Kufa, Hargrove Lead Salukis Past Redbirds to Win Series

Saturday, April 4

7 PM

Southern Illinois University

12-17, 3-2

Illinois State

19-13, 4-4

Illinois St.

Southern Ill.

Henry Kufa (0) celebrates his two-run home run with First Base Coach Jake Ryan during Southern Illinois 9-1 victory over Illinois State Saturday, April 4, 2026, at Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.

Photo by: Abby Harris

04/04/2026 | 10:58:00 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Jordan Kruse, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Henry Kufa hit a go-ahead two-run home run, and Dawson Hargrove fired 3.1 shutout innings from the bullpen in Southern Illinois' 9-1 victory over Illinois State Saturday night at Itchy Jones Stadium.

The Salukis faced a tall task going up against ISU's Michael Addari, who entered the night leading the Missouri Valley Conference with a 0.84 earned run average.

Addari and Troy Shepard went pitch-for-pitch through four before Ryan Bakes opened the scoring with a solo home run in the fifth. The Salukis responded with a home run of their own, but Kufa's big fly came with a runner on base and put Southern ahead 2-1. The homer was his first as a Saluki.

The Redbirds were poised to respond in the sixth with the bases loaded and two out, but Hargrove induced a ground ball from Ryan Bakes to end the threat.

Southern would extend their lead by showing patience and taking advantage of an error, eventually scoring three runs in the sixth.

As Hargrove continued to mow down batters, SIU scored four more runs in the eighth following a similar blueprint. Two wild pitches, an error, and a sacrifice fly from Cecil Lofton all but put the game out of reach.

Hargrove earned his first save after 3.1 innings pitched out of the bullpen, allowing just one baserunner and striking out four.

Troy Shepard (W, 1-2) collected his first victory of the season.

UP NEXT
Southern Illinois looks to sweep for the first time in 2026 Sunday at 3 p.m.

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