BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ? Bragging
rights were on the table Wednesday, as Indiana State was looking to pick up a season
sweep in its home-and-home series against in-state rival Indiana. The Sycamores (24-13) jumped out to an early
lead and never looked back, as they picked up a 7-4 victory over the Hoosiers
(18-20) at Sembower Field to earn series sweep and improve to 4-0 against teams
from the Hoosier State this season.
Senior
Michael Manus (2-1) was solid in just his second start after coming back from
his shoulder injury, as he allowed just two earned runs on four hits while
striking out eight Hoosier hitters in five innings of work on the mound. Cordell Greene and Kevin Mann were strong in
relief for ISU and Matt Shelton picked up his fourth save of the season after a
scoreless ninth inning.
The Sycamores jumped out to an
early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. With two outs in the inning, Brady Shoemaker
lifted a long drive into right center field and into the howling wind blowing
out in that direction to pick up his seventh home run of the season and give
ISU a 1-0. Nick Ciolli and Luke Fieser both
followed with singles into right field and Ciolli later scored from second base
on a Brian Ramirez RBI single into right field to make the score 2-0.
ISU
held on to that advantage until the bottom of the third inning, when the
Hoosiers answered with two runs on three hits and an error to tie the game at
2-2. Josh Phegley got the rally started
with a long home run over the right field wall, his tenth of the season, to cut
the lead in half and after a double by Alex Dickerson, Michael Early tied the
game with a RBI single.
That
tie would not last long though, as ISU responded with four runs on five hits in
the top of the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead. Ryan Strausborger got the scoring started
with a RBI single and Kyle Burnam drove in the second run of the frame as he
reached on a fielder's choice. Later in
the inning, Shoemaker drove in Ben Ferrell from second base for his second RBI
of the day and Burnam scored on a RBI single by Ciolli to blow the game open
for ISU.
From
there, Manus settled down and shut down the Hoosier offense headed into the
sixth inning. ISU tacked on a run in the
top half of the sixth inning on a Strausborger home run to deep left center
field, his third of the season. However,
the Hoosiers answered with a solo home run off the bat of Tyler Rogers in the
bottom of the inning off Greene to cut the lead to 7-3. Rogers
would strike again in the eighth inning off Greene, as he hit his second solo
shot of the day to cut the lead to 7-4.
That
would be as close as the Hoosiers would get, as Mann got his team out of a jam
in the eighth and Shelton
shut the door in the ninth to give the Sycamores a mid-week win over their in-state
rivals. Strausborger led the way with
two hits, a home run and two RBI, while Shoemaker finished 2-for-3 with a home
run and two RBI as well. Ciolli, Fieser,
Ramirez and Bronco Lafrenz also chipped in two hits apiece in the win for ISU.
The
Sycamores return to action on Friday, when they welcome Oakland
City
to Sycamore Field for a non-conference weekend match up. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST.
