Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Baseball improved to 13-6 after starting out the home slate taking two games from Siena College (2-13, 0-0 MAAC). The Sycamores scored a lofty 10 runs in the first game, winning by a score of 10-3, and would not let up as they finished game two with a 12-3 victory, led by senior Kaden Moore at the plate.
Game One
The Sycamores struck first in game one scoring two in the bottom of the second, but Siena would answer, tying things up 2-2 in the top of the third inning. Moore and freshman Clay Dungan would single before sophomore Tyler Friis would load the bases on a bunt single. Moore was then plated as freshman Dane Tofteland was walked.
Siena would pick up another run in the top of the fifth inning, but once again, the Sycamores answered. Dungan tripled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, then reached home safely on a freshman Chris Ayers double, to put the team up 4-3.
Indiana State then scored one in the sixth, and then added two in the seventh off of Ayers' first career home run that pushed across two more runs. With the Sycamores now leading 7-3, junior Hunter Owen drove in two more runs in the bottom of the eighth before crossing the plate himself.
The Sycamores picked up the offense in the last half of the game to out-hit Siena 14-6. Owen led the Sycamores at the plate going 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while Friis was 3-for-4, and multiple players tallied two hits. Ayers hit his first home run as a Sycamore, and drove in three runs.
Senior Daniel Peterson took the win on the mound, striking out eight batters in seven innings of work, and improving himself to 4-1.
Head coach Mitch Hannahs said “it was not an easy day to play in these type of [weather] conditions, but considering the conditions, we played ok.”
Game Two
Indiana State carried over the bats from game one as they struck right away in the first inning, scoring one. Siena took the lead from the Sycamores in the top of the third, scoring two runs on three hits.
With a couple of quiet innings behind them, the Sycamores hit around the order that resulted in a seven run fourth inning. It all started when Friis poked a leadoff single that was followed by a walk, and then junior Tony Rosselli tripled for the second time this year, knocking in the two runners. Following Rosselli, senior Andy DeJesus doubled, senior Andy Young walked, and Owen drove one in on a fielder's choice. Moore would then double and came around to score on a double by Dungann. After four complete, Indiana State led Siena 8-2.
The Sycamores would score one more in the sixth and three more in the seventh to secure the 12-3 win in game two. Leading Indiana State in the win was senior Kaden Moore who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs. DeJesus finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, and Young went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Junior Justin Hill picked up his fourth win on the season, allowing only two runs throughout five innings of work. Coach Hannahs said of Hill after game two, “he obviously didn't have his best stuff today, but he always competes well, he's a good competitor.”
Overall, Moore finished the day 6-for-9 with three runs scored and four RBIs, while both Owen and Dungan were 4-for-9 with three RBIs. DeJesus tallied four hits, going 4-for-8 on the day with five runs scored and two RBIs.
Senior Kaden Moore claimed that “the culture of Sycamore Baseball is definitely changing” after helping the club to win both games of the home opening double header and experiencing the facility upgrades. “This week is going to be big one…we'll see what happens, but I'm confident that it's going to turn out for the best,” said Moore when asked about finishing out the Siena series and looking ahead to a week full of Big Ten match-ups.
The Sycamores will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET at Bob Warn Field. Be sure to come and check out the field improvements with the brand new video board and much more. Follow tomorrow's game on Facebook and Twitter, or stream the game live via GoSycamores.com.
