TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball completed the Saturday sweep over Southern Illinois to take the series and move into second place in the Missouri Valley Conference after improving to 4-2 in the Valley and 17-15 overall.
 
The Sycamore bats exploded for a season high 18 hits in a 15-2 seven-inning win in the opening game of the day. Dane Giesler led the charge for the Sycamores with a two-home run day en route to a team best five RBIs. In all, six Sycamore hitters went for multiple hits in the team's best offensive output of the season.
 
Tyler Friis and Clay Dungan joined Giesler in the three-hit club while Dominic Bifano and Jeff Zahn walked away with two hits apiece.
 
It was a quick start for the ISU offense as Friis and Dungan recorded back-to-back doubles to kick off the ballgame, before Giesler homered on a 1-0 pitch to left in the first inning. The Salukis added a run of their own in the third before Bifano answered right back in the bottom half with a solo shot to right.
 
Zahn legged out his first triple of the season to lead off a five-run fourth inning. Brandt Nowaskie singled Zahn home in the next at bat. Rosselli joined the home run derby in the fourth as well with a two-run shot.
 
Giesler capped off the four-home run game for the Trees in the fifth with a two-run blast to center for his team best eighth home run of the season.
 
Friis, Dungan and senior Tony Rosselli added two RBI each in the win.
 
Right-hander Tyler Ward earned the win after pitching all seven innings and allowing only two runs while striking out five Saluki batters. With the victory, Ward improved to 3-2 on the season.
 
It was a completely different game in the nightcap as the series finale turned into a pitcher's duel between Will Kincanon and Joey Marciano as the Sycamore came away with a 4-1 win.
 
Kincanon (3-3) struck out 10 Saluki batters on his way to his third win of the season. The right-hander allowed just five hits to the Salukis in seven complete innings.
 
It was not until the seventh that the Sycamores would get in the scoring column after Dungan came up with a clutch single through the right side of the infield to score Nowaskie.
 
Giesler continued his RBI hunt later in the inning, sending a ball up the middle to score another Sycamore run later in the inning. The Trees would add an insurance after Bifano was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it a 3-0 ISU lead. Southern Illinois would answer with their first run in the eighth when Logan Blackfan singled in the lone SIU run of the night.
 
Austin Conway picked up his seventh save of the season after completing the final two innings, striking out two of the eight batters he faced.
 
The Trees return to action with a pair of midweek contest Tuesday and Wednesday as Northern Illinois and Purdue come to town. First pitch in Tuesday's contest with the Huskies is slated for 3 p.m. ET. The Sycamores and Purdue will play Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET.
 
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 Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.