Redbirds Claim Series With Doubleheader Sweep Over Western Illinois Friday

MACOMB, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program captured a series victory over Western Illinois with a doubleheader sweep, with 10-7 and 7-1 wins over the Leathernecks on Friday at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium. 

GAME ONE RECAP 

Illinois State opened the contest with three consecutive base hits to load the bases in the top half of the first frame. With the bases loaded, the Redbirds capitalized with a pair of sacrifice flies from Junior Luke Stulga and Junior Ryan Bakes to claim an early 2-0 advantage.  

In the bottom half of the first, Western Illinois pulled a run back with a groundout RBI to cut the Redbirds' lead to 2-1. The Leathernecks continued their response in the second inning with a pair of RBI singles to take a 3-2 advantage. Western Illinois added another run in the third following a sacrifice fly to move their lead to 4-2. 

The Redbirds bounced back at the top of the fourth after a leadoff double from Junior Ryan Bakes provided a runner in scoring position to open the frame. With a runner on, Senior Kannon Coakley delivered his first home run of the season to tie the contest at 4-4.  

As Illinois State responded to even the score, the Leathernecks reclaimed the lead in the bottom half with a solo home run to make the score 5-4. After Western Illinois regained its advantage, Junior Graham Mastros tallied his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth inning. Following the two squads trading solo home runs, the Leathernecks tallied another home run in the bottom half to retake the lead at 6-5. 

In the seventh inning, the Redbirds used a pair of sacrifice flies from Mastros and Stulga to retake the lead with a 7-6 advantage following a pair of hits from Karczewski and Bakes to open the frame. Western Illinois later evened the score in the bottom half with an RBI single to make the score 7-7. 

After the Leathernecks tied the contest, the Redbirds opened the inning with a pair of walks, including a hit by pitch to put two runners on to begin the frame. With runners on, Illinois State capitalized on a Leathernecks throwing error to take the lead at 8-7 later. 

The Redbirds added to their advantage after taking back the lead with a run scored on a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly from Mastros to push the score to 10-7. 

GAME TWO RECAP 

In game two, the Redbirds captured a run in the opening inning as Stulga drove in Karczewski with a double to give Illinois State a 1-0 advantage.  

The Redbirds added a pair of runs with Junior Michael Carrano driving home Sophomore Louis Bussard on an RBI single to make the score 2-0. Carrano scored later in the frame on a wild pitch to move Illinois State's lead to 3-0. 

In the third inning, the Leathernecks pulled a run back with a run scoring on a groundout to make the score 3-1. 

After two scoreless innings, the Redbirds increased their lead in the top of the sixth with three runs scored in the frame. Mastros doubled to center field to score Karczewski to grow the Redbirds' advantage to 4-1. Illinois State later added a run on a wild pitch to move its lead to 5-1. Stulga wrapped up the frame with an RBI single to make the score 6-1. In the seventh inning, the Redbirds tallied another run to make the score 7-1 on a groundout. 

NOTES 

GAME ONE NOTES 

• Senior Camden Karczewski tallied his sixth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 performance. 

• Karczewski extended his hitting streak to five games, which set a new season-best streak for the Joliet, Ill. native. 

• With two hits, including a fifth-inning home run, Junior Graham Mastros extended his hitting streak to nine games, setting a new career-best streak. 

• Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes tallied his 10th game with two or more hits this season and became the first Redbird to reach double-digit multi-hit games throughout the campaign. 

• Junior Jackson Manning recorded his first career hit at the Division I level with a single in the eighth inning. 

• In five innings pitched, Senior Thomas Harper tallied a season-best five strikeouts in the contest. 

• Junior Lucas Foley earned his fifth win of the season after entering the contest in relief in the seventh inning. 

GAME TWO NOTES 

• Junior Michael Addari tallied a career-best six strikeouts in the win to earn his second victory of the season. 

• Addari matched the longest outing of his career with 5.0 innings pitched in the win. 

• Junior Graham Mastros recorded another pair of hits in the second game to grow his career-best hitting streak to 10 games. 

• Senior Camden Karczewski followed his first game two-hit performance with a 2-for-5 game in the second contest of the day. Karczewski has tallied two or more hits in four of the last five games. 

• With two hits, Karczewski moved his season-best hitting streak to six games 

• Junior Luke Stulga added a pair of hits and RBIs in the victory. Stulga has tallied at least two RBIs in all three contests of the series. 

• In six of the Redbirds' last seven games, Illinois State has recorded 10 or more hits. 

• With 10 strikeouts, Illinois State has tallied double-digit punchout totals in the last four games, marking the longest stretch this season. 

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