NORMAL, Ill. – Third-year sophomore Hayden Jones blasted a pair of home runs on Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium, leading the Illinois State baseball team in a 6-3 win and 8-4 loss against Southern Illinois.
Jones was 5-for-8 on the day, adding five RBIs to his two home runs for Illinois State (10-15 overall, 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference).
Fifth-year senior Jordan Libman was 4-for-8 with two RBIs and a run scored while second-year freshman Jordan Lussier was credited with the win in the opening game, throwing five innings, allowing three runs and fanning seven.
Ben Chapman threw the first four innings for Southern Illinois (20-5 overall, 4-3 MVC) in game one. Chapman then moved to catcher for the final three innings before starting behind the plate in the nightcap. He reached base three times.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One
SIU scored the game's first two runs but the 'Birds tied it up in the 2nd inning with a Jones single and a 13-pitch bases-loaded walk drawn by fourth-year junior Kyle Soberano.
Jones added another RBI single before smashing a two-run home run to put ISU up, 5-2.
The Salukis got one back in the 5th but fifth-year junior Aidan Huggins homered to put the Redbirds ahead 6-3 after six innings.
Third-year sophomore Derek Salata recorded a two-inning save.
Game Two
The Salukis scored in the 1st inning before a 3rd inning 2-RBI hit by Libman put the Redbirds up, 2-1.
SIU responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning prior to a home run by Jones in the 4th.
A Redbird error in the 6th inning ultimately resulted in two Saluki runs, pushing the SIU lead to 7-4.
SIU added one more run before the game was completed.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Game One
- Salata recorded his fourth save of 2021 and now has seven-straight scoreless appearances.
- Huggins' home run was his first since 5/17/2019.
- Jones recorded a career-high four RBI (and tied a career-high with three hits).
Game Two
- Libman now has hits in 22 of 25 games in 2021. He had scored in 10-straight games but did not cross the plate in game two.
- First-year freshman Luke Cheng came in as a defensive replacement at first base and has played all four infield spots to start his career.
- Fourth-year sophomore Garrett Witcher recorded 1.1 scoreless frames.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is scheduled to play at 1:00 p.m. CT on Sunday at Southern Illinois to close out the series. The game is on ESPN3.
For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdBaseball) and Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Baseball).
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