SPRINGFIELD, Mo. ? After dropping the first of three games in its series at Missouri State, the Indiana State baseball team was looking to even things up in the second game on Friday night.? Unfortunately for the Sycamores (33-17, 15-6 MVC), the potent offense of the Bears (31-19, 16-5 MVC) cropped up once against and picked up a 17-12 win over ISU at Hammons Field.
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With the win, the Bears secured at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and wrapped up the No. 1 seed in next week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.? ISU can still earn a share of the regular season championship and will wrap up the No. 2 seed with a win on Saturday in the series finale.
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ISU starter Jake Petricka (7-2) suffered the loss for ISU, after giving up eight earned runs on eight hits in an inning and two-thirds of work.? MSU starter Buddy Baumann (10-1) was roughed up a bit by the Sycamore hitters, but came away with his 10th win of the year after giving up six earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
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The Sycamores jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning.? With two outs, Brady Shoemaker ripped a single into right field ahead of Bronco Lafrenz who launched the first pitch he saw from Baumann over the left field wall to make the score 2-0.? The home run was the senior catcher's 12th of the season and his second of the series.
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That lead would not last long though, as the Bears answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to knot the score at 2-2.? Brayden Drake drove in the first run of the inning with a RBI single into right field and Ben Carlson added a RBI single of his own for the second run of the frame.? The Bears had a chance to do more damage with two runners on and nobody out, but MSU catcher Dallas Hord lined into a 6-4-3 triple play that got the Sycamores out of the inning.
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From there, it all went downhill as the Bears scored seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning to take a 9-2 lead.? Following a scoreless third inning by both teams, Missouri State added four more runs to the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning to widen its lead to 13-2.
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Despite being on the verge of dropping the contest due to the conference mercy rule, the Sycamores kept fighting at the plate and put together a strong sixth inning to cut the lead to 13-6.? Ryan Strausborger led off the inning with an infield single and Koby Kraemer walked to give the Sycamores a couple of base runners.? Shoemaker followed and hit a long home run to center field to pick up three RBI and get his team back in the game.? Later in the inning, Nick Ciolli reached on a double and then came around to score on a RBI single by pinch-hitter Ben Caple to cap off the four-run rally.
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The seventh inning went by scoreless thanks to the strong relief pitching of Kevin Mann, who did not allow a run in 3.1 innings of work.? ISU then came up in the top of the eighth inning and rattle the cage of the Bears with six runs on three hits to cut the lead to just one.
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Lafrenz led off the inning and hit his second home run of the game and third of the series to make the score 13-7. ?Ciolli followed with a walk but was put out at second base as Luke Fieser reached on a fielder's choice.? Caple was up next and walked as Fieser advanced to second ahead of pinch-hitter Brian Jett, who ripped a single into center field that scored Fieser for the second run of the inning.? ?
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Brian Ramirez then pinch hit for Ben Ferrell and walked to load the bases for Strausborger, who struck out for the second out of the frame.? Now with two outs, Kraemer took the first pitch for a strike and then ripped a line-drive grand-slam home run into the MSU bullpen in left field to pick up four RBI and cut the Bears lead to 13-12.
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ISU could not maintain that momentum though, as MSU answered with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off relievers Matt Shelton and Brendon Smith to widen the lead back to five runs at 17-12.? From there, Tim Clubb shut the door in the ninth inning and secured the win and a share of the Valley title for his squad.
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Lafrenz finished the day 2-for-5 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBI and Shoemaker added the same line with a 2-for-5 effort with two runs scored and three RBI.? Kraemer also had a solid day batting in the No. 2 hole and playing second base, as he finished the day 1-for-3 with two runs scored, two walks and the big grand-slam homer in the eighth inning.
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The Sycamores and the Bears will wrap up their three-game series on Saturday afternoon at Hammons Field before heading to Wichita, Kan., for the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.? Joe Rodriguez (7-1) will start on the mound for ISU against MSU's Pat Doyle (3-2) in hopes of avoiding a series sweep for his team.
