CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program fell to Southern Illinois 4-3 in game one of its weekend series from Carbondale, Ill. With the loss, the Redbirds fall to 19-11 and drop to 4-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
The Salukis struck first in the bottom half of the second with a pair of runs on a single and a throwing error from the Redbirds to take a 2-0 lead. Southern Illinois worked two runs into scoring position earlier in the frame with a single and a walk to begin the inning.
Trailing in the fourth, Illinois State pulled a run back after Junior Graham Mastros scored from second on a wild pitch to make the score 2-1. An inning later, the Salukis extended their lead on a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1.
In the eighth, the Redbirds posed a threat with two outs as Redshirt Brayden Bakes singled to right field and Mastros reached on a walk to place two runners on for Illinois State. Moments later, a wild pitch moved each runner into scoring position, but Southern Illinois worked out of the jam to maintain its 3-1 lead.
Despite the late deficit, the Redbirds continued to fight back in the ninth as Junior Michael Carrano Jr. opened the inning with a single. Moments later, Senior Josh Outlaw delivered a triple after entering the contest as a pinch hitter to score Carrano to make the score 4-2. Outlaw later scored on a single from Senior Nolan Barry to pull the Redbirds within a run to cut the Saluki advantage to 4-3. With the tying run on second, the Salukis used back-to-back lineouts from Illinois State to secure the victory.
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