NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program claimed the series sweep over Bradley with an 8-5 victory over the Braves Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. The Redbirds improve to 26-17 in 2026 and move to 9-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Illinois State rallied from a four-run deficit to capture the Redbirds' first sweep over the Braves since 2013. The comeback marks the largest comeback victory for Illinois State this season.
Bradley jumped out to an early lead, plating four runs over the first three innings to take a 4-0 advantage. Despite the deficit, the Redbirds' offense sparked in the bottom of the third.
Junior Ryan Bakes doubled to left, putting a runner in scoring position for the Redbirds in the frame. Moments later, his twin brother, Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes, followed with a double of his own to plate Illinois State's first run of the contest and make the score 4-1.
With a run on the board, Illinois State continued to rally in the fourth as Junior Michael Carrano Jr. opened the frame with a double to place a runner in scoring position. Following Carrano Jr.'s double. Graduate Camden Karczewski and Senior Josh Outlaw reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk to load the bases for Illinois State.
With the bases loaded, Sophomore Eric Machej delivered with a sacrifice fly to score Carrano Jr. and make the score 4-2. The Redbirds later capitalized on a wild pitch to add another run in the frame to cut the lead to 4-3.
As the Redbirds continued to build momentum, Brayden Bakes delivered a solo blast to open the fifth inning to even the score at 4-4. With the contest level, Carrano Jr. catapulted Illinois State to the lead with an RBI single to make the score 5-4. After claiming the lead, the Redbirds added another run in the fifth, as Machej singled to score Carrano Jr. and give Illinois State a 6-4 advantage.
Despite the Redbirds' momentum, Bradley responded in the sixth as they looked to rally after loading the bases with a pair of hit-by-pitches and a walk. With the bases loaded, the Braves capitalized on a wild pitch to pull a run back and make the score 6-5 in the sixth.
In the home half, the Redbirds responded as Brayden Bakes doubled to left field for his third extra-base hit of the afternoon to score Ryan Bakes and extend Illinois State's advantage to 7-5. With the lead extended to two, Illinois State grew its lead once more in the seventh as Outlaw tallied an RBI single to score Karczewski after the Joliet, Ill. native opened the inning with a leadoff triple.
With an 8-5 lead, Junior Jacob Culp and Graduate Reece Clapp tallied back-to-back scoreless innings to secure the series sweep for Illinois State.
NOTES
- Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes tallied three hits in the victory to record his 22nd multi-hit contest of the campaign.
- Bakes added three RBIs in the victory and has tallied a team-best 11 games with two or more RBIs. With his RBI total, Bakes becomes the first Redbird to surpass 40 RBIs across 2026.
- Bakes extended his season-best reached base streak to 12 games in the win.
- Junior Michael Carrano Jr. grew his hitting streak to five games with a pair of base hits in the victory. Carrano Jr notched his eighth multi-hit game of the campaign in his first season as a Redbird.
- Sophomore Eric Machej added a pair of RBIs to record his sixth multi-RBI performance in 2026.
- Senior Thomas Harper tallied 3.1 innings pitched in relief to earn his second victory of 2026 and his 10th overall win of his career. Harper recorded six strikeouts and didn't allow one hit in the outing.
- Graduate Reece Clapp recorded his ninth save of the campaign in the win. The Columbia, Mo. native now ranks tied for the third-most saves and stands one save shy of becoming the third player in program history to surpass 10 saves.
- The Redbirds recorded 10 hits in the win and improved to 22-1 when recording a double-digit hit total in 2026.
- With 11 strikeouts in the win, the Redbirds' pitching staff has tallied a double-digit punchout total in the last four games.
- Illinois State's four-run comeback marks the largest comeback victory since the Redbirds rallied from a 9-5 deficit to claim a 13-10 win over Murray State on March 29, 2025.
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