CARBONDALE, Ill. – Andrew Evans continued his dominant 2026 season with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a 4-3 victory over Illinois State Friday night at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Salukis improved to 11-17 on the season, 2-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play and have won the last six games started by Evans.
Henry Kufa got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, plating Kaleb Hall on an RBI single up the middle, then aggressively taking second to force an errant throw and allow Jackson Dibble to score.
The only run Illinois State could manage against Evans came of the unearned variety in the fourth. A passed ball, a wild pitch and a dropped ball at home allowed Graham Mastros to score from first without a ball in play.
In a 2-1 game in the top of the fifth, an error helped Illinois State put runners on the corners with one away. Aiming to score a run with a sacrifice bunt, the Redbirds accomplished their mission, but an interference call on the batter brought both runners back to their bases, and Evans ended the inning unscathed after inducing a pop-up from Brayden Bakes.
Cecil Lofton came through with the first of his two clutch at-bats of the night with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth, putting SIU back up by two.
Evans capped off his season-best night in the eighth, as ISU put the tying run on second base down by two. On the eighth pitch of the at bat, Evans got Luke Stulga to swing through a high fastball, pumping his fist as he left the mound with his 11th strikeout on his 117th pitch, which tied a season-high.
Cecil Lofton wasted no time putting the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence in the bottom of the eighth. His first home run since March 10 would prove to be one of the biggest swings any SIU player has had.
The Redbirds put together one final push against SIU closer Jack MacIntosh as they collected four-straight hits en route to scoring two runs and placing the go-ahead run on first. A sliding grab from Kye Watson and a line drive to Kaleb Hall in left field let the crowd at Itchy Jones Stadium breathe a sigh of relief as the Salukis held on for the 4-3 win.
Evans is now 5-1 on the season and leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 50 strikeouts. MacIntosh earned his fourth save.
