Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Illinois State University Athletics

Michael Carrano
Tyler Coe
6
Illinois State ISU 8-7
10
Winner Eastern Kentucky EKU 5-11
Illinois State ISU
8-7
6
Final
10
Eastern Kentucky EKU
5-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Illinois State ISU 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 6 9 2
Eastern Kentucky EKU 0 0 0 0 4 2 2 2 X 10 11 0

W: Caleb Freeman (1-0) L: Roehler, Trenton (1-2) S: Jack Bell (3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Sam Collins

Redbirds Drop Final Contest Of Series To Eastern Kentucky Sunday Afternoon

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Illinois State baseball program dropped the final game of its series against Eastern Kentucky 10-6, Sunday afternoon at Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Ky.  

The Redbirds secured the lead in the opening frame after Junior Ryan Bakes drove in Junior Luke Stulga on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 advantage. A frame later, Illinois State added another run via a sacrifice fly from Graduate Camden Karczewski, who brought in Sophomore Eric Machej to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead. 

In the fourth inning, the Redbirds added to their advantage, as Karczewski drove in Graduate Payton McHarg on an RBI single to push the Illinois State lead to 3-0. 

After four scoreless innings, Eastern Kentucky claimed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, with a pair of RBI singles and a two-run double to take a 4-3 advantage. In the following inning, the Redbirds responded as Junior Michael Carrano recorded a pinch hit triple to score McHarg to tie the contest at 4-4. Carrano later scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Redbirds a 5-4 lead. 

Following the Redbirds' response, the Colonels reclaimed the lead with a two-run single to take a 6-5 lead in the bottom half of the sixth.  A frame later, Eastern Kentucky extended its advantage with a two-run home run to make the score 8-5. In the eighth, the Colonels added a pair of runs to push their lead to 10-5. 

In the final inning, the Redbirds pulled a run back to make the score 10-6, after Carrano tallied a solo home run. Illinois State attempted to rally late after adding a pair of runners with a single and a walk, but Eastern Kentucky held on to secure the victory. 

NOTES 

  • Junior Graham Mastros extended his hitting streak to six games with two hits in the contest. In all three games of the series, Mastros recorded two or more hits. 

  • Graduate Payton McHarg tallied his third two-hit performance of the season with a 2-for-3 game with a pair of runs scored. 

  • Junior Michael Carrano tallied a two-hit performance with a home run and triple to record his first multi-hit game at the Division I level. 

  • Graduate Camden Karczewski added a pair of hits for his fourth two-hit game this season. 

  • Senior Shuto Tiger Okumura made his debut at Illinois State after entering the contest in the eighth inning. 

UP NEXT

The Redbirds will head to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Saint Louis Tuesday afternoon at the Billiken Sports Center. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the contest will be available to watch via ESPN+.

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.

Print Friendly Version