NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team earned a crucial Missouri Valley Conference win over Evansville, 7-2, at Duffy Bass Field as the 'Birds moved into the top-eight of the MVC standings with two weekends left to play in the regular season.
Fifth-year senior Derek Salata threw seven innings with seven strikeouts and second-year sophomore JT Sokolove broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th inning with a solo homer before the Redbirds piled on four more runs.
Illinois State (18-26 overall, 7-14 MVC) also got three hits and two RBIs from freshman Daniel Pacella; two hits and three RBIs from third-year sophomore Nick Strong; and a two-inning save by third-year junior Elijah Dale.
Evansville drops to 28-19 overall, 11-10 MVC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Pacella knocked in the game's first run in the opening frame on a fluky play that resulted in a fielder's choice as a Redbird was forced out at second base after a near diving catch by the UE outfielder.
UE scored twice in the 2nd inning before Strong doubled to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
The 'Birds loaded the bases in the 5th inning but couldn't cash in but Sokolove laced a 382-foot home run just inside the left field foul pole to break the 2-2 tie.
ISU added a run to make it 4-2 after seven innings on a sacrifice fly by second-year freshman Luke Lawrence before tallying three more runs in the 8th inning on a Pacella RBI single and Strong two-RBI single.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Rasmussen's on-base streak moves to 24 games, the longest by a Redbird this season.
- Rasmussen tallied his seventh multi-steal game of the season as he swiped three bases. Rasmussen is up to 22 steals in 2023, the most in the MVC and most by a 'Bird since Sean Beesley stole 27 in 2014.
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Third-year junior Elijah Dale's 55 strikeouts are the most by a Redbird in relief season since Kenny Long fanned 74 in relief in 2010.
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Pacella has a team-leading 19 multi-hit games and a team-leading 11 multi-RBI games.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is scheduled to host UIC from May 12-14 in the penultimate conference series prior to the eight-team MVC Tournament.
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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