JONESBORO, Ark. - The Illinois State baseball team is on the road for the next 11 days in the state of Arkansas, taking on Arkansas State from February 24-26 before heading to Fayetteville for a showdown with third-ranked Arkansas on March 1 and closing the trip with a series at Central Arkansas from March 3-5.
SCHEDULE (AT ARKANSAS STATE)
Friday at 6:00 p.m. CT | RADIO | LIVE STATS
Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | RADIO | LIVE STATS
Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | RADIO | LIVE STATS
ILLINOIS STATE PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Friday: RHP Derek Salata (1 GS, 0.00 ERA, 4 IP, 5 K at Austin Peay on 2/17/23)
Saturday: RHP Tyrelle Chadwick (1 GS, 9.82 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 K at Austin Peay on 2/18/23)
Sunday: LHP Sean Sinisko (1 GS, 15.43 ERA, 2.1 IP, 2 K at Austin Peay on 2/19/23)
ABOUT THE ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES
Arkansas State (3-1) was 11-38 in 2022, going 7-17 at home. The Red Wolves dropped a midweek to Ole Miss but swept Arkansas Pine-Bluff in its season-opening series in Jonesboro.
ASU topped ISU in the first two games of a three-game series in 2022 but the Redbirds won the final matchup on 3/5/22 by a 7-1 score. Current Illinois State baseball Director of Operations Colin Wyman threw five scoreless innings to earn the win.
Arkansas State is also scheduled to face some of the same opponents as Illinois State in 2023: Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, Arkansas, and Murray State.
10-INNING LOSS AT SIUE
Illinois State played its second-straight extra-inning affair on Tuesday at SIUE, falling 6-5 in 10 innings. ISU gave up two in the 1st inning before taking a 4-2 lead in the 5th inning. SIUE retook the lead in the 7th inning, but freshman Daniel Pacella blasted his first career home run to even the game at 5-5 in the 9th inning.
An uncharacteristic error with two outs and a runner on second base by third-year junior Luke Cheng resulted in the game's final run.
Freshman Thomas Harper made his first career start, throwing three-straight scoreless innings after conceding two runs in the opening frame. Fourth-year junior Cameron Mabee was credited with the loss, throwing 3.1 innings with one hit and one unearned run allowed.
COMEBACK TO WIN THE SERIES
Illinois State trailed, 10-5, after five innings and fell behind Austin Peay, 13-12, through eight innings on. The Redbirds then rallied to even the game in the ninth and a Greg Nichols home run in the 10th inning proved to be the game-winner. The Redbirds were 0-26 when trailing after eight innings in 2022 and improved to 1-1 in the same situation in 2023.
RETURNER HOME RUNS
Illinois State returned just a trio of home runs from its 2022 roster, tied for the fewest in the nation with Kansas. The returnees combined for three home runs in the season-opening series as Greg Nichols, Adrian Flores, and JT Sokolove each went yard.
WELCOME TO BEAN TOWN
Second-year sophomore Noah Rabin reached base at a blistering .600 clip against Austin Peay while going 4-for-9 with a trio of doubles, RBI, and runs scored. Rabin also walked five times and stole two bases.
ELI DALE'S ISU DEBUT
After allowing three runs and surrendering the lead in the 7th inning of Sunday's game, third-year junior Elijah Dale settled in nicely, holding APSU scoreless in his final three innings of work. Dale was credited with the win and struck out eight.
FLORES' FIRST START AT FIRST BASE
Fourth-year junior Adrian Flores, traditionally a catcher, made his first career start at first base on Sunday at APSU. Flores was 4-6 with his first career HR (gave ISU 11-10 lead), two RBI, and two runs scored.
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).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
