NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State baseball team earned a crucial Missouri Valley Conference win over Evansville, 7-2, at Duffy Bass Field as the 'Birds moved into the top-eight of the MVC standings with two weekends left to play in the regular season.
Fifth-year senior Derek Salata threw seven innings with seven strikeouts and second-year sophomore JT Sokolove broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th inning with a solo homer before the Redbirds piled on four more runs.
Illinois State (18-26 overall, 7-14 MVC) also got three hits and two RBIs from freshman Daniel Pacella; two hits and three RBIs from third-year sophomore Nick Strong; and a two-inning save by third-year junior Elijah Dale.