IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Illinois State baseball program secured a 13-6 win over Iowa Tuesday evening at Duane Banks Field. The Redbirds improved to 27-17 overall in 2026 with the victory and extended its win streak to five games.
Graduate Payton McHarg headlined the Redbirds offense with his first three-hit game as a Redbird and added his first three RBI effort in Illinois State colors.
Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes tallied three hits, including two doubles, in the Redbirds' win. Bakes added two RBIs in the performance and has tallied 12 RBIs in the last five games.
Graduate Camden Karczewski and Junior Luke Stulga notched two hits and an RBI each to become the third and fourth Redbirds to tally a multi-hit performance in the contest.
Sophomore Louis Bussard recorded a new career-high RBI total with a team-best four RBIs in the victory.
Iowa struck first with a run on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Hawkeyes later added another run in the second on a Redbird wild pitch to extend its early lead to 2-0.
In the third, the Redbirds loaded the bases with a pair of walks from Bussard and Bakes, and a double from McHarg. Moments later, Junior Michael Carrano Jr. drew a walk to the plate, Illinois State's first run in the contest, to make the score 2-1.
With a run on the board, the Redbirds continued their momentum into the fourth with a pair of walks to open the frame. Illinois State later capitalized on an Iowa error to tie the contest at 2-2. After McHarg was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Bakes delivered with an infield single to give the Redbirds a 3-2 advantage.
Iowa responded in the home half of the fourth by loading the bases with a pair of hits and a walk. The Hawkeyes later drew a hit-by-pitch to plate a run and even the contest at 3-3. A frame later, following a single and a pair of hit batters, Iowa loaded the bases and drew a walk to reclaim the lead at 4-3.
In the sixth, Sophomore Eric Machaj walked and moved into scoring position, as McHarg delivered an RBI single to even the score at 4-4.
With the score tied and momentum in favor of the Redbirds, Illinois State's offense sparked as the first three batters singled to open the inning. With the bases loaded, Karczewski singled to score Carrano Jr. and reclaimed the lead at 5-4. Sophomore Louis Bussard followed Karczewski's effort with a two-RBI double to right-center and pushed the Redbird advantage to 7-4.
Illinois State continued to rally with a double down the left line from McHarg to add a pair of runs to move the Redbird lead to 9-4. Moments later, Bakes tallied the third Redbird double of the frame to score McHarg and extended Illinois State's lead to 10-4.
In the eighth, Illinois State moved a runner into scoring position as Senior Josh Outaw drew a walk and advanced to third on a single from Karczewski. With an RBI groundout from Bussard, the Redbirds grew their lead to 11-4. Moments later, Machej added another run in the frame with an RBI double to grow Illinois State's advantage to 12-4.
The Hawkeyes tried to claw back in the eighth after placing two runners on with a walk and a single. With two runners on, Iowa pulled a pair of runs back with a two-RBI single to cut the Redbirds' lead to 12-6.
In the ninth, following a Bakes double, Junior Luke Stulga drove in the Redbirds' 13th run with an RBI single to make the score 13-6. As the Redbirds led, Freshman Jackson Natanek entered and tallied a strikeout with a pair of flyouts to secure the Illinois State victory.
NOTES
- The Redbirds improve to 17-11 in the all-time series with the Hawkeyes and have won three of the last four contests, with back-to-back victories in contests played in Iowa City.
- Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes recorded his team-best 23rd multi-hit performance of the campaign with three hits in the victory. In his last five contests, Bakes has recorded 13 hits.
- Bakes extended his season-best reached base streak to 13 games.
- Graduate Payton McHarg added three hits, marking the most in a contest in his first season as a Redbird. McHarg notched a season-best three RBIS to record his most at Illinois State.
- Junior Michael Carrano Jr. grew his season-best hitting streak to six games with a base hit in the win.
- With 14 hits in the win, the Redbirds improved to 23-1 when tallying 10 or more hits.
- On the mound, Illinois State notched 10 strikeouts and has tallied double-digit strikeouts in the last five games, marking the second-best streak this season.
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