Back to the Illinois State Redbirds Newsfeed

Rested starter Salata pitches Illinois State past Evansville to close weekend series

NORMAL — A bit more rest for Derek Salata had the entire Illinois State baseball team feeling better Sunday at Duffy Bass Field.

ISU’s usual Friday starter for a weekend Missouri Valley Conference series, Salata hurled seven solid innings and ninth-place hitter JT Sokolove belted the go-ahead home run as the Redbirds toppled Evansville 7-2.

“I had to work on a few things. Holm was right about changing my day from Friday to Sunday,” said Salata, who allowed five hits and two earned runs while striking out seven and walking one.

“It was a couple mechanical things.