EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was the 100^th game between Indiana State and the Purple Aces Friday night in Evansville as the Sycamores came away with a 9-1 win at Braun Stadium behind stellar performances from starting pitcher Jeremy McKinney and solid at bats from Tony Rosselli and CJ Huntley.
 
McKinney (4-1), a junior had a career night as the Sycamores (14-12, 1-0 MVC) picked up their first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season. The right-hander struck out a career-high 12 batters in six complete innings of work. The Evansville bats were able to spray just four hits against him while scoring once, in the third inning against McKinney en route to the win.
 
The 12 K's were the best performance for the Sycamores since Will Kincanon struck out 11 at Washington March 11. With 17 combined strikeouts in the game, the team tied a season best after retiring 17 Marist batters Feb. 5.
 
Senior Tony Rosselli put the Sycamores on top in the first on an RBI single to center to score Tyler Friis who walked to begin the game. Jeff Zahn added to the lead with an RBI groundout in the second before Dominic Bifano and grounded out to the pitch in the third.
 
Sophomore CJ Huntley broke the game open in the third with a two-run single with a single up the middle. Scoring on the play was Clay Dungan and Rosselli to make it a 5-0 lead.
 
The Aces (9-21, 0-4 MVC) got on the board in the third after a leadoff double put a runner in scoring position. Travis Tokarek drove in the runner with a single up the middle.
 
Rosselli added to the ISU lead in the ninth with an RBI double before Rosselli and Giesler each scored later on wild pitches to make it 9-1.
 
Right-hander Ethan Larrison pitched the final 2.1 innings en route to the win. He struck out four batters and allowed just one hit in the outing.
 
Rosselli and Huntley paced the Sycamores with a pair of RBIs each. Rosselli finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Friis scored three times for ISU after drawing two walks on the night.
 
The Sycamores will continue the series Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Braun Stadium with right-hander Tyler Ward on the mound. The game can be seen live on The Valley On ESPN3 ­­and can be heard on Sycamore All-Access via GoSycamores.com.
 
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.