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Illinois State University Athletics

Judah Morris HR
Scott Beaton, ISU Athletics
16
Winner Illinois St. ILLINOIS 12-21
9
Bradley BRADLEY 11-22
Winner
Illinois St. ILLINOIS
12-21
16
Final
9
Bradley BRADLEY
11-22
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Illinois St. ILLINOIS 0 3 1 5 2 0 2 3 0 16 16 1
Bradley BRADLEY 0 0 1 0 0 6 2 0 0 9 11 3

W: Salata, Derek (3-4) L: J. Kisting (0-6)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Steve Holm

'Birds' Bats Remain Hot; Beat Bradley, 16-9

(WRITTEN BY HEAD COACH STEVE HOLM)

PEORIA, Ill. – Illinois State scored early and often during an 11 a.m. game at Bradley.  Redbird hitters banged out 16 hits including 5 home runs on the day.  

Dan Pacella hit 2 homers (including a 4th inning grand slam), Shai Robinson and Judah Morris each hit their first career homers and Auggie Rasmussen connected for his 5th in the eighth inning. Derek Salata would pick up his 3rd win of the season going 5 plus innings. 

HOW IT HAPPENED (WRITTEN BY HEAD COACH STEVE HOLM)

Shai Robinson got the Birds on the board with his first career homer a 3 run shot to left in the top of the second inning.  

The next few innings became the Dan Pacella show as he hit a solo homer in the top of the third then an inning later, he smashed a ball to left center for a grand slam which made it 8-1 'Birds.  

Derek Salata who started on the mound would cruise through his first 5 innings only allowing 1 run, but the Bradley Braves would put up a 6 spot in the bottom of the 6th which cut the 'Birds' lead to 4.  

In the top of the 7th, the Redbirds would add some insurance with a 2 run opposite field homer by Judah Morris.  

Then in the 8th, Auggie Rasmussen would put the game out of reach with a 3 run homer his fifth longball of the season.  All in all, 7 different Redbirds recorded multi-hit games with five of those 'Birds also driving in multiple runs.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (WRITTEN BY SID)

  • Illinois State scored 16 runs after scoring 18 runs at Northern Illinois on Wednesday, marking the first time since 3/12/19 (18 runs at SEMO) and 3/13/19 (16 runs at SIU) that the 'Birds have scored 16+ runs in back-to-back games.
  • Pacella records his second multi-homer game of the season (3/5 at UCA) and his second career grand slam (also at UCA on 3/5) ... he joins Greg Nichols (4/19 at NIU) as 'Birds with multi-homer games in 2023.
  • Pacella has 11 home runs in 2023, tied for second with Ryan Cermak among Redbird freshmen in program history. Frank Mustari leads the list with 16 in 1985.
  • Pacella is the first Redbird freshman with multiple two-plus home run games since at least 2000
  • Pacella is the first Redbird freshman with multiple five-plus RBI games since at least 2000
  • Robinson and Morris each tallied their first home runs as Redbirds.
  • Rasmussen's on-base streak moves to 13 games.
  • Sixth-year senior Kolton Scherbenske threw two scoreless innings to close the game.
  • Illinois State moves to 12-22 (3-10 MVC)
  • Bradley moves to 11-22 (3-10 MVC) after suffering the 16-9 loss.

UP NEXT  (WRITTEN BY SID)

Illinois State is scheduled to play at Bradley on Saturday (11:00 a.m. CT), and Sunday (10:00 a.m. CT) to conclude the series.

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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