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Illinois State University Athletics

Ryan Bakes
Joey Beamon
4
Indiana St. INS 17-18
6
Winner Illinois St. ILS 22-13
Indiana St. INS
17-18
4
Final
6
Illinois St. ILS
22-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Indiana St. INS 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 4 8 1
Illinois St. ILS 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 0 X 6 9 1

W: Cormier, Carson (2-1) L: Ty Brooks (5-2) S: Clapp, Reece (7)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Sam Collins

Redbirds Even Series With Sycamores After 6-4 Victory Saturday

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program secured a 6-4 victory over Indiana State, Saturday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. With the win, the Redbirds improve to 22-13 on the campaign, and 6-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Junior Ryan Bakes led the Redbird offense with two hits and matched a career-best with three RBIs. Two of Bakes' RBIs came from his eighth run of the campaign with a two-run home run in the third inning. Bakes added his third RBI of the contest with an RBI single later in the Illinois State victory.

Junior Michael Addari impressed on the mound with his seventh straight appearance with at least 5.0 innings pitched. Addari added seven strikeouts in the outing to match a career-high punchout total.

Indiana State took an early advantage after a triple in the third inning placed a runner in scoring position for the Sycamores. With a runner on, Indiana State plated the first run of the contest on a sacrifice fly to make the score 1-0.

In the bottom half, the Redbirds responded after Senior Josh Outlaw reached on a walk, setting up Ryan Bakes' two-run home run to give Illinois State its first lead of the contest at 2-1.

After Bakes' homer in the bottom half of the third, Indiana State evened the score at 2-2 as the Sycamores tallied an RBI single following a leadoff triple to open the fourth. Moments later, Indiana State moved a runner into scoring position and reclaimed the lead with an additional RBI single to make the score 3-2.

In the home half of the fifth, Outlaw walked and reached third on an error on a pickoff attempt to put the tying run in scoring position. Bakes stepped up and delivered his third RBI of the contest with an RBI single to tie the contest at 3-3. 

After evening the score in the fifth, the Redbirds reclaimed the lead with a three-run sixth inning to take a 6-3 advantage. Junior Michael Carrano Jr. opened the inning with a leadoff double to put a runner in scoring position for Illinois State. With a runner on, Sophomore Louis Bussard gave the Redbirds their second lead of the contest with an RBI single. Later in the inning, Illinois State grew its lead with a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly from Graduate Camden Karczewski and an RBI single from Outlaw.

A frame later, the Sycamores cut into the Redbirds' lead with an RBI single following a double to make the score 6-4 in the seventh. Despite Indiana State trimming the Redbird lead, Graduate Reece Clapp entered the contest in the top of the eighth and recorded back-to-back scoreless frames to record the two-inning save to secure the Redbirds' victory.

NOTES

  • With nine hits in the win, the Redbirds surpassed 100 hits in Missouri Valley Conference play. Illinois State currently sits third with a total of 108 in league play.
  • Illinois State improves to 9-2 in contests played at Duffy Bass Field in 2026, including a 4-1 mark in Valley play.
  • The Redbirds' pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts to tally the 12th contest with a double-digit strikeout total. Illinois State improves to 10-2 this season when recording 10 or more strikeouts.
  • Junior Ryan Bakes matched a career-high with three RBIs including two coming off his two-run home run in the third inning. Bakes joins Junior Graham Mastros Mastros and his twin brother, Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes, as the three Redbirds with at least eight home runs across the season.
  • Ryan Bakes grew his reached base streak to nine games with two hits in a victory.
  • Sophomore Louis Bussard extended his hitting streak to a career-best five games with a pair of hits. With two hits, Bussard tallied his third multi-hit game of the campaign.
  • Senior Josh Outlaw grew his reached base streak to 15 games and joined teammates Junior Luke Stulga and Mastros to record a streak of 15 or more games.
  • Junior Michael Carrano Jr. notched his fifth multi-hit performance of the season with two hits, including a double in the win. Carrano Jr. joins Graduate Camden Karczewski and Junior Ryan Bakes as one of three Redbird newcomers to record five or more multi-hit games this season.
  • Junior Ryan Bakes matched a career-high with three RBIs including two coming off his two-run home run in the third inning. Bakes joins Mastros and his twin brother, Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes, as the three Redbirds with at least eight home runs across the season.
  • Junior Michael Addari tossed 5.0 innings and seven strikeouts in the victory to record his seventh straight appearance with at least five frames pitched and four punchouts. 
  • Junior Michael Addari matched a career-high strikeout total with seven in the victory. Addari has recorded 23 punchouts in four starts in conference play and ranks amongst the top-three of Valley pitchers.

UP NEXT

The Redbirds will look to claim the series victory in the finale of the three-game set with Indiana State on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1:05 p.m., and the contest will be available to stream on 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.

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