TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Cassie Thomerson's two-out base hit to left field scored pinch-runner Morgan Goodrich to lift the Sycamores over Murray State, 1-0, in 12 innings on Friday afternoon at Price Field.
 
Indiana State (23-21, 11-7 MVC) got 12 shutout innings from Lexi Benko, her second extra-inning complete game of the season. The Racers (28-16, 12-6 MVC) started Hannah James who gave up one hit across four innings followed by Jenna Veber who gave up one run in 7.2 innings of relief.
 
The Sycamores finished with six hits while Murray State had 11 on the afternoon.
 
The Action
Lexi Benko had to work out of trouble in the second inning, getting a strikeout to retire the side and strand runners on second and third after a Racer single and a double.
 
Abi Chipps put the Sycamores in the hit column for the first time with an infield single in the bottom of the third but the score would remain 0-0 after three complete frames.
 
Murray State would again threaten to score in the top of the fourth, putting runners on second and third with just one out but Benko was able to escape the jam, getting a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.
 
After another scoreless frame from Benko in the top of the fifth, the Racers replaced starter Hannah James with Jenna Veber who sat the Sycamores down in order to end the fifth inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Abi Chipps picked up her second hit of the game followed by an Olivia Patton single to give the Sycamores a pair of runners with nobody out. Murray State got a double play and a lineout to escape without any damage.
 
Kennedy Shade doubled off the wall in center with one out in the seventh but the Sycamores again were kept off the scoreboard as the game would enter extra innings.
 
Murray State had a runner in scoring position in the eighth and ninth inning but Benko continued to fight out of any damage. The Sycamores went down in order in the ninth to send the game to the 10^th inning.
 
For the third-straight frame, the Racers put a runner in scoring position as they had runners on first and third with two outs but Benko got a groundball to retire the side.
 
Neither team had much action in the 11^th, sending the game to a 12^th inning where Benko again kept the Racers off the scoreboard, recording her 12^th shutout inning of the contest.
 
With one out in the bottom of the 12^th, Annie Tokarek dropped in a single to shallow center field and would advance to third as an errant throw went out of play, granting Tokarek extra bases. Morgan Goodrich would come on to pinch run for Tokarek. Veber got Kennedy Shade to pop up, bringing up Cassie Thomerson with two outs in the frame. After getting up 2-1 in the count, Thomerson sent a single to shallow left field, scoring Goodrich to walk-off the Racers with a 1-0 victory.
 
Lexi Benko improved to 11-6 with the complete game victory, striking out nine while walking just two hitters.
 
Up Next
The Sycamores will host Murray State for game two of the three-game series on Saturday, April 22 at 2 p.m. ET at Price Field.  
 
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.