DALLAS, Texas. – Sycamore baseball earned a doubleheader split against the No. 16 Dallas Baptist Patriots at Horner Ballpark on Saturday afternoon. ISU is now 16-20 overall and 5-9 in the Missouri Valley. Dallas Baptist is now 28-8, and 9-5 in the Valley. The matchup was scheduled to be a Friday, Saturday, Sunday series but inclement weather moved the Friday night game to a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
The Sycamores struck first in the top of the first inning of the first game. Jacob Hayes belted a solo home run to right-center field and put the Sycamores up 1-0.
ISU added another run in the top of the second inning. Manny Estevez drew a walk and moved to second on an Andrew Gutierrez single. Andy DeJesus hit a single down the left field line to score Estevez and put the Sycamores up 2-0.
Indiana State added another solo run in the top of the third inning. After two outs, Hayes drew a walk, followed by an Andy Young hit-by-pitch. Connor McClain delivered a single up the middle to bring Hayes home and extend the lead to 3-0, ISU.
The Patriots cut into the Sycamore lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Trooper Reynolds doubled to right-center, and scored on a Daniel Sweet single to center field. ISU led 3-1 after four frames.
DBU scored another solo run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Nash Knight led off with a single and moved to third on a Drew Turbin single to right. A sacrifice bunt from Camden Duzenack plated Knight to cut the lead to 3-2 in favor of ISU after five innings.
Dallas Baptist tied the game up with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Sweet singled and came around to score on a Chane Lynch double to left-center field. After six innings it was tied 3-3.
ISU regained the lead in the top of the seventh inning, scoring three runs. Kaden Moore, DeJesus and Landon Curry loaded the bases on singles. Derek Hannahs flew out to center field to bring home Moore for the first run of the inning. After a walk to Young loaded the bases, McClain singled through the right side, bringing home DeJesus and Curry to put the game at 6-3 in favor of ISU.
Dallas Baptist battled back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a single run. Turbin led off with a double down the right field line. A sacrifice bunt from Duzenack moved him to third and Turbin scored when Justin Wall flew out to the warning track in right. After seven complete, ISU led 6-4.
Dallas Baptist scored one in the ninth to trim the lead to 6-5. Knight and Turbin singled to start the inning and a pair of fielder's choices scored Knight. Daniel Salters grounded out to second base to end the first game.
Jeff Degano (6-3) earned the win for the Sycamores, going 8.0 innings allowing 10 hits, four runs; all earned, walking two and striking out seven. Austin Conway (4) earned the save for ISU. Conway pitched the ninth inning, giving up two hits and an earned run.
At the plate, McClain finished 2-for-4 with three RBI. DeJesus finished 3-for-3 in the ninth spot of the batting order, knocking in a run and scoring one. Hayes went 1-for-4 with the solo home run and scored twice. Hannahs was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Curry finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Estevez and Moore added a run; Moore was 1-for-4.
In the nightcap, the Patriots got on the board first. In the bottom of the second inning, Tagg Duce led off with a single, and Sweet was walked to put two runners on. Lynch belted a three-run home run to center field to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead.
The Sycamores cut into the Patriot lead in the top of the fourth inning. Estevez was hit-by-pitch and moved to second on a DeJesus single. Gutierrez bounced a single back up the middle that got past a diving Dallas Baptist middle infield and Estevez came around to score. ISU trailed 3-1 after three and a half innings.
ISU added another run in the top of the eighth inning. Hayes hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot to right center to cut the lead to 3-2. It's Hayes' fifth-straight game with a home run and has hit a home run in six of the last seven games.
DBU's Duce matched Hayes in the bottom of the eighth inning. Belting a solo home run to left to make it a two-run lead in after eight innings of play.
Ryan Keaffaber (1-4) started the second game for ISU. Keaffaber went 6.1 innings, giving up six hits, three runs; all earned, walking three and fanning three. Connor Schwienebart pitched in relief, finishing out the seventh inning. Schwienebart retired the two batters he faced on ground outs. Trent Lunsford worked the eighth inning, giving up one hit, the solo home run by Duce.
At the plate, ISU was led by Hayes who finished 2-for-3 with a home run. Young finished 2-for-4. Curry, Estevez, DeJesus, Gutierrez, and Steen each added a hit, with Estevez scoring a run and Gutierrez an RBI.
The Sycamores return to action on Sunday, April 19th at 2:00 (ET) at Horner Ballpark for the series-deciding game against the Dallas Baptist Patriots.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
