Illinois State Drops Doubleheader at Western Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Illinois State baseball team dropped a doubleheader at Western Kentucky at Nick Denes Field on Friday. The Redbirds fell, 9-7, in game one before falling, 4-3, in 11 innings in game two.

Illinois State, which led 7-5 after seven innings in game one, drops to 0-2 while Western Kentucky begins the year at 2-0.

Freshman Eric Machej recorded a pair of hits and RBIs on the day to begin his collegiate career, including a game-tying double in the nightcap.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

Game One

The two sides remained close in the beginning as WKU led 3-2 after three innings of play.

Five of the game's next six runs came by the Redbirds, including a three-run home run from Judah Morris, to give the Birds a 7-4 lead after four and a half innings.

With the Birds ahead 7-5, senior MacCallan Conklin provided 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to keep the score in favor of the Birds heading to the bottom of the eighth.

A four-run 8th inning for the Hilltoppers proved to be the difference as WKU pulled ahead 9-7 before shutting down the Redbirds in the ninth for the Opening Day victory.

Game Two

Offense was at a premium to begin game two as WKU led 2-0 after four innings of play.

The Redbirds scratched across a run in the top of the 5th thanks to an RBI single from Machej before senior Noah Smith provided a pinch hit RBI single to play Luke Stulga to knot the score at 2-2 after five innings.

After Western Kentucky got a sac fly in the 6th, the Bird tied the game in the 7th with an RBI double by Machej.

The score remained tied at 3-3 as the action went into extra innings. In the top of the 10th, ILS saw two on and one out, but the Birds could not push across a run.

WKU would see a walk-off double in the bottom of the 11th for the 4-3 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

Game One

• Machej, Kyle Gibson, Brayden Bakes, Graham Mastros, and Cam Hill made their first appearances as Redbirds.
• Hitters 2-4 in the Redbirds lineup were a combined 6-for-14.

Game Two

• The Redbirds stranded seven runners while WKU left eight runners on base.
• Machej recorded his first career RBIs.

UP NEXT  

Illinois State and Western Kentucky is set to play game three of the weekend series on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.

For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on X (@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.