May 19, 2018

Hayden Jaco (Coquitlam, BC) has 2 hits as Sycamores complete sweep of Valpo

By Timothy McCaughan
Indiana State Athletics
VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball recorded double-digit hits for the third-straight game as the Sycamores picked up a series sweep of Valparaiso, 8-2, Saturday afternoon at Bauer Field.

CJ Huntley led the team with a 4-for-5 day at the plate with a double and three runs scored. Dane Giesler drove in three runs on a two-run home run and a sacrifice fly. Jarrod Watkins, Jake Means and Hayden Jaco each tallied a pair of hits.

Indiana State (29-22, 11-10 MVC) picked up where they left off Friday with back-to-back singles in the first from Clay Dungan and CJ Huntley before Romero Harris loaded the bases with one out. Junior Jarrod Watkins went on to drive in the first run of the game for the second consecutive day with a single to right, scoring a pair of runs. Jake Means would drive in another run with a single to center to make it 3-0 in favor of the Sycamores.

Valparaiso (18-32) opened the home half of the second with a single from Zack Leone and a double from Chad Jacobs to put two in scoring position with no outs. The Crusaders would notch their first run on a wild pitch before a sacrifice fly to left field would cut the ISU lead to 3-2.

A two-out rally in the fifth inning began with a double to left field from CJ Huntley. Dane Giesler put the exclamation mark in the inning with an absolute rocket out to right field for his team high 14th home run of the season as Indiana State moved out in front 5-2.

The home run marked the 32nd of the Jasper, Indiana natives career, moving him into a tie for fourth all-time in program history with Tyler Thompson.

Left-hander Weston Rivers (4-0) exited after five complete innings, marking another quality start for the redshirt senior. Rivers retired the final seven hitters he faced in the outing while allowing just two runs on two hits with one strikeout. 

After a 1-2-3 inning from left-handed reliever Geremy Guerrero, Indiana State extended its lead to 7-2 with a couple insurance runs. Hayden Jaco led off the inning with a single through the left side before Huntley recorded his second hit of the afternoon on a ball to the outfield. A groundout would move both runners into scoring position as Romero Harris stepped to the plate with two outs. After already extending his on-base streak to 27 games with a walk earlier in the game, Harris extended his hitting streak to 15-games with a single out to left field, scoring two runs for the Trees.

After two scoreless innings from Guerrero, the Sycamores got scoreless frames from Ethan Larrison and Tyler Grauer to close out the game. The bullpen did not allow a hit in four innings. 

The Sycamores outhit Valpo, 13-2.