JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Indiana State baseball opened the 2019 season with a 7-1 victory over Jacksonville Friday night at Sessions Stadium. The Sycamores (1-0) scored five runs in the first two innings while the pitching staff held strong against a potent Dolphins lineup to secure the win.
 
"I thought it was a pretty solid first game of the year," head coach Mitch Hannahs said postgame. "We got the pitch count up pretty quick there with 80 pitches in the fourth inning but I thought Guerrero, Cross and Ridgway did a really good job finishing the game for us. I thought offensively we did a lot of things really well and our defense was solid."
 
Senior Clay Dungan and Roby Enriquez each tallied early two-RBI hits to jumpstart the offense to an early lead. Dungan kicked off the game with a single up the middle before Chris Ayers was hit by pitch. After both runners were able to move up a base, Enriquez singled up the middle driving in both Dungan and Ayers.
 
Jacksonville (0-1) looked to answer back quickly, loading the bases in the bottom half of the first before newcomer Joe Boyle snagged a ground ball at third base and turned the double play to end the threat.
 
"When you're on the road and battling a really good ball club it's not always easy," Hannahs said. "I think Joe Boyle made one of the biggest plays of the game, knocking down the ball and going from third to first with the bases loaded -- that was a really big for us."
 
Dungan recorded the first extra-base hit of the night with a two-RBI double to the gap in left to score Max Wright and Luke Fegen who reached on a single and a hit-by-pitch to start the inning. Hustle and aggressive base running allowed the Sycamores to tack on the third run of the inning as second baseman Jarrod Watkins beat out an infield single and Dungan scored from second.
 
Jacksonville would get on the scoreboard in the third inning with a solo home run to right from Angel Camacho but that would be it as the Sycamore pitching staff and defense locked in to close out the Dolphins.
 
Senior Chris Ayers joined the hit parade in the ninth with a solo home run -- his ninth career home run in a Sycamore uniform -- to add insurance for the Sycamores.
 
Senior southpaw Triston Polley went four innings in the no decision. Allowing four hits and a run while working around three walks. Geremy Guerrero was credited with the win (1-0) after going an inning out of the bullpen, not allowing a base hit.
 
Austin Cross and Jake Ridgway closed out the game for the Trees. Cross, a newcomer to the roster went one and a third innings, recording three strikeouts while walking two and allowing a pair of hits. After a walk and a single to start his Sycamore career, Cross retired back-to-back Jacksonville hitters via the strikeout to close out the sixth.
 
Ridgway went the final two and two-third innings of the contest, notching three strikeouts while not allowing a base hit in his outing.
 
The Sycamores outhit Jacksonville, 10-6 in the game. Indiana State stranded six runners while the Dolphins left nine on the bases.
 
Tyler Santana -- a 10-win starter from Jacksonville's 2018 squad -- was charged with the loss after allowing six runs and nine hits in six innings of work.
 
Indiana State returns to the diamond Saturday for game two of the series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. ET with newcomer Collin Liberatore scheduled to make his debut.

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