CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program secured a postseason berth with a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over UIC Sunday evening at Les Miller Field at Curtis Granderson Stadium in Chicago, Ill.
The Redbirds' victory clinches a bid for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament as Illinois State closes out Valley play with a 13-11 record in 2026. The win total marks the fourth straight season the Redbirds have tallied 12 or more wins in conference play.
Junior Graham Mastrsos tallied his first five-hit performance of his career, including a game-winning RBI single in the 10th inning. Mastros becomes the first Redbird since Luke Lawrence against Valparaiso on May 19, 2023, to record five hits in a single game.
Brayden Bakes recorded his team-best 28th multi-hit game of the campaign with three hits, including a double in the game. Bakes has tallied three or more hits in 10 contests this season for the Redbirds.
Redshirt Freshman Luke Teschke matched his career-longest outing with six innings pitched in the contest. After two runs scored in the first frame, Teschke limited the Flames' offense to two hits across five straight scoreless innings.
The Redbirds rattled off four straight hits to open the contest as Junior Michael Carrano Jr. added an RBI double and Mastros notched an RBI single to give the Redbirds a 2-0 advantage. In the home half of the opening frame, the Flames matched Illinois State's first inning with a pair of runs of their own to tie the score at 2-2.
After a scoreless second frame, the Redbirds reclaimed the lead as Mastros tallied his second long ball of the series, giving Illinois State a 3-2 lead. Moments later, the Redbirds struck once more, after back-to-back singles from Mastros and Stulga opened the fifth inning, Sophomore Eric Machej homered to left field to push the Illinois State advantage to 6-2.
In the seventh, the Flames added a run after a walk and a wild pitch put a runner in scoring position, setting up an RBI single to cut the Redbirds' lead to 6-3.
Trailing entering the bottom of the ninth, the Flames rallied after a lead-off double set up an RBI single for UIC to make the score 6-4. With a runner on and two outs, the Flames evened the score with a two-run home run to make the score 6-6.
In the top of the 10h, the Redbirds responded to the late surge from UIC as back-to-back hit-by-pitches placed a runner in scoring position for Illinois State. With the winning run on second, Mastros delivered his fifth hit of the contest with a game-winning RBI single to score Sophomore Chris Danko and give the Redbirds a 7-6 lead.
With the advantage entering the home half of the 10th, Senior Thomas Harper extinguished the Flames' offense with a 1-2-3 frame to secure the Redbirds' victory.
NOTES
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Junior Graham Mastros tallied a career-best effort with five hits, including his second home run of the series. Mastros' home run marks his 13th of the season, tying him with Brayden Bakes for the most on the team this season.
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The victory clinches a spot for the Redbirds in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament set to begin on Wednesday, May 20, in Murray, Ky.
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