Season Statistics

SPRINGFIELD – Forrest Barnes took a shutout into the seventh inning Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field and Drake Baldwin hit a two-run home run in the opening frame to lead the baseball Bears to a 3-1 victory over Illinois State.

Barnes (5-3) yielded just two hits in a season-high 6.1 innings, a one-out single in the first and a leadoff double in the seventh that was the first Redbird to reach second base in the game.

He faced two more batters before Trey Ziegenbein got a pair of strikeouts in relief to keep ISU off the scoreboard.

Spencer Nivens led off the game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 11 contests, and Baldwin launched his third homer of the series and 13th of the season two batters later for a 2-0 lead.

Mason Hull drove in Mason Greer with a two-out double in the fifth to make it 3-0, and the score remained there until Illinois State loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth.

Jake McMahill entered and got a sac fly, then a single to load the bases again before the Bears turned a double play to end it and earn McMahill his third save.

Baldwin finished 3-for-5 in the game while Nivens and Cam Cratic had two hits apiece.

Missouri State (24-23, 7-10 Missouri Valley Conference) clinched the series with the Redbirds (18-27, 5-12) with a second consecutive victory. The Bears go for the sweep at 11 a.m. Sunday, with Senior Day festivities set to begin at 10:40.