STARKVILLE, Miss. – Indiana State dropped a pair of contests Friday at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi. The Sycamores dropped its opener to Marist 9-3 before falling in the nightcap to host Mississippi State, 11-6. ISU fell to 2-3 on the year.
Mississippi State had a combined shutout going into the ninth inning before the Sycamores were able to crack the scoring column.
Jeff Zahn ended the shutout bid early in the ninth when he recorded an RBI groundout to score
Chris Ayers who singled to start the inning.
Clay Dungan and
Tony Rosselli also drove in a runs before
Kyle Moore hit a 3-run home run in his first start of the season.
The Bulldogs (4-2) scored in the opening frame and never looked back. They added multiple runs in the third, fifth, sixth and eighth to cruise to the win.
Kyle Moore paced the Sycamores at the plate with a 2-for-4 day including a home run while
Chris Ayers finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Riverside, Illinois native
Will Kincanon was charged with the loss, falling to 0-2 on the year. The right-hander went five and two third innings striking out five.
Damon Olds pitched two and a third innings out of the bullpen. Olds allowed two runs and struck out a pair in the game.
Brent Rooker had himself a game for the Bulldogs, going 4-for-4 from the plate with two home runs, two doubles and eight RBIs. Konnor Pilkington picked up the win for MSU, improving to 1-1 after going eight complete and allowing just four hits on the night. The right-hander finished with six strikeouts.
Indiana State dropped its first game of the weekend earlier in the day to Marist, 9-3. The Sycamores jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third after
Clay Dungan came around to score on an error after leading off the inning with a double.
Marist (3-1) would get on the board in the bottom half of the third after back-to-back singles put runners on with no outs. Marist would bunt those runners to second and third and they would come around to score on a consecutive balk and wild pitch. That would be all the Red Foxes would need as they never trailed again.
Marist added another run in the fourth before piling on five runs in the sixth inning that featured three hits, including a three-run homer.
Chris Ayers connected on his first home run of the season in the seventh on a two-run shot to right-center but it was too late for the Sycamores.
Tyler Ward (1-1) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs in five and a third innings of work.
Trent Lunsford,
Evan Giles and
Tyler Grauer saw action out of the bullpen for the Sycamores. Giles went an inning and a third striking out one and giving up one run while Grauer went an inning with two strikeouts.
Indiana State's offense came up with just five hits in the game and were held to 1-for-15 (.067) with runners on and 0-for-8 with two outs.
Andrew Rouse led Marist with a 3-for-4 day from the plate including a home run and three RBI. Charlie Jerla improved to 2-0 on the season after going seven innings and allowing just two runs while striking out four.
Indiana State returns to action Saturday when they take on Mississippi State at 5 p.m. ET at Dudy Noble Field. The game will air live on SEC Network+.
Ryan Keaffaber will get the start on the mound for the Sycamores.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, be sure to visit
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on
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