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Illinois State University Athletics

Derek Salata
6
Winner Illinois State ILS 3-2
2
Arkansas State ASU 3-2
Winner
Illinois State ILS
3-2
6
Final
2
Arkansas State ASU
3-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Illinois State ILS 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 10 1
Arkansas State ASU 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 5 3

W: Salata, Derek (2-0) L: Jeans, Tyler (1-1) S: Dale, Elijah (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Salata Shines as Illinois State Tops Arkansas State, 6-2

JONESBORO, Ark. - Fifth-year senior Derek Salata fired six strong innings with 12 strikeouts as the Illinois State baseball team topped Arkansas State, 6-2, on Friday at Tomlinson Stadium.

Salata, who improves to 2-0, allowed a solo home run in the 6th inning as his lone blemish on the evening. Freshman Daniel Pacella hit a key 8th-inning home run as the both the Redbirds and Red Wolves move to 3-2.

Fourth-year junior Elijah Dale recorded the save after throwing the final three innings, allowing one run and striking out five.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

After the Redbirds left the bases juiced in the opening frame, second-year sophomore JT Sokolove swiped second base before he was brought home on a triple by third-year junior Auggie Rasmussen to give ISU the lead in the 2nd inning.

Fourth-year junior Adrian Flores singled home a second Redbird run in the 3rd inning.

Arkansas State cut the deficit in half with a solo shot to right-center field in the 6th inning.

Pacella homered to left-center field in the 8th inning for what proved to be a critical insurance run as the Red Wolves countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

In the 9th inning, fourth-year junior Shay Kubo drove in a run via bases-loaded hit-by-pitch before freshman Luke Lawrence delivered a two-RBI single in his first collegiate at-bat to extend the Redbird lead to 6-2.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

  • Rasmussen is the first Redbird to record a triple in back-to-back games since Daniel Dwyer (4/2 and 4/3/2016 at Xavier)
  • Salata's 12 strikeouts are the most by a Redbird since Colton Johnson struck out 12 against Missouri on 3/12/2021

  • Fourth-year junior Greg Nichols recorded three hits for the third time in 2023, which already surpasses his 2022 total of two-such games.

  • Fifth-year senior Dylan Swarmer had an astonishing seven assists (one CS, six 2-3 PO) to go with 12 put-outs behind the plate. Seven assists is three more than any other Redbird catcher in a single game since at least 2000 and is just two assists off the single-game ISU record for assists in a game. 

UP NEXT  

Illinois State is scheduled to play Saturday at Arkansas State at 3:00 p.m. CT before concluding the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT.

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.

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