SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Indiana State softball was swept in doubleheader action by Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at Killian Stadium.

The Bears (15-14, 8-3) claim the series victory with the sweep, winning game one 4-0 while game two saw a 9-5 Bears victory over Indiana State (18-16, 5-6).

Game One
Missouri State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a pair of RBI singles as well as a two-run home run by Alex Boze which was her MVC-leading ninth of the season. Sycamore starter Lexi Benko got her second strikeout of the frame to end the inning.

Benko worked 1-2-3 innings in the second and third, picking up two more strikeouts to keep the Bears lead at 4-0.

The Sycamores and Bears both recorded a pair of hits in the fourth but were unable to get any runs across. Indiana State would get two runners on in the seventh but nothing further as the Bears took game one of the day 4-0.

Benko tied a career-high with seven strikeouts across six innings of work, allowing four runs on seven hits in the loss. She drops to 9-8 on the season.

Olivia Patton and Lexie Siwek paced the Sycmamores at the plate, with Patton going 3-for-3 while Siwek went 2-for-3 with a double. Bella Peterson picked up her MVC-leading 12^th double, finishing 1-for-3 at the plate. Amanda Guercio also had a single to give Indiana State seven hits for the game.

Game Two
The Bears got off to a similar start in the second game of the day, scoring three runs in the game's first inning. The leadoff batter reached with a single and stole second, coming home to score on an RBI single. Following an infield single, Missouri State got a pair of runs with a double to go up 3-0.

Indiana State loaded the bases in the top of the second but were unable to convert as the Bears got a pop up to end the inning. Lexie Siwek singled to centerfield to leadoff the frame for her third hit of the doubleheader.

In the circle for the Sycamores, Cassi Newbanks settled in, getting three groundouts in the bottom half of the second to keep the score 3-0 in favor of the Bears.

Cassie Thomerson and Siwek got back-to-back singles in the third but again were not able to get a run across. Siwek's single to left field made her 4-for-5 on the afternoon.

Hailey Griffin replaced Newbanks in the third inning, where Missouri State added three runs, getting two after back-to-back walks. The Bears got a third run after the Sycamores misplayed a ball in centerfield, allowing the run to score. The Missouri State batter ran in front of the runner on first base, giving Indiana State the first out of the inning. Griffin got a strikeout and a pop up to get out of the inning and leave a pair of runners on.

Griffin worked a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth to bring the Sycamores to the plate where they managed to get their first run of the day on an RBI single from Isabella Henning that scored Abi Chipps. Henning's team-leading 27^th RBI of the season made it a 6-1 game.

Missouri State added a run in bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Alex Boze to go back up by six runs.

The Sycamores offense finally got going in the sixth inning as Amanda Guercio led the frame off with her fourth home run of the year, a solo shot to left center which made it 7-2. TeAnn Bringle then got aboard with a single and would score on a two-run shot from Annie Tokarek to right center, her third of the year, to bring the Sycamores within three runs.

After reaching on an error, Abi Chipps got around to third on a wild pitch and a groundout. She scored on a throwing error from the Missouri State catcher to shrink the Bears lead to 7-5.

In the bottom of the frame, Missouri State went up 9-5 on a solo shot to right center by Madison Hunsaker and an RBI double from McKayla Carney with two outs in the inning.

Indiana State finished with nine hits, getting multi-hit outputs from Isabella Henning and Lexie Siwek.

Cassi Newbanks gets the loss and falls to 4-7 on the season.

Up Next
The series finale will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET at Killian Stadium.

For the latest information on Sycamore Softball, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.