ISU reliever Cordell Greene (0-1) suffered his first loss in a Sycamore uniform, as he gave up the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the 10^th inning to the Tigers.  Starter Eric Valdez battled on the mound and held the Tigers scoreless in six innings of work, allowing eight hits while striking out five batters.  Memphis starter Brennon Martin also pitched well, allowing just two earned runs on three hits while striking out eight ISU batters in eight innings of work.  Jonathan Jones (1-0) picked up his first win of the season, despite giving up three earned runs on three hits in two innings of work.

Valdez got out of a jam in the bottom of the first inning with a couple of Memphis runners on base to keep the game scoreless through one inning.  ISU broke that scoreless tie in the top of the second inning on a two-run home run by catcher Bronco Lafrenz, his third of the season.  After third baseman Luke Fieser reached on a fielding error by Memphis third baseman Jacob Wilson with one out, Lafrenz launched a shot over the left field wall to put the Sycamores up 2-0.

From there, it was a pitchers duel as neither team scored for the next five innings.  The Tigers had their chances, but left two runners on base in each of the first five innings of the game and left a runner on in the top of the sixth inning against Valdez who battled through eight hits and five walks.

Memphis tried to put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning as well off reliever Brendon Smith.  Smith gave up a two-out single to Brett Bowen and then walked Cole Shelton to give Memphis a couple of base runners.  That forced Meggs to go to the bullpen and grab right-hander David Gurbach, who forced Jacob Wilson to fly out to Nick Ciolli in right field to end the threat.

However, in the bottom of the eighth inning the Tigers mounted a two-out rally that plated four runs and gave them a 4-2 lead.  With two outs in the inning, Drew Martinez ripped a double down the right field line and then came around to score on a RBI single by Drew Zurcher to center field.  That forced Gurbach out of the game for Matt Shelton, who gave up a single to Adam McClain before balking Zurcher and McClain to second and third base.

Trey Wiedman then doubled off the left field wall to score two more runs and Bowen was intentionally walked to get to Shelton, who singled into center field to plate Wiedman for the fourth and final run of the inning for the Tigers.

The Sycamores would not give up so easily, though, as Brady Shoemaker earned a one-out walk off Jones before Ciolli hit his fourth home run of the season over the right field wall to tie the game at 4-4 headed into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Memphis had a chance to score runs in the bottom of the inning and win the game, but a costly base running error got the Sycamores out of a jam.  With runners on first and second with two outs, Memphis pinch runner Robby Graham was picked off at second base by Lafrenz and shortstop Pascual Del Real to send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the 10^th inning, Brian Ramirez pinch hit for Del Real to lead off the inning and launched a home run over the right field wall, his first of the season, to give ISU a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.  However, that lead would not hold as the Tigers got a two-run two-out double in the bottom of the inning off the bat Wilson to win the game 6-5.

Lafrenz led the way with a 2-for-4 performance with the home run and two RBI, while Ciolli finished 1-for-4 with a couple of RBI.  Shawn Ablett was the key at the plate for Memphis, going 4-for-5 five in the game.

The Sycamores and Tigers will resume their series on Saturday, with ISU junior Joe Rodriguez (1-0, 6.16 ERA) squaring off against Memphis junior Ryan Fraser (1-2, 7.14 ERA).  First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST at USA Stadium.