MACOMB, Ill. – Illinois State baseball was back in action Thursday, as the Redbirds topped Western Illinois by a final of 5-4 at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium.
Junior Thomas Harper got the start, going 5.0 innings with six strikeouts for the Redbirds (4-10).
Senior Judah Morris led the offense with a 2-for-3 day at the plate with two RBIs as the Redbirds mustered 10 hits against the Leathernecks (4-9).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Leathernecks broke the scoring open in the 2nd with a home run to take the early 1-0 lead.
The Redbirds got the run back in the top of the 3rd off a sacrifice fly by Daniel Pacella to make it 1-1 before WIU got their own sac fly to retake the lead at 2-1 after three innings.
ISU would gain some much-needed momentum in the 5th inning with another sac fly, this time from Josh Outlaw, before Judah Morris crushed his sixth home run of 2025 to push the lead to 4-2.
Western Illinois scored two runs in the bottom of the 6th off an RBI double and sacrifice fly to tie the score back at 4-4.
The final run of the afternoon came from the bat of Pacella, who smacked his fourth long ball of the season, to make the score read its final spread of 5-4.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Judah Morris reached base for a team-leading 11th straight game
- Joe Husak notched his second save of 2025, going 2.0 innings with one hit allowed and four strikeouts
- Daniel Pacella extended his hitting streak to a team best six games
- MacCallan Conklin secured his first win of the season
UP NEXT
Illinois State remains in Macomb to continue the four-game weekend set with the Leathernecks on Friday at 2 PM.
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:Â Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
