Danny PfrankGoSycamores.com
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Indiana State baseball team dropped their final regular season road game on Tuesday night, falling by a score of 9-8 in 12 innings to the SIU Edwardsville Cougars from Roy E. Lee Field.
The loss is the third in a row for the Sycamores, dropping ISU to 18-21 overall. SIUE sweeps the two-game series with ISU and improves to 14-19 on the season.
Indiana State and SIU Edwardsville both plated one run in the opening inning. Sophomore Landon Curry led off the game by reaching on throwing error before stealing second base and scoring on a two-out single to center by senior Robby Ort. The Cougars came back with a two-out RBI in their half of the inning as Joel Greatting dropped a RBI single into the gap in right-center.
The Sycamores regained the lead in the top of the fourth inning, taking advantage of three walks at the plate. Junior Mike Fitzgerald (walk), redshirt sophomore Jacob Hayes (bunt single) and junior Owen Conway (walk) loaded the bases with no outs in the inning, before senior Jordan Pearson drew a walk on five pitches to put Indiana State in front. Curry plated ISU's second run on a sacrifice fly to left before senior Casey McCurdy drove a pinch-hit two-out single to left to score Pearson from second base and give Indiana State a three-run lead at 4-1.
The Cougars came back with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth inning, using two hits, one walk, one hit by pitch, one wild pitch and one balk to tie the score at 4-4 after four innings.
Indiana State took the lead for the third time in the game in the top of the ninth inning, putting runners on the corners with one out. Curry drove in his second run of the game on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher that plated redshirt sophomore Connor McClain from third. Redshirt sophomore Derek Hannahs scored the second run of the frame on a single to left by McCurdy. SIU Edwardsville took advantage of an ISU error to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, tying the game on a two-out, two-strike double to right by Greatting.
Curry gave the Sycamores the lead again in the top of the 11th inning, plating Pearson on a one-out single to right. SIUE allowed another ISU run to cross with two outs, as Kraemer's popup was misplayed in shallow right field as Curry scampered home from second base. The Cougars tied the game once again in the bottom half of the inning, getting a one-out RBI triple by James Vazquez and a RBI single to center by Greatting.
SIU Edwardsville walked off for their fifth consecutive win in the bottom of the 12th inning, as Vazquez singled to left to score Zach Little from third.
The Sycamores and Cougars combined for eight errors on Tuesday night, while ISU drops to 1-4 in extra-inning games this season.
Curry went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a stolen base while McCurdy (2-for-4, two RBI) and Ort (2-for-6, 2B, RBI) also tallied multi-hit games. Fitzgerald reached base in all six of his trips to the plate, walking three times, getting hit by a pitch while adding a single and a double. Hannahs extended his team-leading hitting streak to 10 games on a pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth.
Junior Josh Negele and redshirt junior Tyler Browning each struck out five batters in their time on the mound with junior A.J. McElderry (0-2) taking the loss in the extra innings.
Indiana State hosts Eastern Illinois on Wednesday night at Bob Warn Field. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. and can be seen live for free on GoSycamores.com through SycamoreVision.
