EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball battled adversity in the series finale with Evansville Saturday afternoon at Braun Stadium. The Sycamores rallied back from an eight-run deficit to win 13-10 and secure the No. 2 seed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Max Wright was dominant at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with three runs scored, six RBIs to go along with a walk. The senior hit two home runs in the game to help the Sycamores (27-17, 14-10 MVC) earn the series split with the Aces. Jordan Schaffer finished 3-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored while Miguel Rivera and Josue Urdaneta tallied two hits each.
Tyler Grauer (3-2) saved his best relief appearance of the season for last as the left-hander pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just two base hits while striking out three Purple Aces. At one point, Grauer retired 10-straight batters as he claimed his third win of the season.
Evansville (28-26, 11-16 MVC) wasted no time to jump out ahead, scoring four runs on two hits and a pair of Indiana State fielding errors in the first inning. The first run of the game came home when Brian Fuentes looked to initiate a double play on a ground ball to first, but the ball sailed into left. UE's Tanner Craig drove in two more with a chopper over third base. A low throw on the tail end of what could have been an inning-ending double play allowed the fourth run to cross.
The Aces doubled their lead in the second after sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four more runs to extend their lead to 8-0.
The Sycamores got the offense rolling in the third inning, sending 10 batters to the plate, recording six hits and scoring five runs to cut into the Aces lead. The bottom of the order each reached on base hits as nine-hole hitter Sean Ross doubled in the first two runs of the day for the Sycamores.
Schaffer singled to put runners at the corners to bring Wright to the plate. The senior delivered his 13th home run of the season with the three-run shot to pull ISU within three runs.
ISU carried over the momentum from the third to the fourth as the team knocked in three more runs on five hits. With two outs on the board, ISU began its rally by picking up a single from Schaffer and a walk from Ellison Hanna II. The Sycamores then went on to pick up back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Wright, Rivera and Evansville native Aaron Beck to tie the game.
UE answered in the fifth with two runs to regain the lead. Ben Komonosky singled in Danny Borgstrom who led off the inning with a single. ISU went to the bullpen for Tyler Grauer who induced a double play before allowing a runner to come home from third on a wild pitch before a groundout ended the inning.
Hanna II led off the sixth with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a balk. Wright then sent his second home run of the day over the wall in right field to tie the game at 10 -- the fifth and sixth RBIs of the game for the Toronto native.
Indiana State took its first lead of the day in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded, Dominic Cusumano drew a walk from Evansville closer Jakob Meyer to bring home the go-ahead run. Rivera scored an insurance run for the Sycamores as he scampered home on a pitch in the turf that went to the backstop.
Rivera drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the ninth to give the Sycamores a three-run cushion before Connor Fenlong entered with a runner on in the bottom half to secure his sixth save of the season.
Overall, ISU earned 11 free bases after drawing nine walks and being hit-by-pitch two times. The Sycamores continued to struggle with runners on, stranding 10 runners compared to three for the Aces.
Javin Drake went just 1.1 innings for the Sycamores, allowing five earned runs in the start and Matt Jachec tossed 2.2 innings of relief before Grauer entered.
UE starting pitcher Caleb Reinhardt allowed five earned runs over 2.2 innings. Shane Harris allowed three more runs before the Aces rotated arms for the remainder of the game -- using eight hurlers in total, including a position player.
Eric Roberts (0-2) took the loss for the Aces after allowing the go-ahead run in the eighth.
Three UE hitters had two base hits led by Tanner Craig who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs.
UP NEXT
The Sycamores will travel to Itchy Jones Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. for the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament hosted by Southern Illinois University. Indiana State will play Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET. All games during the tournament will air on ESPN+.
For more information about the 2021 MVC Baseball Tournament visit Championship Central.
For the latest information on Sycamore Baseball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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Sycamores Overcome Eight-Run Deficit to Claim No. 2 Seed in MVC Championship - Indiana State University Athletics
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