a single.

The win evened the four-game series at a game apiece. The Huskies and Redbirds play game three of the four-game series Sunday at 1:00 p.m.