Redbirds Capture Season Opening Win Over Eastern Kentucky Friday

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Illinois State baseball program captured a 7-2 win over Eastern Kentucky Friday afternoon at Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Ky. The Redbirds improve to 8-5 with the victory. 

Junior Graham Mastros and Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes led the Redbirds' offense with three hits each to help Illinois State move past the Colonels. Mastros tallied his fifth home run of the season and added a pair of doubles, as Bakes notched a trio of hits, including an RBI double. 

On the mound, Junior Lucas Foley earned a Missouri Valley Conference-best fourth win of the season after entering the contest in relief of Senior Thomas Harper. The pitching duo combined for nine strikeouts, marking the fifth time this season the Redbirds as a team have tallied nine or more strikeouts in a game. 

The Colonels took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning, scoring on a groundout to take an early advantage. In the next frame, the Redbirds responded with a leadoff home run from Junior Ryan Bakes to tie the contest at 1-1. 

After two scoreless innings, the Redbirds took the lead in the top of the fifth. Senior Josh Outlaw drove in Senior Nolan Barry on a fielder's choice to give Illinois State a 2-1 advantage, following a pair of singles at the start of the inning by Barry and Junior Luke Stulga. 

In the sixth inning, Illinois State loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch. With the bases loaded, Barry delivered two runs with a base hit to grow Illinois State's advantage to 4-1. Eastern Kentucky pulled a run back in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 4-2. 

Junior Graham Mastros added to the Redbird lead in the seventh with a solo home run to push the Redbirds' lead to 5-2. In the ninth inning, Illinois State added two more to its advantage to make the score 7-2, following a pair of doubles from Mastros and Brayden Bakes. 

NOTES 

• Senior Thomas Harper allowed one run in the game, marking the third contest this season in which Harper has limited opponents to one run scored. 

• Harper tallied three strikeouts in the game and has recorded three or more punchouts in all four starts to begin 2026. 

• After entering the contest in the fifth inning, Junior Lucas Foley recorded his longest outing of the season with 4.1 innings pitched. With the win, Foley leads the MVC with four wins this season. 

• Foley added six strikeouts in the game, tallying a new season-best. 

• Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes notched a 3-for-5 performance, tallying a team-best seventh multi-hit game this season. 

• Senior Nolan Berry tallied a 2-for-4 day from the plate for his second multi-hit performance in three games. 

• Sophomore Eric Machej extended his career hitting streak to five games with two hits in the contest. 

• Junior Graham Mastros' seventh inning solo blast marks his fifth home run of the season, matching a career best total for a single season. Mastros now leads the team with five home runs this season. 

• With three hits, Mastros extended his hitting streak to four games to match a season-best streak. Mastros has tallied a hit in eight of the Redbirds' previous nine contests. 

For the latest updates on Illinois State Baseball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on X (formerly Twitter) (@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 Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos, and more.