PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - The Illinois State baseball team split a pair of Friday games to open the 2024 season at the Snowbird Classic, defeating St. Thomas in game one behind 20 hits and 18 runs before dropping the nightcap to Saint Louis by a final of 13-8 from Centennial Park.
Redshirt junior Judah Morris, junior Noah Rabin, and sophomore Daniel Pacella all homered in the game one win while Rabin added his second of the season in the nightcap.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE)
A RBI-double from junior Tyler Herron got the 'Birds on the board in the 2nd inning before the Tommies retook the lead with a pair of runs to close the inning.
The 4th inning saw redshirt sophomore Luke Lawrence tally an RBI double as part of a seven-run inning for ISU. St. Thomas would shrink the lead back to three with a trio of runs as well.
Illinois State would be the first to double digits off a single from Pacella before it was Morris stepping to the plate and collecting ISU's first homerun of the 2024 campaign. Morris sent a ball over the left field fence, knocking in Pacella, and building the ISU lead out to 12-5.
The Tommies would eventually respond with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to trim the margin back down to five (12-7). Shortly after, it was Rabin's power on display as the California native sent one deep to left centerfield for a 13-6 ISU lead.
Finally, in the top of the 8th inning, Pacella sent a no-doubter out to right field as the lead grew to nine before ISU added its final run of game one off a sac fly from junior JT Sokolove.
INSIDE THE BOX SCOREÂ (GAME ONE)
- The 18 runs scored by ISU is the second-most runs in a season opener and most since the 'Birds would finish with 27 runs at Belmont in 2019
- Friday's final marks the 10th time the Redbirds have scored 15+ since 2019 (four times in 2023, twice in 2022, and three times in 2019).
- Illinois State has now won four straight season openers (2023 at Austin Peay, 2022 at #2 Arkansas, 2021 at SIUE)
- The 20 runs for ISU is the most in a game since the 'Birds scored 20 at Valparaiso last May.
- 10 different 'Birds tallied a hit during the contest, led by Daniel Pacella's three hits and four RBIs.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO)
A solo homerun from junior Noah Rabin got the 'Birds on the board in the 2nd inning after Saint Louis opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 1st inning.
In the top of the 3rd inning, the Redbirds saw 10 come to the plate including six runs scored to take an early 7-3 lead before it was the SLU offense responding with a six-run inning of their own to retake the lead.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, SLU padded their lead with a pair of runs with the bases loaded to make it 12-8 before adding their final run of the night in the bottom of the 8th off a wild pitch from freshman Lawson Minshew.
INSIDE THE BOX SCOREÂ (GAME TWO)
- Illinois State moves to 41-24 all-time versus Saint Louis
- Freshman Luke Stulga got his first career start, playing right field for the 'Birds
- Sophomore Daniel Pacella led the way for the 'Birds with two RBIs, moving his 2024 season total to a team-leading five through two games
UP NEXTÂ Â
Illinois State is scheduled to face the St. Thomas Tommies for the second time this weekend on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. CT. The game will be shown via FloBaseball ($) with live stats provided at goredbirds.com
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).Â
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