TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball claimed a series victory over Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon as former players and coaches lined the third-base line for Alumni Day. With a 7-2 win over the Salukis, ISU picked up its ninth weekend series win this season and improved to 31-9 and 8-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
 
Junior Collin Liberatore set a new career high with 10 strikeouts in the game while holding the Salukis to just two hits over eight innings on the mound. The right-hander retired seven-straight batters to close out his day while retiring the Salukis in order in four different innings. Liberatore issued just one free pass on the day of the 27 hitters he faced as he improved to 8-0 on the year.
 
Indiana State outhit the Salukis, 15-3 in the game as seven different Sycamores tallied base hits led by senior Romero Harris with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. CJ Huntley and Chris Ayers also joined the three-hit club for the Sycamores. Huntley scored twice, drove in a run and walked while Ayers scored a pair of runs.
 
Jarrod Watkins continued to swing a hit bat, doing for his fifth and sixth hit of the series and scoring both times he reached base. The senior has hit for four doubles (six hits) in nine plate appearances over the last two games.  
 
Indiana State jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back. Watkins and Harris tallied back-to-back doubles in the first inning before Harris was able to cross the plate on an RBI groundout from Max Wright.
 
After the Salukis (17-21, 1-10 MVC) brought in a run on a groundout in the second, Indiana State answered back with five runs over the next five innings. Huntley singled in a run in the third before ISU used a two-out error to score two in the fourth to make it a 5-1 game. The Sycamores added two insurance runs in the sixth when Watkins singled to the gap in left to plate Huntley and Roby Enriquez singled to first and a fielding error allowed Watkins to scamper home all the way from second.
 
SIU got a solo home run from Nikola Vasic in the ninth, but that would be all for the Salukis.
 
Southern Illinois brought four pitchers to the mound as starting pitcher Dylan Given was charged with the loss, falling to 3-6 on the year. The right-hander allowed three earned run on seven hits in three and two-third innings. Same Grace gave up six hits and two runs in two and a third relief innings while Corey Mitson and Noah Farmer each allowed a hit in one inning apiece in the seventh and eighth.
 
The Sycamores will close the weekend series with Southern Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
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.