April 24, 2021

Sycamores Drop Doubleheader at Dallas Baptist

By Timothy McCaughan

Indiana State

DALLAS – The Indiana State Sycamores a doubleheader to Dallas Baptist Patriots Saturday afternoon at Horner Ballpark. The Sycamores (20-11, 7-4 MVC) dropped the scheduled seven-inning opener 6-5 before falling in the nightcap, 9-0.

Jordan Schaffer led the Sycamores over the two games going 3-for-7 with two runs scored. Three other Sycamores recorded multiple hits as both squads ended the day with 14 hits each.

DBU took advantage of free passes, earning 11 walks and four hit-by-pitches while ISU tallied only five walks to go with four hit-by-pitches.

Game One – Dallas Baptist 6, Indiana State 5

Dallas Baptist (22-9, 7-0 MVC) picked up where it left off Friday night, showing off its power inside Horner Ballpark with a pair of three-run home runs. Indiana State put together a five-run rally in the sixth and seventh innings before ultimately falling short.

River Town hit his third home run of the series with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the third to put the Pats on top. Austin Bell extended the DBU lead to 6-0 with another three-run home run in the fifth. That was when Indiana State was able to string together some offense and begin their comeback attempt.

The Sycamores put together a four-run sixth inning on a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a pair of two run home runs. Schaffer led off the inning taking a ball off his leg before C Max Wright hit his team-leading 10th home run of the season to right field.

After going hitless in the nitecap, Wright (Toronto, Ont.) is batting .306 with seven doubles and 25 RBIs. He has a 1.077 OPS in 31 games.

Wright now shares the home run lead among Canadians playing NCAA Division I with David McCabe (Oshawa, Ont.) of the North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers. Next is Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) of the Alabama Crimson Tide with nine, followed by INF Matt Coutney (Edmonton, Alta.) of Old Dominion with eight and INF Tyler Black (Toronto, Ont.) Wright State Raiders with seven.

Ellison Hanna II drew a two-out walk before Mike Sears picked up a pinch-hit two-run shot to make it 6-4. Both Wright and Sears collected two RBIs with home runs.

Game Two – Dallas Baptist 9, Indiana State 0

Indiana State was blanked for just the second time this season in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The Patriots jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back.