Baseball: Northwestern’s early offense spurs victory over Illinois State
Two home runs in the first two innings put down the Red Birds.
A sizzling hot start by Northwestern’s offense fueled its 7-1 win over Illinois State at Rocky and Bernice Miller Park on Tuesday. The Wildcats (20-25-1, 7-17 B1G) built off the momentum of a weekend series win over Indiana with a wire-to-wire victory over the Redbirds (30-18, 12-9 MVC). NU has scored 23 runs over its last three games, indicating that the bats may be getting hot at the perfect time.
Sam Hliboki got the start for Northwestern and stifled the RedBirds early, putting all of the attention on the Wildcat offense. After an Owen McElfatrick leadoff walk, Jack Lausch got the party started with a towering two-run blast to center field, his third straight game with a home run. THREE STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A HOMER FOR @jack_lausch 🤯💥 pic.
twitter. com/iR4cTioI0R — Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) May 5, 2026 In the second inning, the ‘Cats continued to tee off on Illinois State’s Brayd Zilis. A hit-by-pitch preceded a Charlie Caruso RBI double, which was NU’s third run.
Then, McElfatrick snuck a two-run shot of his own around the left field foul pole to score the Wildcats’ fourth and fifth runs of the ballgame just two innings in. The Redbirds reacted with an immediate pitching change, but the damage was done. OMac Jack!