CARBONDALE, Ill. – No. 5 seed Indiana State opened their trip to the MVC Tournament with a 4-1 victory over Valparaiso, advancing to Thursday's quarterfinals where they will face the No. 4 seed in Murray State at 2 p.m. ET.
 
The Sycamores won their fifth-straight game over the Beacons, sending Valpo home from the MVC Tournament for the third consecutive season. Wednesday's win gives the Sycamores 30 wins on the year.
 
The Action
Lexi Benko caught the first batter of the game looking to set the tone early on Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte West Stadium. She got a fly out to retire the side on a scoreless top of the first. Olivia Patton raced out an infield single to start the bottom half but that would be all for the Sycamores in the frame.
 
The Beacons put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the second but Benko got a swinging strikeout to put an end to the scoring threat. Indiana State would jump out in front in the bottom of the inning as Kennedy Shade scored on a wild pitch. Shade led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a Maeve McDonough sac bunt and then stole third. On the very next pitch, the ball went to the backstop to put ISU up 1-0.
 
Benko worked a 1-2-3 inning in the third, recording her third punch out of the contest. Olivia Patton picked up her second hit of the game with another leadoff single but Valpo again was able to strand her on base.
 
A pop up and a pair of groundouts from the Beacons gave Benko another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth. The Sycamores put runners on second and third with two outs but Valpo got a flyout to keep the score at 1-0 after four innings.
 
In the top of the fifth, Benko again set the Beacons down in order, making it 11-straight batters retired for the Sycamore ace. Indiana State would extend their lead in the bottom of the frame as Olivia Patton drew a one-out walk to reach for the third time on the day. Patton would move to third on a Danielle Henning double to left center. With Patton on third and Henning on second, Isabella Henning single up the middle to score them both and put the Sycamores up 3-0 still with just one out. After advancing to second on the throw, Henning then moved to third on a Annie Tokarek single to right center. Kennedy Shade then grew the ISU lead to 4-0, bringing Henning home with a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
Valpo would get on the board in the top of the sixth with a two-out RBI single to make it a 4-1 game. Lexi Benko would finish with six innings of work while allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out three. The Sycamores went down quiet in the bottom of the sixth.

Replacing Benko in the top of the seventh would be Lauren Sackett who ran into some trouble but was able to leave runners on the corners and get a strikeout to end the ballgame. Sackett got the save, her fifth of the season. Lexi Benko moves to 14-8 on the year with the victory.
 
Indiana State finished with six hits, getting a 2-for-3 day from Olivia Patton while, Danielle Henning, Isabella Henning, Annie Tokarek and TeAnn Bringle each had one hit.
 
Thursday's quarterfinal against Murray State will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
For the latest information on Sycamore Softball, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. YoInu can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.