BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ? The Indiana State Sycamores raced out to an early lead, fell behind at Indiana, but came back in fighting to the bitter end to down the Hoosiers, 9-7, in 10 innings. ISU has now won back-to-back extra inning games (won in 13 innings at Illinois State two days ago) to improve to 18-16 on the season while Indiana fell to 14-18.
Chris Schmidt delivered the Hoosiers' knockout blow in the top of the 10th with his second triple of the season to score Josh Abercrombie for the extra inning lead. Adam Lindsay picked up his second victory of the season by getting the Sycamores out of a tight jam in the bottom of the ninth and mowing down the Hoosiers in order in the 10th as ISU picked up its second victory of the season over Indiana.
The Sycamores broke the ice in the top of the third inning when Indiana State plated three runs for a 3-0 lead. ISU shortstop Ryan Strausborger singled to lead off the inning as he roped a grounder down the third base line where the ball connected solidly with the bag and skied high in the air allowing him to reach on an infield single. Josh Abercrombie followed with a single to right field to put runners on the corners with no outs.
Schmidt drove in the first ISU run of the game when he reached on a fielder's choice to score Strausborger. Nick Ciolli followed that with a pulled single through the right side to send Schmidt around to third. With runners at the corners, Dave Brumagin delivered with a single through the left side which scored Schmidt for the 2-0 advantage. The lead moved to 3-0 on an RBI single by Brett Siegmund which plated Ciolli.
IU inched close with a RBI double down the left field line by Jon Fixler in the bottom of the frame to make the score 3-1.
In the top of the fourth, Indiana State padded its advantage when Jordan Colvin walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Abercrombie. Abercrombie reached when Hoosier third baseman Tyler Cox threw the ball errantly to first in an attempt to retire him. Colvin moved to third on a fly ball by Schmidt and Abercrombie advanced on a wild pitch by Jason Ferrell.
With runners at second and third and two outs, Nick Ciolli reached on an infield single in which he beat the throw from Fixler to Ferrell which drove in Colvin. After crossing first base, Ferrell dropped the ball out of his glove and kicked the ball wildly away, allowing Abercrombie to come around and score and give the Sycamores a 5-1 lead.
The Hoosiers claimed a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when they plated five unearned runs off the Sycamores. With the bases loaded and one out, relief pitcher Chad Dawson throw a low ball to catcher Adam Kamuda and allowed the first run to score. Before the damage had been halted, the Hoosiers had claimed a 6-5 advantage.
ISU knotted the score in the top of the seventh when Brett Siegmund led off the frame with a double to left field. He moved over to third on a ground out and then came home to score and tie the game at six runs each on another groundout by Adam Kamuda.
The Hoosiers regained the advantage in the bottom of the eighth at 7-6, but ISU had the answer in the top of the ninth. With one out, Siegmund singled to left field, when head coach Lindsay Meggs put freshman Paul Strack into the game as a pinch runner.
Strack advanced to third base on a wild pickoff attempt by Trevor McConnell and scored on the next play to tie the score at seven on a McConnell wild pitch.
Indiana's Josh Phegely walked to lead off the ninth and then Josh Varno hit pinch hitter Sterling Mack to give the Hoosiers runners at first and second with no one out. Adam Lindsay came on and got two quick outs before picking Mack off first base to send the game into extra innings.
The Sycamores plated a pair of runs in the top of the 10th to take a 9-7 lead when Abercrombie reached on an infield bunt single. Schmidt, who is bidding to become the Sycamores' first .400 hitter in over 12 seasons, was 0-for-4 coming to the plate for his at bat. He stroked a Joe Vicini offering into deep right center for his second triple of the season which drove in Abercrombie for the 8-7 advantage. Schmidt came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Ciolli for the 9-7 lead.
Lindsay continued his solid work in the bottom of the 10th, mowing down the Hoosiers in order for the 9-7 victory. He improved to 2-4 on the season with the victory.
ISU's last game was an extra inning affair as well as the Sycamores took a 10-8 victory over Illinois State in 13 innings on Sunday evening.
Freshman Skyler Pearson started his second game in the last three days, and earned a no decision in the loss. He went 5.1 innings, allowed six hits and three runs while striking out three Indiana batters. Chad Dawson worked in relief of Pearson, going 2.2 innings and allowed six hits and four runs with a strikeout.
Indiana State defeated Indiana by a score of 5-3 earlier this season. With today's 9-7 victory over Indiana, the Sycamores have now won three separate games over Big Ten competition. The last time Indiana State accomplished that feat was in 2003.
In the top of the first inning, Schmidt was hit by a pitch. It marked the 59th time this season that the Sycamores have been hit by a pitch, which is a new school record. It bested the 58 times that the Sycamores were hit in 2005. In fact, ISU has been hit by a pitch in a school-record 17 games in a row.
The Sycamores return to action on Friday, April 20 with the first of three games against Creighton, who is currently second in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. First pitch against the Bluejays at Sycamore Field is set for 6:00 p.m. (ET).
