VALPARAISO, Ind. – Indiana State posted the Sunday sweep over Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon as the Sycamores topped the Beacons in the first game of the day, 15-8, while topping Valpo in the second contest with a come-from-behind 11-8 victory.
 
Keegan Watson powered the Sycamores (19-8, 5-1 MVC) to the sweep with the redshirt senior producing six RBI as well as his first home run of 2022 to highlight the afternoon at Emory G. Bauer Field. Jordan Schaffer, Sean Ross, Josue Urdaneta, and Tyler Nelson all added three-hit games on the afternoon, while Ross doubled in both contests and drove in four runs on the day.
 
Jack Parisi (3-2) and Jared Spencer (1-0) recorded the wins on the mound for the Sycamores with both pitchers coming in relief in their respective games. Connor Fenlong added his fourth save of the year in the Sunday finale against Valpo (11-16, 0-3 MVC).
 
Game One: Indiana State 15, Valparaiso 8
Indiana State jumped ahead early and the Sycamores offense never relented in Sunday's opening 15-8 win over Valparaiso.
 
The Sycamores scattered 19 hits paced by three-hit games from Josue Urdaneta and Tyler Nelson, while Keegan Watson drove in five RBI as Indiana State clinched the series win over the Beacons. Luis Hernandez added his second home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning to highlight one of the more prolific offensive games for the Sycamores this season.
 
Jack Parisi (3-2) went 4.2 innings in relief on his way to picking up his third win of the season. The graduate student struck out five batters over the seventh and eighth innings on his way to posting nine strikeouts in the contest to secure the Sycamore win. Lane Miller posted the final out to close out the contest.
 
Luke Patzner went the first four innings in the no decision allowing six hits and three runs (one earned) while striking out three.
 
Kaleb Hannahs led the Valpo offense with a 4-for-6 game at the plate, while Adam Brauch added a two-run home run to power the Beacons. Alex Thurston, Brady Renfro, and Alex Ryan also added multi-hit games in the loss.
 
Jake Miller (3-1) took the loss after going 3.1 innings allowing nine hits and eight runs (seven earned), while striking out three. Josh Cottrill, Jacob Rosenkranz, and Cooper Avery added appearances on the mound in the contest.
 
How They Scored

• The Sycamores plated three in the top of the first inning with Keegan Watson driving in Sean Ross and Josue Urdaneta, while Diego Gines singled home Watson to give Indiana State the early 3-0 lead.
• Luis Hernandez hammered a two-run home run down the left field line highlighting a five-run Indiana State fourth as the Sycamores jumped ahead 8-0. Josue Urdaneta added a run-scoring double, Sean Ross a RBI sacrifice fly, and Randall Diaz a run-scoring single to give the Sycamores a commanding lead.
• Valparaiso responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning highlighted by Adam Brauch's two-run home run to left field to cut the ISU lead down to 8-3.
• The Beacons added another run in the bottom of the fifth on Nolan Tucker's RBI single to narrow the lead down to 8-4.
• Sean Ross hustled around to score on a Valparaiso infield error, while Tyler Nelson drove in Diego Gines with a RBI single to give the Sycamores the 10-4 lead after the top of the sixth.
• Kaleb Hannahs singled home Alex Thurston in the bottom of the sixth inning and Brady Renfro added a RBI single in the frame to cut the Sycamore lead down to 10-6.
• The Sycamores added two more runs in the top of the seventh as Josue Urdaneta tripled home Jordan Schaffer before scoring on Keegan Watson's sacrifice fly to put the score at 12-6.
• Sean Ross added a RBI double in the top of the ninth, while Keegan Watson added a two-run single as the Sycamores went up 15-6.
• Kaleb Hannahs closed out the scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to set the final score at 15-8.

Game Two: Indiana State 11, Valparaiso 8
A Valparaiso error aided an Indiana State seven-run sixth inning as the Sycamores rallied back to take the series finale and close out the weekend sweep at Emory G. Bauer Field with the 11-8 win.
 
Keegan Watson powered the Sycamores with his first home run of the 2022 season, while Jordan Schaffer and Sean Ross posted multi-RBI contests as Indiana State rallied back from a five-run deficit for the second time this week.
 
Trailing 5-0, Watson connected on his first home run of the 2022 season to lead off the top of the sixth inning and spark the Indiana State offense. The Sycamores would go on to score runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings highlighted by the big seven-spot in the sixth.
 
The massive run support aided Jared Spencer (1-0) in his first collegiate win. The freshman left-hander went 2.2 innings in relief of Jake Ridgway with Spencer allowing just one hit and one unearned run to settle the Sycamores down in the win.
 
Connor Fenlong went the final 3.1 innings in picking up his fourth save of the season. Fenlong surrendered two hits and two runs while striking out four in closing out the contest.
 
Schaffer, Sean Ross, Hernandez, and Diaz all posted multi-hit games in the nightcap, while Schaffer and Ross both finished with two RBI apiece. Diaz doubled twice to highlight the Sycamores' power at the plate.
 
Grant Jablonski (0-2) took the loss in the contest for the Beacons after surrendering four hits and five runs (three earned) without recording an out in the sixth. Griffin McClusky went the first 5.1 innings for Valparaiso in the start allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out three.
 
Brady Renfro led the Beacons with a 3-for-4 game at the plate with a pair of runs scored, while Adam Brauch homered and doubled while driving in four RBI.
 
How They Scored

• Valparaiso jumped ahead early with a four-run bottom of the first inning highlighted by an Adam Brauch three-run home run and a Kaleb Hannahs RBI single to take the 4-0 lead.
• Valpo added their fifth run of the contest as Nolan Tucker came in to score on a double play ball to put the Beacons ahead 5-0.
• Indiana State put their first two runs up on the board in the top of the fifth as Keegan Watson connected on his first home run of the season, while Sean Ross singled home Jordan Schaffer to cut the lead down to 5-2.
• Valpo added another run in the bottom of the fifth as Brady Renfro singled in Kaleb Hannahs to make it a 6-2 Beacon lead.
• The Sycamores offense exploded with seven runs in the top of the sixth with three runs scoring on an errant Valparaiso throw, while Seth Gergely, Grant Magill, Jordan Schaffer, and Luis Hernandez all singled in runs to put Indiana State ahead 9-6.
• Jordan Schaffer added another RBI in the top of the seventh as the redshirt senior doubled home Seth Gergely to give the Sycamores the 10-6 lead.
• Valpo added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh as Adam Brauch doubled home Brady Renfro, while Nolan Tucker scored on Jeremy Drudge's groundout to cut the Sycamore lead down to 10-8.
• Randall Diaz added to the Sycamore lead with a RBI double in the top of the eighth inning scoring Luis Hernandez to give Indiana State the 11-8 lead.

News & Notes

• Luis Hernandez connected on his second home run of the 2022 season and first since March 5 against Maryland in Sunday's opener.
• Jordan Schaffer was hit by his Missouri Valley-leading 14th pitch of the 2022 season in the opening game of the day.
• Sean Ross tied his season-best hitting streak at nine games in the first game of the doubleheader by reaching on an infield single in the top of the sixth. He extended the streak to 10 games with a first-inning infield single in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.
• Josue Urdaneta connected on his second triple of the 2022 season in the Sunday opener, tying with Seth Gergely and Sean Ross for the team lead.
• Jack Parisi posted nine strikeouts over his 4.1 innings, including recording strikeouts in his last seven outs on the mound. It ran his season total to a team-best 49 strikeouts and gives him 318 in his career.
• Indiana State's 19 hits in the opener marked the second-highest total by the Sycamores this season and most since ISU recorded 22 against Minnesota back on February 26.
• Keegan Watson's five-RBI game in the opener of the day marked the second time an Indiana State player has posted five or more RBI this season joining Diego Gines (5, Mar. 15 against SEMO).
• Behind Patzner, Parisi, and Miller, the Sycamores pitching staff hit double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time in the 2022 season in game one.
• Josue Urdaneta posted his fifth three-hit game of the season in the first game of the day.
• Tyler Nelson posted his first three-hit game of the season in the matinee.
• Indiana State's seven-run sixth inning in the second game marked the fourth time in the 2022 season the Sycamores have scored seven or more runs and first since ISU scored nine against Wright State on March 13.
• Keegan Watson became the 12th Sycamore to homer this season with his solo shot in the top of the fifth inning.
• Indiana State's win in the first game of the day marked the 2,100th win in program history. The Sycamores sat 2,100-1530-16 all-time following the first game on Sunday afternoon.
• Indiana State posted double-digit hits in both games on Sunday giving the Sycamores their 15th and 16th double-digit hit games of the 2022 season.
• The Sycamores ran their doubles streak to 15 consecutive games and have connected on multiple doubles in each of the last five contests.
• Jordan Schaffer added his fourth three-hit game of the season in the second game of the day.
• Sean Ross added his second three-hit game of the season in game two.
• Indiana State ran its winning streak to 18 consecutive games against Valparaiso with the pair of wins. The streak dates back to March 2007.
• ISU also picked up its fifth consecutive conference series win over the Beacons.
• The series win also marked Indiana State's fifth consecutive series win in the 2022 season.

Up Next
Indiana State returns to Bob Warn Field on Tuesday, April 12, as the Sycamores welcome Indiana University to Terre Haute for a single game. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET with the game set to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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