NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State won its fifth-straight game Saturday afternoon as the Sycamores clinched their weekend series with Illinois State with a 15-4 win at Duffy Bass Field. With the victory, the Sycamores matched their season high for consecutive wins.
 
The bats continued to power Indiana State (23-20, 9-5 MVC), going for four home runs in the game led by junior Dane Gielser who blasted two. Seniors Kyle Moore and Jeff Zahn each added one of their own in the win. It marked the 13^th game this season that the Sycamores have hit two or more homers in a game.
 
Right-hander Will Kincanon moved to 5-4 on the season after going seven complete innings in the win. The junior struck out 10 Redbird batters and allowed just one walk. A Riverside, Illinois native, Kincanon sat down seven Redbirds in a row from the second to fourth inning after Illinois State scored a run in the first on a sac fly.
 
Kincanon has allowed just five earned runs his last five starts (34.1 innings).
 
Indiana State scored four runs in the first and never looked back as the offense carried the load in the game. As a team, the Sycamores outhit Illinois State 16-8 in the game and put up multiple runs in five separate innings.
 
Aggressive on the bases for much of the game, ISU did not waste any time putting a run on the board. Leadoff man Tyler Friis singled to center before swiping one of his two bases on the afternoon. Dane Tofteland plated him with a single up the middle before Giesler blasted his first homer on an 0-1 pitch to the power alley in right. Moore, a Suffolk, Virginia native hit his seventh home run of the season two batters later to cap off a four-run first inning.
 
Illinois State (12-33, 1-13 MVC) answered with a run in the first but two stellar plays in the field from the Sycamores stopped the Redbird momentum. With two runners on base, Moore made a diving catch in left field before Zahn went across his body to snag a ball at first base on what would have been an RBI double.
 
Giesler wiped away any thought of a Redbird resurgence with a two-run home run off the scoreboard in right field to make it a 6-1 lead in favor of the Trees. It was his team leading 13^th home run of the season.
 
Moore picked up his second and third RBIs of the day in the fourth with a double down the line in left. He would later add his fourth RBI of the day in the sixth with another base hit to left.
 
Zahn also finished the day with one of his best performances of the season, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run in the sixth.
 
Four Sycamores finished with three hits in Friis, Giesler, Moore and Zahn. Catcher Dominic Bifano added a pair of hits and a run in the win.
 
Right-hander Damon Olds tossed a scoreless eighth inning, striking out one Redbird while Tyler Whitbread pitched the ninth, allowing a run and striking out three batters.
 
Owen Miller led the Redbird offense with a 2-for-4 day and two RBI. Jeffrey Barton (0-3) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs in three innings in the start.
 
The Sycamores will go for the series sweep Sunday at 2 p.m. ET from Duffy Bass Field. The game will air on The Valley On ESPN3 as well as 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.