WICHITA, Kan. ? After a tough 2-0 shutout loss on Friday night, Indiana State was looking to even its weekend series with a win on Saturday against Wichita State. The Sycamores (29-14, 11-4 MVC) trailed for most of the game, but broke out with six runs in the eighth inning that led them to a 9-4 victory over the Shockers (24-21, 8-6 MVC) at Eck Stadium.
The win was the first for the Sycamores in Wichita since 2005, when ISU picked up a 9-4 win over WSU. ISU reliever Cordell Greene (3-2) earned the win for the Sycamores, after pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless ball and striking out one Shocker batter. WSU starter Jordan Cooper (6-5) suffered the loss, after giving up five earned runs on 10 hits in 7.1 innings on the mound.
The Shockers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of some early control problems by ISU starter Jake Petricka. After giving up a leadoff double to Tyler Grimes, Petricka struck out Ryan Jones for the first out of the inning. However, he gave up back-to-back walks to Will Baez and Clinton McKeever to load the bases for Chris O'Brien, who drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the first run of the inning. Still with the bases loaded and one out, Mitch Caster reached on a fielder's choice but it was good enough to score Baez from third for the second run of the frame.
Indiana State got one of those runs back in the top of the second inning, thanks to a long home run off the bat of Bronco Lafrenz. With one out in the inning, the ISU catcher ripped a 0-1 pitch off Cooper over the left field wall for his eighth home run of the season to cut the WSU lead to 2-1.
The Sycamores then tied the game in the top of the fourth inning, thanks to another solo home run. With two outs in the inning, Brian Jett ripped the first pitch he saw from Cooper over the left field wall for his eighth home run of the season to knot the game at 2-2.
Wichita State broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with run to take a 3-2 lead. With two runners on and one out, Caster ripped a single into right field which scored Baez from second base. That ended the day for Petricka, who gave way to reliever Scott Harlan. Harlan then struck out Josh Rosecrans and forced Taylor Brown to ground out to end the WSU threat and keep the deficit just one run.
The Shockers held on to that lead until the top of the eighth inning, when the Sycamores exploded for six runs on seven hits and an error to take an 8-3 lead. Ryan Strausborger singled through the right side to lead off the inning and then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Burnam. Brady Shoemaker then singled to center field as Strausborger advanced to third. Nick Ciolli followed with a single through the right side to pick up the tying RBI as Strausborger scored.
That ended the day for Cooper, who gave way to reliever Chance Sossamon. Luke Fieser was the first to face Sossaman and singled into right field to load the bases and extend his hitting streak to 18 games. With the bases loaded and one out, Graham singled to left field and picked up two RBI as Shoemaker and Ciolli scored to make the score 5-3 in favor of ISU.
Remington Johnson then came in to pitch for the Shockers, who got Lafrenz to line out to third base for the second out of the inning. Jett then doubled down the right field line to pick up a RBI as Graham advanced to third and Fieser scored. Ben Ferrell was up next and reached on a fielding error by Johnson as Jett advanced to third and Graham scored from third base. Strausborger kept the inning going and singled through the right side to pick up a RBI as Jett scored for the sixth run of the inning to make the score 8-3.
Michael Manus pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Sycamores and ISU tacked on another run in the top of the ninth inning to make the score 9-3. After reaching base on a dropped third strike and advancing all the way to third base on two throwing errors on the play, Ciolli scored from third base on a sacrifice fly by Fieser to center field.
The Shockers picked up a run in the bottom of the ninth off Manus, but it was too late as the Sycamores picked up the 9-4 come-from-behind victory to even the series at one game apiece. Every ISU starter collected a hit on the day, with Strausborger leading the way with three hits and a RBI for the Sycamores. Shoemaker, Ciolli and Jett each added two hits each and Graham finished with two RBI and a run scored.
The Sycamores and Shockers will wrap up their three-game weekend series on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST at Eck Stadium. Joe Rodriguez (5-1, 5.09 ERA) will take the mound for ISU against Wichita State's Charlie Lowell (5-1, 2.77 ERA) in hopes of picking up a fourth-straight Valley series win for his team.
