SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Indiana State closed out the 2023 regular season in dominant fashion as the Sycamores swept Saturday's doubleheader over Missouri State by scores of 9-5 and 14-4 at Hammons Field.
 
The Sycamores (38-14, 24-3 MVC) completed the weekend sweep over Missouri State (31-21, 18-9 MVC) on their way to locking in the top overall seed in next week's Missouri Valley Baseball Championships held at Bob Warn Field. The Championships run from May 23-27 with tickets now on sale at GoSycamores.com.
 
Indiana State was locked in to start both games on Saturday afternoon as ISU jumped out to early leads in both games and limited Missouri State rallies in the pair of wins. The Sycamores' sweep over Missouri State was ISU's first since 2016 and first in Springfield since 2005.
 
The Sycamores won every MVC weekend series in the 2023 season marking the first season ISU accomplished the feat in program history. Indiana State's six-game lead in the MVC standings also marked the Valley's largest gap between the top two teams since Wichita State won the 1998 regular season by eight games.
 
Mike Sears, Keegan Watson, Luis Hernandez, Adam Pottinger, and Connor Hicks all homered to power the Indiana State offense as the Sycamores recorded double-digit hits in all three games over the weekend. Connor Fenlong (9-2) and Lane Miller (6-0) recorded the wins on the mound for ISU.
 


Game One: Indiana State 9, Missouri State 5
Mike Sears, Keegan Watson, and Luis Hernandez all homered as the Sycamores beat Missouri State at its own game in Saturday's opener as ISU powered past the Bears at Hammons Field, 9-5.
 
Facing the Valley's leader in home runs, the Sycamores took control of the game early on Sears' two-run shot to left field to spark the offense. Watson added a two-run shot of his own in the fourth inning, while Hernandez connected on a solo blast in the sixth to make it an 8-1 ballgame late in the contest.
 
Missouri State mounted a late rally with Jake McCutcheon connecting on a bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth to bring the Bears back to within 8-5. However, Zach Davidson (S, 1) went the final 1.1 innings with three strikeouts to secure the series win over Bears.
 
Watson finished 3-for-4 from the plate with a double and home run to pace a Sycamore offense that connected on 12 hits in the win. Randal Diaz, Hernandez, Miguel Rivera, and Sears also added multi-hit games in the win. Diaz also posted his first career multi-steal game with a pair of swipes in the contest.
 
Connor Fenlong (9-2) took the win after going 3.0 innings in his final start of the regular season. The redshirt senior allowed three hits and one unearned run in taking his Valley-leading ninth win of the year.
 
Simon Gregersen went 4.0 innings in relief allowing three hits and a run while striking out five to highlight the bullpen. Cameron Holycross, Brennyn Cutts, and Davidson closed out the game on the mound.
 
Will Duff tripled, while Taeg Gollert and McCutcheon both doubled to highlight the Missouri State offense.
 
Hayden Minton (5-2) took the loss after going 3.1 innings allowing five hits and four runs while striking out five. Scott Youngbrandt, Miles Halligan, and Reed Metz closed out the game on the mound.
 
How They Scored

• Mike Sears connected on a two-run home run and Randal Diaz added an RBI single in the top of the second inning as Indiana State went ahead 3-0 early.
• Nick Rodriguez put the Bears on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the bottom of the third scoring Izzy Lopez to make it a 3-1 game.
• Keegan Watson continued his hot start to the weekend with a two-run blast over the left field wall scoring Sears to give ISU the 5-1 lead in the top of the fourth.
• Miguel Rivera and Watson both recorded RBI singles in the top of the fifth to put the Sycamores ahead 7-1.
• Luis Hernandez made it an 8-1 ballgame in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run to left.
• Lopez brought home Will Duff with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut the ISU lead down to 8-2.
• Jake McCutcheon connected on a pinch-hit two-RBI double and a third run came around to score on an ISU error to make it an 8-5 game in the bottom of the eighth.
• Parker Stinson added insurance for the Sycamores late with an RBI sacrifice fly to left field in the top of the ninth scoring Hernandez to provide the final 9-5 margin. 

Game Two: Indiana State 14, Missouri State 4
Adam Pottinger and Connor Hicks both homered and Lane Miller went into the seventh inning on the mound as Indiana State completed the series sweep over Missouri State on Saturday afternoon with the 14-4 win.
 
The Sycamores scored four runs in the top of the first inning and added three more in the fourth to seize control early in the contest. ISU added six runs over the final three innings with Hicks driving in three RBIs late as the contest was never in doubt in the Sycamore win.
 
Parker Stinson had his second four-RBI game of the series to highlight his three-hit game, while Joe Kido scored three runs as ISU connected on 14 hits in the win. All nine Sycamores in the starting lineup reached base with eight scoring runs in a dominant offensive display to close out the series.
 
Miller (6-0) remained undefeated on the mound as the redshirt senior went 6.0 innings allowing six hits and three runs while walking two and striking out five. Kyle Cortner went 2.0 innings of two-hit relief, while Jacob Pruitt closed out the game for ISU in the ninth.
 
Cam Cratic and Jake McCutcheon had two-hit games for Missouri State as the Bears were swept at home for second time in Valley play this season. Taeg Gollert and McCutcheon both homered in the loss.
 
Jake Eddington (4-2) took the loss going 3.0 innings allowing six hits and six runs (four earned), while striking out four. Tyler Tscherter, Corbin Bassham, Trey Ziegenbein, and Garrett Ferguson all saw time on the mound in the contest.
 
How They Scored

• Parker Stinson connected on a two-run double, and Alex Marx added an RBI single as the Sycamores scored four runs in the top of the first to take the early lead.
• ISU stretched the lead out to 7-0 in the top of the fourth inning as two runs scored on an MSU error, while Joe Kido scored on Stinson's sacrifice fly.
• Jake McCutcheon put Missouri State on the board with a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the margin to 7-2.
• The Sycamores made it 8-2 in the top of the fifth as Adam Pottinger scored on another MSU error.
• Taeg Gollert cut the margin to 8-3 with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth.
• Adam Pottinger went opposite field for a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to stretch the Sycamore lead back to 9-3.
• Connor Hicks added a pinch-hit solo home run in the top of the eighth to give Indiana State the 10-3 lead.
• Mason Hull scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth for Missouri State's final run of the contest.
• The Sycamores scored four more runs in the top of the ninth with Kido, Hicks (two) and Stinson all driving in RBIs in the frame to provide the final 14-4 margin.

News & Notes                                                                                                                                    

• Indiana State earned the No. 1 overall seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament held at Bob Warn Field on May 23-27, 2023.
• The Sycamores finished MVC play with a 24-3 overall record-breaking ISU's previous best 23 wins set back in the 1998 season.
• The Sycamores' six-game lead in the MVC standings over Missouri State (18-9) marked the largest gap between the top two teams since the 1998 season when Wichita State won the regular season by eight games.
• ISU's 24 wins in MVC play tied for the third most in Valley history with Wichita State (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000).
• The Sycamores were the first MVC team to break the 20-win mark in conference games since the 2007 season (Wichita State, 20-4).
• Indiana State won all nine MVC regular season series marking the first time in program history the Sycamores went the entire season winning all their conference weekends. ISU has won 10 consecutive conference series dating back to the end of the 2022 season.
• Indiana State went 21-7 in true road games in the 2023 season following the three-game series sweep.
• ISU closed out the regular season winning 30 of their last 33 contests since March 25.
• ISU's sweep over Missouri State marked the first time the Sycamores took all three games over the Bears since 2016. It was ISU's first sweep in Springfield since 2005.
• Mike Sears continued his assault on the record books as the Sycamore third baseman connected on his team-leading 18th home run in the first game. According to current records on hand, he trails only Boi Rodriguez's 20 home runs set back in 1985.
• Adam Pottinger reached base safely in both games on Saturday to run his on-base streak to 28 consecutive games. His on-base streak is the third-longest in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era trailing only Romero Harris (31, 2018) and Andy DeJesus, 2015).
• After not getting hit by a pitch on Thursday night, Indiana State was plunked four times on Saturday afternoon giving ISU a Missouri Valley-leading 98 HBPs in the 2023 season.
• Connor Hicks' solo home run in the second game was his first collegiate home run in the Sycamore Blue & White.

Up Next
Indiana State is locked in as the No. 1 overall seed in next week's Missouri Valley Championships. The Sycamores have earned a bye through the first round and are scheduled to start the postseason on Wednesday, May 24, at 4 p.m. ISU will face the lowest seed to advance through Tuesday's first round in the winner's bracket.
 
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.