TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Mike Sears homered twice and Dominic Krupinski also went deep in support of Luke Hayden's strong start on the mound as Indiana State closed out the weekend series sweep with a 4-1 win over UIC on Sunday afternoon.
 
Sears connected on the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the second inning and followed Parker Stinson's leadoff triple with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to cap his fifth collegiate multi-homer effort. Krupinski added a solo home run over the right center wall to provide Hayden (3-1) all the offensive support he'd need as Indiana State (21-5, 5-1) secured its first MVC sweep of the 2024 season.
 
Hayden went a season-best 6.2 innings allowing two hits and a run while striking out eight in his seventh start of the 2024 season. The junior right-hander retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced and didn't allow a hit until Kendall Ewell's RBI single in the top of the fourth inning in shutting down the high-powered UIC (16-10, 2-4) offense. Hayden finished the day retiring eight of the final 10 batters he faced before turning the ball over to Zach Davidson in the seventh inning.
 
Davidson allowed one hit over 1.1 innings and recorded three strikeouts in the relief stint, before Cam Edmonson (S, 1) entered and shut down the UIC rally in the top of the ninth getting Zane Zielinski to fly out to Adam Pottinger in center field for the final out.
 
Dominic Listi and Sears both had two hits apiece on Sunday afternoon as the Sycamores connected on eight overall on the day. Stinson added his second triple of the 2024 season, while Grant Magill and Josue Urdaneta also posted singles on the day.
 
AJ Henkle, Ewell, and Pambos Nicoloudes collected UIC's three singles on the afternoon as the Sycamores' pitching staff limited the UIC offense to hitting just .209 from the plate over the three-game weekend series.
 
Kendall Lyons (2-2) took the loss on the mound for the Flames allowing eight hits and four runs while striking out five over 6.0 innings. Ryan Smith went the final two frames in relief striking out three.
 
How They Scored

• Mike Sears connected on a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to put Indiana State ahead 1-0.
• Dom Krupinski led off the bottom of the third inning with a solo home run over the wall in right center to put Indiana State ahead 2-0.
• UIC took one back in the top of the fourth inning with Kendall Ewell connecting on an RBI single through the left side scoring AJ Henkle to cut the Indiana State lead down to 2-1.
• Mike Sears did it again in the bottom of the sixth inning as the third baseman connected on an 0-2 offering and lifted it over the left field wall scoring Parker Stinson for his second home run of the game and putting the Sycamores ahead 4-1.

News & Notes

• Dominic Listi extended his on-base streak to 26 games on Sunday afternoon after one-out single in the bottom of the first inning. He finished the game -for- from the plate …
• Mike Sears connected on home run No. 11 on Sunday afternoon giving him a home run in all three games in the series against UIC. It marks his second three-game home run streak with the previous spanning March 10 (Florida A&M), March 12 (Illinois), and March 15 (Xavier).
• Sears made it his fifth collegiate two-homer game after connecting on a two-run shot over the left field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning for home run No. 12. It marked the second time he had gone deep twice in 2024 after hitting a pair on March 8 at Florida A&M.
• Sears and Luis Hernandez (March 15 at Xavier) are the lone Sycamores this season to hit a pair of home runs in the same game.
• Dom Krupinski connected on his second collegiate home run on Sunday afternoon as the redshirt freshman drilled a leadoff home run in the bottom of the third inning. His first home run came back on March 21, 2023, in Bloomington, Ind. in a midweek game against Indiana.
• Josue Urdaneta extended his on-base streak to 15 consecutive games on Sunday afternoon following his single in the bottom of the sixth inning. He finished the game 1-for-4 from the plate.
• Indiana State continued its 2024 hit-by-pitch streak on Sunday afternoon after Dom Listi was plunked in the bottom of the seventh inning. ISU has been hit by at least one pitch in each of the 26 games in 2024 and 30 consecutive games dating back to June 3, 2023, against Iowa.
• Luis Hernandez extended his on-base streak to 25 consecutive games following his walk in the bottom of the seventh inning. His hitting streak ended at 24 games after going 0-for-3 from the plate to end the longest hitting streak in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era.
• The Sycamores have gone 31-4-1 in MVC action since the end of the 2022 regular season including an 11-0-1 mark in the final game of the series following Sunday's win.
• The ISU pitching staff continues to put on a clinic in Missouri Valley play this season posting a 3.86 ERA while allowing opponents to hit just .198 from the plate over six games against Missouri State and UIC.
• The Sycamores posted a 36:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio over the three-game series against the Flames.

Up Next
Indiana State is back on the road this week as the Sycamores make the return trip to Bloomington, Ind. for a Tuesday night clash against Indiana. First pitch at Bart Kaufman Field is set for 6 p.m. ET with the game to be carried live on BTN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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