TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? On a day when ground was officially broken on Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium, the Indiana State baseball team was looking to pick up ground on the rest of the Missouri Valley Conference with a win against Evansville. The Sycamores (31-14, 13-4 MVC) pounded out 12 runs and took advantage five errors by the Purple Aces (25-24, 7-12 MVC) to pick up a 12-7 win at Sycamore Field.
ISU starter Eric Valdez (5-3) labored on the mound and gave up seven earned runs in six innings of work, but his offense picked him up and gave him his fifth win of the season. Valdez gave up nine hits and struck out three batters, but relievers Scott Harlan and Cordell Greene combined to give up just one hit over the final three innings of the game to secure the victory. UE starter John Foley (6-3) suffered the loss after surrendering seven runs, only four of which were earned, on nine hits in 2.2 innings on the mound.
The Sycamores jumped out to an early 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Brady Shoemaker. After a one-out single by Kyle Burnam, Shoemaker sent a 3-1 pitch off Foley over the left field wall for his team-leading 11th home run of the season.
Evansville got one of those runs back in the top of the second inning to cut the lead to 2-1. After a scoreless bottom half of the second and top half of the third, the Sycamores exploded for five runs on five hits and three errors in the bottom of the third inning to extend the lead to 7-1.
Burnam doubled to left center field to start the inning and Shoemaker followed with a double of his own to score Burnam and pick up his third RBI of the game. Shoemaker then came around to score from second base when Nick Ciolli reached on an error by Evansville second baseman Trentt Copeland to make the score 4-1 at the time. Luke Fieser then reached on a fielder's choice as Ciolli advanced to second on a throwing error by third baseman Cody Fick. Both runners then advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Graham
With runners on second and third and one out, Bronco Lafrenz singled up the middle to score both runners and extend the lead to 6-1. Brian Jett followed with a single through the right side before Ben Ferrell flied out to center field. Ryan Strausborger was up next and singled up the middle to load the bases for Burnam, who reached on a fielding error by Fick which allowed Lafrenz to score the final run of the frame.
The Aces got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth inning to cut the lead to 7-2, before ISU answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to make the score 8-2. Fieser doubled to left center field with one out to extend his hitting streak to 20 games to start the rally. After Graham grounded out, Fieser advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored when Fick failed to put down a tag as the ball sailed into left field.
Evansville got two of those runs back in the top of the fifth inning and added two more in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run double by Jim Viscomi to cut the lead to 8-6. However, the Sycamores once again answered with runs of their own to extend their lead to 12-6.
Fieser plated the first run of the inning with a RBI single and Graham picked up a RBI with a double later in the inning. Later in the inning, Jett picked brought in Fieser with a RBI groundout and Graham came around to score on the fifth error of the day by the Purple Aces for the final run of the inning.
The Aces picked up one more run in the top of the seventh inning on a leadoff home run by Greg Wallace, but that would the last of the runs on the day as the Sycamores cruised the rest of the way for a 12-7 win. Shoemaker finished the day 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI and Lafrenz chipped in with two hits and two RBI. Strausborger, Ciolli, Fieser, and Burnam all chipped in two hits each in the win as well for ISU.
The Sycamores and the Purple Aces will take the field on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the second game of the three-game weekend Valley series. Jake Petricka (6-1) will take the mound for ISU against UE starter Wade Kapteyn (2-7) at Sycamore Field.
