May 15, 2021

Sycamores Drop Doubleheader After Salukis Score in the Eleventh, 8-7

By Tim McCaughan

Indiana State

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Sycamores played its fourth extra-inning affair of the season Saturday night at Bob Warn Field, falling to the Southern Illinois Salukis 8-7, in 11 innings.

Indiana State dropped the opener of its doubleheader with Southern Illinois, 11-4. So with the victory, Southern swept the doubleheader and lead the series 2-1 heading into Sunday’s finale.

Indiana State (25-14, 12-7 MVC) rallied from a three-run deficit entering the ninth to tie the game. Senior Max Wright kickstarted the rally with a one-out double to the gap in right before Seth Gergely bounced a ball off first base for a single. SIU closer Trey McDaniel loaded the bases with two outs after Josue Urdaneta earned a walk to bring pinch-hitter Ellison Hanna II to the plate.

Hanna would bring in the first run of the inning after working a six-pitch walk, scoring Wright (Toronto, Ont.) from third and closing the gap to two runs. The Sycamores went to the bench once again for Mike Sears and SIU looked to be out of the game as he chopped a ball back to the mound, but McDaniel’s throw was wide of first and two runs came in on the error.

Both squads were able to move the lead runner to third in the 10th but did not score. The Salukis (35-16, 12-11 MVC) opened the 11th with a ground ball to second to move Evan Martin 90-feet from home. The outfielder would make a dirt ball read and come home on a wild pitch to give Southern the advantage.

In the bottom half of the inning, Indiana State bunted over Gergely to third before Urdaneta was hit-by-pitch to put runners on the corners. ISU looked to bring in the tying run when the Salukis were unable to turn a double play as initially the throw from second was wide and pulled Philip Archer off the bag at first. After a replay challenge, the umpires reversed the call on the field which ended the game.

Wright added a pair of hits while driving in two and scoring two runs.

Cody Cleveland led SIU once again with a 3-for-4 day to go with two RBIs, a walk and a run scored. Ian Walters also had three hits, including a home run.

McDaniel (5-4) was unable to pick up the save after entering in the ninth but did work his way to his fifth win of the season after pitching the final 2 2/3 innings and striking out four. Brad Harrison was hit with the no-decision after a 4.2 inning outing. He allowed two earned runs and four hits while striking out two.

Southern Illinois 11, Indiana State 4

The Salukis put up crooked numbers in three innings including three runs in the first and five runs in the second. Cody Cleveland led SIU with three base hits, including a pair of home runs to go with three RBI. Nick Neville added three hits and two RBIs.

After SIU tallied three runs on four hits in the first, Wright tallied his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the inning to put Indiana State on the board. Southern answered Wright’s home run with a five-spot in the bottom half of the inning on six hits.

Wright is second on the Indiana State team with a .309 average. He has eight doubles, a triple, 11 homers and 29 RBIs. Plus he has a 1.077 OPS in 39 games.

The outburst was enough for ISU to make the call to the bullpen twice. The Salukis tagged ISU starting pitcher Tyler Grauer (2-2) for six hits and five earned runs while tallying three earned runs on three hits on reliever Ross Kramer before Matt Jachec entered to finish the second.

For the Salukis ... CF Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) had a run-scoring single in the five-run second. Peters leads the team with a .348 average including 17 doubles, two triples, four homers and 45 RBIs. He has a .990 OPS in 51 games, while going 14-for-16 stealing bases.