TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball claimed its seventh weekend sweep of the season Sunday after defeating Southern Illinois, 7-4, to close out Alumni Weekend at Bob Warn Field.
 
After back-to-back one-out walks were issued to Dane Tofteland and Max Wright, senior Luke Fegen put the Sycamores ahead for good when he put a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field -- marking the first home run of the season for the Waukee, Iowa native as he capped off the weekend sweep of the Salukis.
 
With the victory, Indiana State improved to 32-9 overall and 9-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play while SIU fell to 17-22 and 1-11 in Valley action.
 
The Sycamores got solid outings from the bullpen as Tyler Ward and Tyler Grauer each went three complete innings in relief. Ward was credited with the victory, moving to 5-1 on the season after allowing just two base hits in the outing. Grauer, a lefty, struck out five of the 11 Salukis he faced and allowed two hits as he closed out the game for his seventh save of the season.
 
Jarrod Watkins and Luke Fegen each hit home runs in the game while driving in three runs apiece. Watkins' home run came in the first inning after SIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead after scoring on a sacrifice fly in the first. Watkins' two-run blast put the Sycamores back out in front as he drove in Clay Dungan who led off the game with a single. It marked the second home run of the season for the senior.
 
The Sycamores limited SIU to three runs in the third as Fegen recorded one of his two outfield assists in the game to throw out Ian Walters at third as he tried to stretch an RBI double. The out broke up a string what would have been four-straight hits to open the inning. The Salukis used two RBI doubles and a passed ball to jump back in front before Whitbread recorded a strikeout to end the inning, but not before Southern took a 4-2 lead.
 
Jake Means' cut the Saluki lead in half with a solo home run to left in the bottom of the inning before Fegen's home run ended all hopes of Southern salvaging a game as Grauer shut down the offense in the final three innings.
 
Whitbread picked up the no decision after allowing four runs on five hits in three innings. The right-hander struck out three and walked one.
 
Justin Yeager took the loss for the Salukis after allowing the go-ahead runs in the sixth, falling to 2-2 on the season. Matt DeSomer pitched two innings of one-hit baseball out of the bullpen while SIU starting pitcher Blake Benger went four innings and gave up three runs.
 
The Salukis outhit ISU on the day, 9-6 and were led at the plate by Will LaRue who had a 4-for-4 day at the plate.
 
Indiana State will look for the season sweep of Illinois Wednesday in Champaign. First pitch with the Illini is set for 7 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.