TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? After Friday's game was postponed due to cold and rainy conditions, the Indiana State baseball team played two games against Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley on Saturday at Sycamore Field.  The Sycamores (19-11, 6-3 MVC) were strong at the plate all day and got some strong performances on the mound as the defeated the Braves (11-18, 0-6 MVC) in game one 9-5 and in game two 10-2 to pick up a sweep.

With the wins, ISU has now won five straight conference games for the first time since the 2000 season when they won five in a row against Northern Iowa and Evansville.

In game one, junior Eric Valdez pitched well enough to get the win as he gave up three earned runs on six hits in seven innings of work.  However, reliever Scott Harlan (2-1) was the winner as he finished the eighth inning giving up a run on a hit when the Sycamores came back to win the game.

The Sycamores took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI double by Nick Ciolli, but the Braves quickly tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second inning on a Jim Clayton sacrifice fly.  ISU then got the lead back in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to another big hit from Ciolli, who picked up a two-run single to put the cap on a three-run inning that made the score 4-1.

Bradley got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 4-2, but later took the lead at 5-4 in the top of the eighth inning with three runs.  Colby Luttrell tied the game with a two-run double and Clayton drove in the go-ahead run with a RBI ground out Luke Fieser at third base.

However, that lead would not be safe as the Sycamores answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 9-5 in favor of ISU.  Bronco Lafrenz led off the inning with his team-leading sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 5-5. 

The Braves then picked up two outs, with Ryan Strausborger coming to the plate.  With his 12-game hitting streak in doubt, Strausborger popped up in foul territory but got new life when Clayton dropped the foul ball just wide of first base.  Strausborger then singled to extend his streak to 13 games and sparked a four-run, two out rally by the Sycamores that was capped off by a two-run single up the middle by Tyler Graham.

The game was made interesting in the top of the ninth inning, but senior Matt Shelton got himself out of a bases-loaded jam with a couple of big strikeouts to secure the victory for ISU.   Ciolli finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Graham added a couple of hits and RBI for ISU in the win in game one.

In game two, sophomore Jake Petricka (4-1) controlled the game from the mound as he allowed just one earned run on three hits while striking out three in eight strong innings for the Sycamores to earn his fourth victory of the year. 

The ISU offense gave Petricka an early cushion, with a run in the bottom of the first inning on a Ciolli RBI double that scored Strausborger.  The Sycamores then tacked on two runs in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 3-0 and added two more in the bottom of the third inning on a two-run single by Joe Meggs to make the score 5-0 after three innings of play.

Bradley picked up a run in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 5-1, but ISU answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 7-1.  A RBI double by Ben Ferrell in the bottom of the fifth inning then widened the ISU lead to 8-1.

The Sycamores pushed two more runs across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 10-1, before the Braves tacked on a run in the top of the ninth inning off ISU reliever Brendon Smith to bring the score to its final at 10-2.

Ciolli finished the game with a hit and three more RBI to give him six on the day, while Meggs and Burnam added two hits and two RBI each in the winning effort for the Sycamores.

The two teams will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday, with Joe Rodriguez (3-1) taking the mound for the Sycamores in search of the team's second straight series sweep in Valley play.  First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Easter Sunday at Sycamore Field.