CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Indiana State won the first three games of its season-opening series at The Citadel, with both wins on Saturday coming in extra innings.  Sunday's series finale went into extra innings for the third time in four games between the two squads, but the Sycamores (3-1) could not secure the series sweep as the Bulldogs (1-3) picked up a 5-4 victory in 12 innings at Riley Park.

Junior Scott Harlan (1-1) suffered the loss for the Sycamores in relief of starter Eric Valdez and David Gurbach, as he gave the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 12^th inning.  Despite picking up the loss, Harlan threw well as he gave up five hits in two and two thirds innings while striking out two Bulldog hitters.  Zach Garrett (1-0) earned the win for the Bulldogs in relief of starter Matt Talley.  Garrett threw six innings, giving up just two hits while striking out seven ISU hitters.

“Despite giving up some early runs, I thought Eric pitched pretty well and I was proud of the way the team battled back,” said head coach Lindsay Meggs.  “It was a great day to hit with the elements being what they were, but we had a hard time getting that critical two-out hit with runners in scoring position.  We just kind of ran out of gas at the end, but to win three games and have a chance at the fourth makes you feel good.”

The Citadel got on the scoreboard first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead.  Richard Jones and Chris McGuiness each picked up RBI singles in the inning for Bulldogs, who also left the bases loaded in the inning.

ISU came right back with two runs of its own in the top of the second inning to tie the game at 2-2.  Senior Brady Shoemaker walked to lead off the inning, but was forced out at second base as junior Luke Fieser reached on a fielder's choice to third base.  Soon after, Fieser was picked off at second base by Talley.  Now, with two outs in the inning, senior Bronco Lafrenz and junior Ben Caple walked in back-to-back at bats to keep the ISU rally alive.  Senior Pascual Del Real then singled to first base to load the bases for junior Ben Ferrell.  Ferrell proceeded to rip a single into right field, which scored Lafrenz from third base and keep the bases loaded.  Freshman Kyle Burnam then walked and picked up a RBI as Caple scored to finish off the scoring for the Sycamores.

The tie would not last long, as The Citadel picked up a run in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead.  Bryan Altman laced a single to right field to Nick Orvin and put the Bulldogs back up by one.  That lead would grow to two runs in the bottom of the third inning, when Trey Thomas picked up a RBI on a sacrifice fly that scored McGuiness from third base.

The Bulldogs would hold onto that two-run lead until the top of the fifth inning, when the Sycamores tied the game with two big runs.  Junior Ryan Strausborger led off the inning with a home run to left center field to cut the lead to one run.  Following a ground out by junior Nick Ciolli, Shoemaker walked but freshman Koby Kraemer struck out swinging to give ISU two outs.  Lafrenz was up next and doubled down the left field line to pick up a RBI as Shoemaker scored from first base to tie the game at 4-4.

Both teams would fight back and through nine innings of play, which forced the game into extra innings.  Following a scoreless 10^th inning, the Sycamores went down in order in the top of the 11^th inning.  The Bulldogs picked up a hit in the bottom of the 11^th inning, but did not score to send the game to the 12^th inning.

The Sycamores picked up a walk from Lafrenz in the top of the 12^th inning, but could not bring him in to give the Bulldogs another chance to end the game.  That's exactly what happened, as Orvin picked up a one-out single and later scored on a RBI double by Sonny Meade to give the Bulldogs a 5-4 win while avoiding a series sweep.

Shoemaker finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored and two walks, while Del Real chipped in two hits for the Sycamores as well. 

“The most important thing we learned from this weekend is that no matter if we are down, that we can come back late in games,” said Meggs.  “The guys now have some confidence and feel like they can overcome that deficit, which is something to continue to build on as we go on.”

Indiana State returns to action on Tuesday, when it opens its home schedule with a match up with St. Louis University.  First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. EST at Sycamore Field.