NORMAL, Ill.– The Illinois State baseball team was clicking on all cylinders prior to the 6th inning versus SIUE, but the Cougars completed a seven-run comeback, defeating Illinois State in a 14-12 decision in 11 innings at Duffy Bass Field on Tuesday.
The Redbirds (6-12 overall) led 12-5 after five innings but thanks to nine straight runs across the final six innings, SIUE (7-12 overall) earned their first win in Normal since 2018.
ISU got a pair of home runs as senior Noah Smith hit his 2nd home run of the season while junior Shai Robinson added a grand slam for his 6th home run of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SIUE pushed across three runs in the 1st inning before Smith provided an RBI groundout to make it 3-1 after one frame.
The Redbird bats tallied a five-run 3rd inning, including Smith's home run, to pull ahead 6-3.
Following a pair of Cougar runs in the top of the 4th, the Birds responded with back-to-back RBIs from Robinson and sophomore Graham Mastros to make it 8-5.
The lead ballooned to 12-5 in the 5th off the bat of Robinson with a grand slam, the first grand slam for ISU since May 2024.
SIUE would knock home three runs in the 6th inning with a home run, RBI double, and RBI single.
The Cougars held ISU scoreless in the 6th and 7th before tying the game in the 8th with an RBI double, RBI groundout, and two-RBI single to make it 12-12.
After a scoreless 9th and 10th, SIUE pushed across two in the top of the 11th to hold the final lead of the game at 14-12.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Illinois State and SIUE each had 17 hits
- Mastros swiped his team-leading 7th base of the season.
- Robinson finished with 5 RBIs, first Redbird to do so since May 2024.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will travel to Nashville to kickstart MVC play with a three-game series at Belmont. First pitch is set for 4 PM on Friday.
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).
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