NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jorge Pereira's pinch-hit two-run single capped a three-run eighth inning for Indiana State and Jared Spencer shut the door on Belmont in the ninth inning as the Sycamores completed the series sweep over the Bruins on Sunday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park, 5-3.
 
Indiana State (22-12, 11-1 MVC) ran the winning streak to 10 consecutive games with Sunday's win and swept their third MVC series of 2023 after taking all three games from Belmont (19-18, 5-7 MVC) in Nashville. The Sycamores' double-digit winning streak is the program's longest since the 2014 season when ISU won 12 consecutive contests from February 15 – March 10.
 
Leading 2-1 heading into the top of the eighth inning in a tight contest, the Sycamores loaded the bases with none out. Keegan Watson was hit by a pitch to open the inning, while Parker Stinson drew a walk and Josue Urdaneta singled to put three on with the top of the Sycamore lineup due up. After a strikeout, Randal Diaz's bat clipped the Belmont catcher's glove for a catcher's interference call bringing home Watson to make it a 3-1 game.
 
Jorge Pereira entered as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded and the freshman worked a 1-2 count off Belmont reliever Ethan Harden. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Pereira turned on the offering and sent a sharp single back up the middle scoring Stinson and Urdaneta and giving ISU the 5-1 lead with six outs to play.
 
Cameron Holycross pitched an effective 1.2 innings of relief getting the inning-ending strikeout in the bottom of the seventh inning and going 1-2-3 in the eighth. However, the Sycamore right-hander was tagged by Jeff Clarke's two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth as Belmont attempted to mount a comeback.
 
Jared Spencer (S, 5) entered the game following the home run and surrendered a single before retiring the final two batters of the game to close out his second save of the weekend.
 
Lane Miller (3-0) went 6.1 innings in his fourth start of the season. The redshirt senior right-hander allowed three hits and an unearned run while walking four and striking out five to continue his storybook season.
 
Urdaneta paced the Sycamores with a 3-for-4 outing at the plate with two runs scored, while Diaz doubled twice in the win.
 
Jordan Zuger (2-4) took the loss for Belmont after allowing six hits and two runs over 4.0 innings in the start. Will Pryor was effective in relief going 3.0 innings and allowed an unearned run while striking out five.
 
How They Scored

• Indiana State jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Mike Sears doubled off the wall in center field scoring Randal Diaz with two outs in the frame.
• Brody Heaton evened the game for the Bruins in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single as Belmont took advantage of an ISU error to tie it up at 1-1.
• Diaz pushed ISU's second run across in the top of the fifth inning as the sophomore shortstop connected on an RBI double to left field scoring Josue Urdaneta to make it a 2-1 game.
• A catcher's interference call pushed ISU's first run of the eighth inning across the plate and Jorge Pereira followed with a two-run pinch-hit single scoring Parker Stinson and Josue Urdaneta to give ISU a 5-1 lead.
• Jeff Clarke connected on a two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to cut the ISU lead down to 5-3 before Spencer entered to close out the contest.

 
News & Notes

• Indiana State's winning streak hit 10 games on Sunday afternoon marking the Sycamores' first double-digit winning streak since Coach Mitch Hannahs' first season at the helm in 2014. ISU won 12 in a row from February 15 – March 10, 2014, with wins over Connecticut, Ohio State (twice), Lipscomb, Belmont, MTSU, New Orleans (three), and Western Illinois (three).
• The Sycamores continued one of the best starts to conference play in program history as the 11-1 mark trails only the 12-1 start ISU accomplished back in the 1998 season.
• Indiana State has won their first four MVC series for the third time in program history and first since 2012 when the Sycamores won their first six conference weekends.
• Luis Hernandez's on-base streak ended at 26 games after a 0-for-4 performance at the plate on Sunday afternoon. The 26-game streak goes down as the third-longest single season streak in the Hannahs coaching era.
• Adam Pottinger ran his on-base streak to 10 consecutive games following his 1-for-4 day at the plate with a walk.
• Josue Urdaneta posted his first three-hit game of 2023 on Sunday afternoon. The Sycamore second baseman leads ISU with 13 multi-hit games this season.
• Lane Miller went into the seventh inning marking the first time this season all three ISU starting pitchers have gone at least six innings in a start in the same weekend.
• The Indiana State pitching staff posted its second consecutive sub-2.00 ERA weekend as the Sycamores allowed just four earned runs and posted a 1.33 ERA over the 27.0 innings against Belmont. ISU posted a 1.93 ERA the previous weekend in the sweep over Illinois State.
• The Sycamore pitchers also posted a 27:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio allowing Belmont to hit just .221 from the plate.

Up Next
Indiana State remains in Nashville as the Sycamore take on No. 4 Vanderbilt on Tuesday, April 18, at Hawkins Field with first pitch set for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on SECN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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