TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Connor Fenlong went the distance in a complete-game one-hitter and Adam Pottinger's grand slam in the fifth inning essentially sealed the deal as No. 22 Indiana State topped Southern Illinois, 10-0, in a run-rule win on national television on Sunday afternoon.
 
Fenlong (5-2) surrendered just an infield single to SIU's (23-16, 10-4 MVC) Nathan Bandy in the top of the first inning and retired the final 15 batters he faced in arguably one of the most dominant showings of his collegiate career. Facing off against a Saluki offense that entered the weekend hitting .289 as a roster, the redshirt senior right-hander allowed just one runner in scoring position and allowed just four fair balls out of the infield on the afternoon in the Indiana State's (25-12, 13-1 MVC) third shutout of the season.
 
In the Valley Game of the Week carried nationally on ESPNU, the Sycamores ran their winning streak to 13 consecutive games as ISU continued their longest winning stretch in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era. ISU's 13-1 mark in Missouri Valley play is the best start to conference competition in program history surpassing the previous record 12-1 back in 1998.
 
Indiana State scored early to take control of the contest as Keegan Watson worked a full-count against SIU starter Tanner Lewis (2-2) before connecting on a two-run double to left center scoring both Luis Hernandez and Seth Gergely.
 
The Sycamores took advantage of a bout of wildness from Lewis in the fourth as hit-by-pitches issued to both Watson and Grant Magill sandwiched a Pottinger double to load the bases with none out. Henry Brown came through with his first collegiate RBIs with a two-run single and Josue Urdaneta added an RBI base hit to give ISU the 5-0 lead.
 
Pottinger's fifth-inning grand slam off the first pitch from SIU reliever Ben Riffe gave Indiana State the 9-0 advantage and Seth Gergely followed Henry Brown's double off the right field wall with an RBI single to center to provide the double-digit lead.
 
Fenlong did not allow a runner on base following a Matt Schark's fielder's choice in the top of the third inning and kept SIU on the infield until Jack Rigoni flew out to Watson in left field for the second out of the seventh. Pottinger camped under the final out in right field to close out the contest.
 
Gergely posted his second consecutive three-hit game as Indiana State connected on 12 hits in Sunday's game. Pottinger and Brown also posted multi-hit games while all 10 Sycamores that posted an at-bat reached base in the win.
 
Fenlong went 7.0 innings in the complete game effort. The Gouvernour, N.Y. native allowed just the Bandy single and surrendered one walk while striking out four in facing one batter over the minimum.
 
Lewis took the loss for SIU allowing seven hits and five runs while striking out three. Shane Wilhelm and Riffe closed out the game for the Salukis.
 
How They Scored

• Indiana State struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Keegan Watson connected on a two-out, two-run double to left centerfield scoring Luis Hernandez and Seth Gergely to give the Sycamores the early 2-0 lead.
• Henry Brown drove in the first two runs of his collegiate career with a two-run single through the left side and Josue Urdaneta drove in Grant Magill with an RBI base hit to give Indiana State the 5-0 lead in the fourth.
• Adam Pottinger connected on a first-pitch grand slam in the bottom of the fifth and Seth Gergely singled home Henry Brown to cap a five-run fifth inning as Indiana State went ahead 10-0 after five innings at Bob Warn Field.

News & Notes                                                                                                                                    

• Indiana State's winning streak reached 13 consecutive games on Sunday afternoon marking the longest winning streak in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era.
• The streak surpassed the previous best, a 12-game stretch back in 2014 when ISU went undefeated from February 15 – March 10 that year with wins over Connecticut, Ohio State (twice), Lipscomb, Belmont, MTSU, New Orleans (three), and Western Illinois (three).
• The 13-game winning streak ties the fourth-longest winning streak in program history according to current records on hand equaling the 13-game stretches in both 2012 (March 4-23) and 2003 (March 8-26).
• ISU's 13-1 record to start Missouri Valley play is a new program record surpassing the previous best 12-1 mark set back in the 1998 season.
• The Sycamores 13-game winning streak is currently the third-longest active winning streak in the country trailing both Army (15) and Dallas Baptist (14).
• Indiana State's current 10-game winning streak at Bob Warn Field is in a five-way tie with Ball State, Delaware, Little Rock, and Maine for the longest current home streak in the NCAA Division I.
• Indiana State has won their first five MVC series for the first time since 2012 (six series) and just the third time in program history (1998, five series).
• Indiana State's run-rule win over the Salukis was the Sycamores' first run-rule victory since April 18, 2021, when ISU topped Valparaiso 12-1 at Bob Warn Field.
• Sunday's win marked Indiana State's first run-rule win over Southern Illinois since topping the Salukis 15-2 in the first game of a doubleheader back on April 15, 2017.
• Adam Pottinger's fifth inning grand slam marked Indiana State's third grand slam of the season and first since Grant Magill went deep in the second inning at Memphis back on March 10. Mike Sears has also connected on a grand slam this season coming against Florida Gulf Coast back on February 21.
• Pottinger's grand slam gives Indiana State 22 home runs in MVC play through 14 games.
• The Sycamores have 44 home runs on the season, one shy of their total from 2022 (45).
• Pottinger ran his on-base streak to a season-best 13 consecutive games and the hitting streak reached nine following his 2-for-3 day at the plate.
• ISU's 12 hits on Sunday afternoon marked the fifth consecutive game the Sycamores have posted double-digit hits continuing their longest stretch of the season.
• Seth Gergely posted back-to-back three-hit games after a 3-for-4 day at the plate marking his fifth game with three or more hits in 2023. He raised his season average to a team-best .353 on the year and has reached base in 35 of the 37 games played this season.
• Connor Fenlong posted the first complete game of his Indiana State career and first shutout at ISU with the 7.0-inning standout performance.
• The one-hitter marked the first time Indiana State had limited an opposing team to just one hit since May 25, 2022, when Matt Jachec and Joey Hurth combined for the one-hitter in the MVC Tournament against Valparaiso.
• It also marked the third consecutive season Indiana State's pitching staff has posted a one-hitter. Connor Cline and Joey Hurth combined to one-hit Valparaiso in an 11-2 win on April 17, 2021, to start the three-year stretch.
• Fenlong's complete-game one-hit shutout was Indiana State's first CG one-hitter since Colin Rea went the distance over a 7.0-inning game against Rockhurst back on April 1, 2011, in the Sycamores' 14-0 win.
• Fenlong became the second ISU pitcher to record a complete-game shutout this season joining Matt Jachec (2-0 vs. Illinois State, April 7).
• Fenlong and Jachec became the first ISU duo to each record a complete game shutout since Tyler Whitbread (12-0 at Missouri State, March 31) and Collin Liberatore (8-0 vs. Valparaiso, April 13) both accomplished the feat back in 2019.
• Three more Sycamores were hit by pitches in the game running ISU's Missouri Valley leading total to 64 through 37 games.
• Grant Magill threw out his league-leading 15th would-be base-stealer on Sunday afternoon after nabbing Bandy in the top of the first inning.
• Henry Brown was pressed into defensive relief midway through the game and went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs on Sunday afternoon. The redshirt freshman's double was his second extra-base hit of the year, while his two runs batted in marked his first two RBIs in the Sycamore Blue & White.

Up Next
Indiana State and Southern Illinois close out the weekend series on Monday afternoon at Bob Warn Field with first pitch set for 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.