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Illinois State University Athletics

Seniors
Tyler Coe
4
Valparaiso VALPARAI 10-33
9
Winner Illinois St. ISU 30-17
Valparaiso VALPARAI
10-33
4
Final
9
Illinois St. ISU
30-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Valparaiso VALPARAI 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 6 2
Illinois St. ISU 1 0 3 3 0 0 2 0 X 9 14 3

W: Teschke, Luke (4-2) L: Nick Baffa (3-3)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Sam Collins

Redbirds Earn Series Sweep And Senior Day Victory With 9-4 Win Over Valparaiso Sunday

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program captured the series sweep over Valparaiso with a 9-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. Illinois State improves to 30-17 overall and 12-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play with the Senior Day win.

Illinois State tallied its fifth consecutive game with a double-digit hit total after tallying 14 hits as five Redbirds recorded two or more hits in Sunday's victory.

Junior Michael Carrano Jr. led the Redbirds' offense with three hits in the victory to record his first back-to-back contests with three or more hits in his debut season with the Redbirds. Carrano Jr. also added a pair of RBIs in the win to record his eighth multi-RBI performance of the campaign.

Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes tallied his 26th multi-hit performance of the season with a pair of hits, including a double. With the double, Bakes enters the top-10 list with 19 doubles across the campaign to equal the ninth-most in a single season by a Redbird.

Junior Luke Stulga added a pair of hits to tally his 19th multi-hit game of the season and stands one shy of becoming the third Redbird with 20 or more multi-hit performances in 2026. 

On Senior Day, Seniors Josh Outlaw and Nolan Barry each added a pair of hits and an RBI in the victory. Outlaw's RBI marked his 20th RBI of the campaign as the Des Plaines, Ill. native becomes the seventh Redbird to surpass 20 RBIs in 2026.

The Redbirds took advantage in the home half of the first inning, as Bakes doubled to left center to place a runner in scoring position in the opening moments of the frame. With a runner on, Carrano Jr. delivered an RBI single to give the Redbirds a 1-0 advantage.

After a scoreless second inning, the Beacons responded in the third after a pair of Redbird errors placed a runner into scoring position to set up an RBI single moments later to even the score at 1-1.

Despite the response from Valparaiso, Illinois State bounced back in the bottom of the third after a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Illinois State. Moments later, the Redbirds capitalized on a throwing error from the Beacons to plate a run to reclaim the lead at 2-1. With the bases remaining loaded, Sophomore Eric Machej delivered a sacrifice fly to score another run and push the Illinois State lead to 3-1. With two runs across in the frame, Barry added the Redbirds' third run of the frame with an RBI single to move the Redbird advantage to 4-1.

Following the Redbirds' three-run third, Valparaiso pulled a run back in the top of the fourth with a run scoring on a double to trim Illinois State's lead to 4-2.

In the home half of the fourth, Illinois State's offense sparked again as Junior Graham Mastros doubled to lead off the inning. Bakes followed Mastros' double with a single to place runners on the corners to set up an RBI single from Carrano Jr. to give the Redbirds a 5-2 advantage. 

With a run across in the inning, Outlaw followed Carrano Jr.'s effort with an RBI single of his own to move the score to 6-2. Moments later, Graduate Camden Karczewski rounded out the Redbirds' second consecutive three-run frame with a sacrifice fly to give Illinois State a 7-2 lead.

In the seventh, Valparaiso added a run to cut the deficit to 7-3 after a single and passed ball move a runner into scoring position to set up an RBI double moments later in the frame. 

With the lead cut to four, the Redbirds answered in the bottom half as back-to-back singles from Machej and Barry placed two runners early in the inning.  With a pair of base runners on, Graduate Payton McHarg delivered a single to score two and give the Redbirds a 9-3 advantage late into the contest.

Trailing in the closing moments of the game, the Beacons added a run on a groundout following a leadoff triple to move the score to 9-4. Despite the late run by Valparaiso, Senior Tresdon Rybarczyk struck out the final batter to secure the Illinois State victory. 

NOTES

  • Junior Michael Carrano Jr. tallied three hits in the victory to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
  • Senior Josh Outlaw notched a pair of hits to record his 10th multi-hit performance of the season. Outlaw added an RBI to become the seventh Redbird to surpass 20 RBIs this season.
  • Carrano Jr. and Outlaw become the sixth and seventh Rebirds to tally 10 or more multi-hit games this season for Illinois State.
  • Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes grew his hitting streak to eight games with a pair of base hits and has recorded two or more hits in the last six games. Bakes leads the Redbirds with 26 multi-hit performances this season.
  • With a pair of hits, Bakes grew his on-base streak to 16 games, matching Junior Graham Mastros and Outlaw for the longest streak this season by a Redbird.
  • Bakes' double in the contest moves the Algonquin, Ill. native into the top-10 list for a single season with his 19th double of 2026.
  • Junior Luke Stulga added two hits in the victory to record his 19th multi-hit game of the campaign and extended his hitting streak to five games. Stulga has recorded at least two hits in the last four straight games.
  • Illinois State tallied 14 hits in the contest to reach 500 hits as a team in 2026 and improve to 26-1 in contests in which the Redbirds have recorded a double-digit hit total.
  • In the last five games, Illinois State has tallied 10 or more hits and has recorded a double-digit hit total in seven of the last eight games.
  • The Redbirds improve to 15-3 in contests played at Duffy Bass Field in 2026, marking the most in the Steve Holm era.
  • Illinois State captured its third 30-win season in eighth-year head coach Steve Holm's tenure. 
  • With the series sweep, the Redbirds captured their 10th win in the last 11 meetings with Valparaiso. Illinois State remains unbeaten in its last six games at Duffy Bass Field versus the Beacons.
  • The Redbirds grow their advantage over the Beacons and improve to 34-16-1 in the all-time series with the sweep.

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