WICHITA, Kan. – The Indiana State Sycamores suffered a 5-4 loss to the Bradley Braves on Thursday evening at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas in the second round of the Missouri Valley Championship Tournament. The loss is the first of the double-elimination MVC tournament for the Sycamores as they fall to 28-25 on the season. Bradley improves to 34-18 with the win.
The Sycamores broke up the scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning. Andy DeJesus led off with a single and moved to third on a Landon Curry double. A ground out from Tyler Friis scored DeJesus and Hunter Owen ripped a single through the left side to bring home Curry and give the Sycamores a 2-0 lead.
Bradley tied it up on a pair of unearned runs in the top of the seventh. After singles by Spencer Gaa and Paul Solka put runners on the corners with two outs, a throwing error by the ISU shortstop scored one and extended the inning. An infield hit by Tyler Leffler scored Solka and tied the game at 2-2 after six and a half innings.
Indiana State regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Connor McClain walked and then two bunt base hits from DeJesus and Curry loaded the bases with no outs. Tyler Friis singled up the middle to take a 3-2 lead. Andy Young followed with an RBI ground out to give ISU the 4-2 advantage heading to the final two innings.
The Braves took the lead in the top of the ninth inning. A lead-off walk and a single put two runners on. Evan Gruener hit a three-run home run to take the 5-4 lead in the top of the final frame.
At the plate, the Sycamores were led by Curry who finished 4-for-4 with a run scored and earned a walk. During the Missouri Valley Championship Tournament, Curry is 7-for-7 with a walk and a hit by pitch and has yet to be retired. Owen finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Friis notched two RBI on one hit. DeJesus finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Jacob Hayes, Kaden Moore, and Manny Estevez each added a hit.
On the mound, Ryan Keaffaber started, going 7.1 innings, allowing five hits, two runs (none earned), striking out seven while not walking a hitter. Austin Conway (4-2) took the loss, pitching 1.2 innings, giving up two hits and three earned runs.
The Sycamores return to action on Friday, May 22nd at 10:00 a.m. as they face Dallas Baptist in an elimination game at Eck 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.
