'Birds' Bats Remain Hot; Beat SIUE, 14-3

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State baseball saw the bats remain hot as the Redbirds picked up a 14-3 home-opening victory over SIUE at Duffy Bass Field Wednesday.

Illinois State scored early and often during an 5 p.m. game versus the Cougars as the 'Birds banged out 15 hits including 6 doubles on the evening.  

ILS (9-9 overall) was led by sophomore Luke Lawrence who finished 3-for-4 on the day with 5 RBIs including a home run and a double.

The Redbirds also saw multiple hits from senior Luke Cheng, sophomore Daniel Pacella, redshirt junior Judah Morris, and senior Greg Nichols as the 'Birds led 9-0 after three innings.

Sophomore Thomas Harper conceded just only one run over five innings to the Cougars (5-16 overall) to pick up the home-opening victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

The Redbirds scored first in the 1st inning off Lawrence's second home run of 2024 before Pacella singled two batters later to score Cheng.

The second inning saw two more Redbirds score off an RBI single from Nichols and a sac fly from Lawrence.

The Redbirds offense exploded in the 3rd with a five-run frame. The scoring began with Daniel Contreras reaching off an error by SIUE's third baseman to plate a run. Then, a fielder's choice by JT Sokolove made it 6-0 ILS before Nichols laid down a picture perfect bunt to expand the lead to 7-0.

Finally, in the 3rd, Lawrence would compile RBIs no. three and four with a double to left center, as the lead grew to 9-0 for the Redbirds.

SIUE would get on the board in the 4th with a RBI single.

ILS responded though with a four-run 4th of their own with a pair of RBI singles from Lawrence and Pacella along with a walk from Cheng as the home side led 13-1 after four innings.

Freshman Luke Stulga would contribute with a pinch-hit RBI double in the 5th to make it a 13-run margin, as ILS built the lead out to 14-1.

Finally, the Cougars rallied to score twice in the top of the 7th, but it would not be enough as the Redbirds picked up a 14-3 win to kickstart the 2024 home campaign.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Illinois State has won five-straight home openers.
• Lawrence becomes the first Redbird with 5 RBIs in a game since Auggie Rasmussen did so at Indiana last Tuesday.
• Freshman Lawson Minshew and senior Erik Kubiatowicz combined to throw the final two innings, with four strikeouts and three hits allowed combined.

UP NEXT  

Illinois State returns back to Duffy Bass for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch versus Northern Illinois on Wednesday. The game will be on ESPN+.

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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