NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball program secured a series-clinching 14-2 victory in eight innings over Valparaiso Saturday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field. With the win, Illinois State improves to 29-17 in 2026 and moves to 11-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

The Illinois State offense showed its prowess by securing 19 hits, matching a season-best total as seven Redbirds tallied at least two hits in the victory. With an eight-run eighth inning, the Redbirds scored the most runs in a single frame this season.

Junior Michael Carrano Jr. headlined the Redbird offense with a career-best four hits and four RBIs in the victory. Carrano Jr. added a home run in the fifth inning and recorded his second consecutive game with a blast for the second time this season.

Graduate Payton McHarg joined Carrano Jr. with a career-best RBI total as the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native added five RBIs in the victory, with three coming from his three-run run-rule walk-off blast. With his RBI total, McHarg becomes the fourth Redbird to surpass five RBIs in a single game this season.

Junior Luke Stulga added a career-best of three doubles in the victory. The Tinley Park, Ill. native has recorded two or more hits in his last three appearances. 

Sophomore Eric Machej matched a career-best with three hits in the victory and secured his third game with three hits this season.

Junior Graham Mastros added two hits and a pair of RBIs to secure his 20th multi-hit game of the season, joining Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes as the second Redbird to surpass 20 multi-hit performances in 2026. Bakes added two hits of his own to record his fifth straight game with two or more hits and tally his team-best 25th multi-hit game of the season.

Graduate Camden Karczewski secured a pair of hits and matched McHarg with a team-best three runs scored in the victory. Karczewski secured his 19th multi-hit performance of the campaign with his two-hit effort.

On the mound, Redshirt Sophomore Carson Cormier limited the Beacon offense to two runs on eight hits. The Westford, Mass., native added eight strikeouts in the win and has recorded at least seven innings pitched with eight more punchouts in his last three starts. Before allowing a Valparaiso run in the sixth, Cormier went 21.2 straight innings pitched without allowing a run.

After a scoreless first inning, the Redbirds capitalized on a pair of errors from the Beacons to place runners on the corners to set up an RBI double from Machej to give Illinois State a 1-0 advantage. With a pair of runners in scoring position, McHarg tallied his first RBI in the contest to plate another run and give Illinois State a 2-0 advantage after two frames.

Moments later, following a pair of scoreless frames, Carrano Jr. homered for the second straight game to move the Illinois State advantage to 3-0 in the fifth. Despite Carrano Jr.'s solo shot, Valparaiso pulled a run back in the sixth on an RBI single to trim the Redbirds' lead to 3-1.

With the advantage cut down to a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, Illinois State responded to pull away in the home half with three runs scored in the frame. After a leadoff single from Karczewski and a sacrifice bunt from Machej, the Redbirds placed a runner into scoring position to set up McHarg to deliver an RBI single to move the Illinois State lead to 4-1.  Moments later, Bakes singled and advanced to second to place a pair of runners into scoring position, Carrano Jr. plated two on a two RBI single to round out the Redbirds' three-run frame and make the score 6-1.

In the eighth, Valparaiso looked to rally after a leadoff double moved a runner into scoring position to open the inning. With a runner on second, the Beacons capitalized with an RBI single to trim down the lead to 6-2. As Valpo began to threaten, Freshman Brayden Zilis entered the contest and recorded back-to-back punchouts to extinguish the threat and keep the Redbirds' advantage at four runs.

In the home half,  McHarg drew a leadoff walk to open the inning and ignite the Redbird rally. After a single from Bakes, placed a pair of runners on the corners, Carrano Jr. and Stulga rattled off back-to-back hits to push the Illinois State lead to 8-2. Moments later, Mastros delivered a two-out two-RBI single to give the Redbirds a 10-2 advantage.

With four runs on the board in the frame, Karczewski continued the rally with a double to place the run-rule winning run on second base. After Karczewski's double, the Redbirds took advantage of a wild pitch to plate another run to make the score 11-2 and move the game-ending run to third base. Following the wild pitch, Machej drew a walk to set up McHarg's run-rule walk-off three-run blast to secure Illinois State's 14-2 win Saturday afternoon.

NOTES

• Junior Michael Carrano Jr. recorded a career-best four hits and four RBIs in the victory.
• Carrano Jr. became the fifth Redbird this season to tally four or more hits in a single contest. 
• With a solo home run in the fifth inning, Carrano Jr. has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season.
• Carrano Jr.'s four-hit performance improves his hitting streak to eight games.
• Redshirt Sophomore Carson Cormier tallied his third straight appearance with seven or more innings pitched with 7.1 frames tossed to secure his fourth victory of the season. In his last three starts, Cormier has recorded at least eight punchouts.
• Cormier tallied 21.2 straight innings without allowing a run before the Beacons plated a run in the sixth inning.
• Sophomore Eric Machej tallied three hits in the victory, recording his ninth multi-hit performance of the campaign and standing one shy of becoming the sixth Redbird to notch 10 multi-hit games in 2026.
• Junior Luke Stulga added a career-best three doubles in the win and tallied his 18th multi-hit game of the campaign. Stulga has tallied two or more hits in the last three contests.
• Graduate Payton McHarg recorded a career-best effort with five RBIs, including three on his three-run home run to secure the run-rule walk-off.
• Junior Graham Mastros secured a pair of base hits to tally his 20th multi-hit game of the campaign and joins teammate Redshirt Sophomore Brayden Bakes as the second Redbird to surpass 20 this season.
• Brayden Bakes tallied two hits in the contest to record his 25th multi-hit performance of the season and extended his on-base streak to 15 games. Bakes has recorded at least two hits in the last five games.
• Graduate Camden Karczewski notched a pair of hits, including a double, to secure his 19th multi-hit game of 2026. Karczewski stands one multi-hit performance away from becoming the third Redbird to surpass 20 this season.
• The Redbirds recorded 19 hits in the win, moving to 25-1 this season when Illinois State has notched a double-digit hit total. 
• The hit total matches a season-best as seven different Redbirds recorded two or more hits in the victory.
• Illinois State added a pair of home runs to improve to 13-0 when recording two or more home runs.
• On the mound, the Redbirds combined for 10 strikeouts to record the sixth straight game with a double-digit punchout total, which matches a season-best streak.
• Illinois State secured eight runs in the eighth inning, marking the most in a single frame since the Redbirds scored nine in one frame against Evansville on April 13, 2025.
• The Redbirds improve to 14-3 in contests played at Duffy Bass Field in 2026, matching the most in the Steve Holm era.
• Illinois State captured its 29th win of the campaign, surpassing last season's win total.

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