WICHITA, Kan. – The Indiana State baseball team dropped the rubber match 14-4 in seven innings with the Wichita State Shockers on Sunday afternoon at Eck Stadium. The loss drops the Sycamores to 13-15, and 3-6 in the Missouri Valley. Wichita State improves to 13-18, and 5-1 in the Valley.
The Shockers got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Chase Rader and Zach Reding drew walks and Bob Arens drove them home with a home run to left field.
Wichita State added to its lead the following inning. Daniel Kihle led off with a single and scored on a Ryan Tinkham homer to left. Rader got on with a walk and moved to second on a Reding single. A pair of wild pitches brought Rader and Reding home and the Shockers led 7-0 after three innings.
The Shockers pulled away in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring seven runs. Trey Vickers and Michael Mucha led off with back-to-back walks before another walk loaded the bases. Sam Hilliard plated the first run on a hard hit ball to center. Rader doubled to score Mucha and Tinkham. Reding hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Hilliard, and Keenan Eaton singled to bring home Rader. Arens capped off the inning with a two-run home run to left field, his second of the game. ISU trailed 14-0 after four innings.
The Sycamores got on the board in the top of the sixth inning, when Landon Curry scored on a sacrifice fly from Brian Romero.
Curry kept the offense going in the top of the seventh inning. Taylor Steen drew a walk and Connor McClain reached on a catcher's interference to start the rally. Curry double down the left field line to bring home Steen and McClain and later Curry scored when Romero hit into a fielder's choice. ISU could come no closer as the game was ended in the seventh inning because of the 10-run rule.
Romero and Curry led the Sycamore offense. Curry finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored while drawing a walk. Romero also finished with two RBI. Manny Estevez was 2-for-2 after coming in in the fifth inning. Andy Young was 2-for-2 in the game. Tony Rosselli and Tyler Friis added a hit.
On the mound, ISU used four pitchers in the game. Ethan Larrison (1-1) took the loss after starting and going 2.0 innings allowing three hits, five runs, all earned, and walking three. David Stagg pitched in relief, going 1.1 innings, giving up two hits, six earned runs, walking four and striking out two. Nick Martin made his fourth appearance of the season. Martin went 0.2 innings, giving up three hits, three earned runs and walked one. Ryan Cheek pitched 2.0 innings without allowing a hit or a run and struck out two.
The Sycamores return to action on Tuesday, April 7th when ISU plays host to the Purdue Boilermakers at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium.
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.
