EVANSVILLE, IN ? In a game that was played for nothing but pride against the Purple Aces of Evansville (25-20, 11-12 MVC), the Indiana State Sycamores (19-29-1, 7-16 MVC) struggled to get their bats going once again and dropped their third straight game to the Aces by a final score of 3-0. The Sycamores secured the eighth spot in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament despite being swept by the Aces. Bradley and UNI were the only two teams who could have bumped ISU for the last seed but both teams picked up losses yesterday so they are unable to catch the Sycamores in the final standings.
For the third time in the series, the Aces were the first team to plate a run. In the bottom of the first inning with Krista Price on second base after she was walked and advanced on a passed ball, Kristen Shirk singled through the left side to advance Price to third. With runners on the corners, Brittany Herald grounded out to shortstop Meredith Simpson and both runners advanced with Price crossing home plate to give the Aces a 1-0 lead.
The Sycamores threatened for the first time in the fourth inning beginning with consecutive singles by Christina Meyers and Leslie Fakes. Katie Armour laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners but that's as far as they would get as the Aces were able to get out of the inning with a groundout and a pop up to short by the Sycamores.
An inning later the Sycamores again would threaten to score starting off with Sam Markowski who doubled to right field. Markowski advanced to third base on a Reva LeDune sacrifice bunt. The next two batters for the Sycamores flied out and grounded out respectively as Markowski was left stranded on third.
A two-run homerun by Price in the bottom of the fifth inning would give the Aces a 3-0 cushioned lead; however, the two runs would not be needed as the Sycamores were shut out for the second time against the Aces, unable to get a single runner across the plate.
Meagan McCurdy (11-14) gave up six hits and three runs while striking out four in six innings of work.
Markowski had an impressive performance going 3-for-3 with two singles and a double but her Sycamore teammates were unable to capitalize on her offensive strikes.
The Missouri Valley Conference will release the MVC tournament bracket after the conclusion of today's games. The Sycamores first-round game will be played on Thursday, May 8th at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
