McLean County Times

Illinois State University's baseball team claimed a 5-4 victory over Western Illinois on Thursday at Alfred D. Boyer Stadium in Macomb, Illinois. Junior pitcher Thomas Harper contributed five innings with six strikeouts for the Redbirds, who now hold a record of 4-10.

Senior Judah Morris played a key role offensively, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Redbirds accumulated ten hits against the Leathernecks, who are now 4-9.

The game saw Western Illinois take an early lead with a home run in the second inning. The Redbirds responded in the third inning when Daniel Pacella's sacrifice fly tied the score at 1-1. Western Illinois regained the lead with their own sacrifice fly, making it 2-1 after three innings.

In the fifth inning, ISU gained momentum with another sacrifice fly by Josh Outlaw and a home run from Judah Morris, his sixth of the season, extending their lead to 4-2. Western Illinois managed to tie the game again at 4-4 in the sixth inning through an RBI double and another sacrifice fly.

The decisive run came when Pacella hit his fourth home run of the season, securing a final score of 5-4 for ISU.

Judah Morris reached base for his eleventh consecutive game. Joe Husak recorded his second save of the season by pitching two innings and allowing one hit while striking out four batters. Daniel Pacella extended his hitting streak to six games, and MacCallan Conklin earned his first win of the season.

Illinois State will continue their four-game series against Western Illinois on Friday at 2 PM in Macomb.

For updates on Illinois State Baseball, visit GoRedbirds.com or follow them on social media platforms including X (@RedbirdBaseball), Instagram (isuredbirdbaseball), and Facebook (Illinois State Baseball).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App offer resources for tickets, multimedia content, merchandise, photos, and more related to Illinois State athletics.