CARBONDALE, IL ? The Indiana State baseball team put an end to any hopes the Southern Illinois Salukis had of a weekend sweep as the Sycamores exploded for four runs in the eighth and four runs in the ninth to post a 15-6 Missouri Valley Conference victory on Sunday.
SIU had defeated the Sycamores in the first two games of the weekend series but the Sycamores avoided the sweep with the win on Sunday. Indiana State (5-12 overall and 1-2 in the MVC) will host the University of Illinois at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The Sycamores will then head to Bradley University for another weekend MVC series starting next Friday.
Indiana State picked up a run in the top of the first as Chris Schmidt singled with one out, stole second and scored on a Brian Oliver single.
SIU scored twice in their half of the first but the Sycamores' David Brumagin took advantage of SIU miscues to knot the score at 2-all. Brumagin reached first after being hit by a pitch, went to second on a passed ball, took third on a balk and then scored the tying run on Saluki wild pitch.
The Salukis retook the lead with a single run in their half of the second but back came the Sycamores in the fourth on a lead-off solo home run by Brian Jett. SIU regained the advantage in the bottom half with a single run coming across but that would be the last time Southern Illinois would be in front.
Schmidt opened a four-run, three-hit Sycamore fifth inning with a single, advancing around to third on a pair of Saluki wild pitches. Schmidt scored the tying run on a balk by SIU's Jimmy Cornell. Cole Standridge, who came in as a pinch-runner for Oliver after he reached on a walk, advanced to second on the play.
After Jett walked, Brumagin singled to score Standridge with the go ahead run. Bronco Lafrenz reached on a fielder's choice that got Brumagin out at second but Jett was able to score to put ISU up 6-4. Pascual Del Real followed with a double that scored Lafrenz and put the Sycamores up 7-4.
Southern Illinois cut into the deficit with a single run in the fifth and one in the seventh as the Salukis trailed 7-6 after seven innings. That would be as close as they would get.
Indiana State put the game out of reach with four runs in the eighth on four hits and a Saluki error. Del Real, Ryan Strausborger and Gary King each singled to load the bases and a fourth straight hit, a Schmidt single, drove in Del Real. Brady Shoemaker reached on a walk to force in Strausborger, King scored on an SIU error as Ben Caple hit into a fielder's choice, and Jett reached on a fielder's choice that scored Schmidt.
The ninth was another big inning for the Sycamores, who scored four runs on six hits. Del Real opened with a walk, advanced to third on a Strausborger single and scored on a sacrifice fly by King. Strausborger stole second and Schmidt singled to put runners at the corner with Shoemaker blasting a triple down the right field line to score two runs. Shoemaker scored the final ISU run on a single by Jett.
Micah Spencer (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, going five innings in allowing five runs on seven hits. Clay Kovac took over in the sixth, Josh Varno came on with two outs in the seventh and Chad Dawson worked the ninth. The three relievers combined to limit SIU to just a run on three hits.
Chris Schmidt had a big day at the plate, going 5-for-6, all singles, scoring four runs and getting one RBI. Brian Jett had a solo home run, his second of the season, and a single while Pascual Del Real had a double and a single, Ryan Strausborger two singles, Brady Shoemaker a triple and three RBI, and Gary King, Brian Oliver, Ben Caple, David Brumagin, and Brian Ramirez each had a single.
