The Illinois State baseball team lost the final game of its series against Eastern Kentucky, falling 10-6 on Sunday afternoon at Earle Combs Stadium in Richmond, Kentucky.
Illinois State took an early lead in the first inning when Junior Ryan Bakes drove in Junior Luke Stulga with a sacrifice fly. The Redbirds added another run in the second inning as Graduate Camden Karczewski brought home Sophomore Eric Machej with another sacrifice fly, making it 2-0.
In the fourth inning, Karczewski drove in Graduate Payton McHarg with an RBI single to extend the Redbirds’ lead to 3-0. However, Eastern Kentucky responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, taking a 4-3 advantage through a pair of RBI singles and a two-run double.
Illinois State tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth when Junior Michael Carrano hit a pinch-hit triple to score McHarg. Carrano later scored on a sacrifice fly, putting Illinois State back ahead 5-4. The Colonels regained control with a two-run single in their half of the sixth and added a two-run home run in the seventh for an 8-5 lead. Two more runs came for Eastern Kentucky in the eighth.
Carrano hit a solo home run for Illinois State in the ninth inning to make it 10-6. The Redbirds managed to get two more runners on base but could not close the gap further.
Junior Graham Mastros extended his hitting streak to six games by recording two hits. Mastros had at least two hits in each game of this series. Graduate Payton McHarg went 2-for-3 and scored twice, marking his third multi-hit performance this season. Carrano also had his first multi-hit game at Division I level with both a home run and triple. Karczewski collected his fourth two-hit game this year.
Senior Shuto Tiger Okumura made his debut for Illinois State after entering during the eighth inning.
Illinois State will play next against Saint Louis on Tuesday afternoon at Billiken Sports Center, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m., available via ESPN+.
The official website reports that Illinois State Redbirds is connected to Illinois State University and competes across NCAA Division I events nationwide. Resources such as news updates, schedules, rosters and fan engagement tools are available online to support its athletic community (source). The university supports student-athlete preparation through facilities like OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center (source) and benefits from initiatives like the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund aimed at competitiveness and recruitment (source).
For continued updates on Illinois State Baseball, fans can visit GoRedbirds.com or follow team accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
