WATERLOO, Iowa ? The Indiana State baseball team returned to the field for the first time in almost a week on Friday in the first of three games at Northern Iowa.  The game was tied at 3-3 for through the first seven innings, but six late runs for the Sycamores (15-10, 2-3 MVC) gave them a 9-3 victory over the Panthers (12-14, 2-5 MVC) at Riverfront Stadium.

Junior Eric Valdez (2-2) was solid on the mound for the Sycamores, as he allowed just three earned runs on four hits in 7.2 innings of work.  The right-hander also struck out 12 UNI batters, his second 10+ strikeout performance of the season, while walking just two hitters.  Senior Matt Shelton picked up his second save of the season, as he allowed just one hit while striking out three batters in 1.1 innings on the mound.  UNI starter Nick Kirk (3-2) suffered the loss, after giving up five earned runs on seven hits in seven innings.

The Sycamores jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Brady Shoemaker.  With one out in the top of the first inning, Nick Ciolli drew a walk off Kirk ahead of Shoemaker, who proceeded to crush a long home run over the left field wall to give the Sycamores a 2-0 lead.  The home run was Shoemaker's fifth of the season and 14^th in his two-year career at ISU.

The Panthers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second inning, when left fielder Travis Bennett hit a long solo home run off the scoreboard in right center field to make the score 2-1.  UNI then took the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jason Summers and when Deric Manrique scored on a wild pitch from third base with two outs in the frame.

Indiana State quickly tied the game in the top of the third inning, thanks to a key two-out hit.  With one out in the inning, Bronco Lafrenz singled into left field and Tyler Graham reached on a perfectly placed bunt single down the third base line.  Joe Meggs then flied out to center field for the second out of the inning, which brought Cole Standridge to the plate with runners on first and second.  Standridge then singled through the left side of the infield, which allowed Lafrenz to score from second base and tie the game at 3-3.

The game stayed tied until the top of the eighth inning, when the Sycamores pushed two runs across the plate to take a 5-3 lead.  Ryan Strausborger led off the inning with a triple off the left field wall and then scored on a RBI single into center field by Ciolli.  Shoemaker then walked and Luke Fieser laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Ciolli and Shoemaker up a base.  Bronco Lafrenz was then intentionally walked to load the bases, before Tyler Graham popped up in the infield for the second out of the inning.  With Joe Meggs at the plate, Ciolli raced home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to two runs headed into the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Panthers had the bases loaded with two outs and were threatening to tied the game once again.  However, Shelton got Andy Steichen to strike out swinging to end the threat and send the game into the ninth inning with a two-run lead for ISU.

The Sycamores broke the game wide open in the top of the ninth, as they pushed four runs across the plate to take a 9-3 lead.  Ciolli picked up a one-out RBI double to score Ben Ferrell for the first run of the inning and later scored on a wild pitch for the second run.  Later in the inning, Lafrenz picked up two RBI on a single into left field that scored Shoemaker and Fieser to give ISU a six-run lead.

Ciolli finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI and Lafrenz also finished 2-for-4 with a couple of RBI.  Strausborger picked up two hits, which extended his hitting streak to nine games, and Graham extended his hitting streak to eight games with a hit on Friday.

The two teams will wrap up their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at Noon EST.  Jake Petricka (2-1) will take the mound in game one and Joe Rodriguez (2-1) will toe the rubber in game two for the Sycamores at Riverfront Stadium.