NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In its first Missouri Valley Conference regular season game of 2025, Illinois State baseball team defeated Belmont, 8-5, on Friday night at E.S. Rose Park.
Senior Judah Morris led the offensive attack with two home runs in back-to-back plate appearances for Illinois State (7-12 overall, 1-0 MVC).
Belmont (8-15 overall, 0-1 MVC) recorded six hits and stranded six runners.
Top Hitters:
Pitching Breakdown:
- Thomas Harper (W, 2-0): 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's
- Braden Roesch: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB
- Joe Husak (S, 3): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Scoring Breakdown:
- The Redbirds got on the scoreboard first with back-to-back home runs from Judah Morris and Brayden Bakes for a 3-0 lead after the top of the 1st.
- In the 3rd, Daniel Pacella and Morris would go back-to-back with long balls to expand the lead to 5-0.
- Luke Stulga collected an RBI single to the pitcher in the top of the 3rd as the Birds led 6-0 after three innings.
- Josh Outlaw would tally on two more Redbird runs with an RBI single in the 5th to make the score, 8-0
- Belmont would get on the board in the 6th with a two-RBI single and a sac fly to trim the margin to 8-3
- In the 7th, the Bruins scored two more with an RBI double down the left field line to make the scoreboard read, 8-5
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Morris notched his team best eighth and ninth home run Friday
- Morris extended his on-base streak to 16 games.
- Outlaw records his first multiple RBI game as a Redbird
- Harper tied a career high with 6.0 innings pitched
UP NEXT
Illinois State and Belmont continue the weekend series on Saturday at 2 PM CT from E.S. Rose Park.
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