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Indiana State University Athletics

Sears
13
Winner Indiana State INS 37-11
4
Valparaiso VALPO 14-36
Winner
Indiana State INS
37-11
13
Final
4
Valparaiso VALPO
14-36
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Indiana State INS 0 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 5 13 14 0
Valparaiso VALPO 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 10 3

W: Spencer, Jared (6-0) L: Lockwood, Connor (2-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Seth Montgomery | GoSycamores.com

Sycamores power their way to 13-4 series-opening win at Valparaiso

VALPARAISO Ind. – Mike Sears homered twice to highlight a five-home run game for the Indiana State offense, while Jared Spencer struck out a career-high 10 batters as the Sycamores topped host Valparaiso in the first game of the weekend series on Thursday afternoon, 13-4.
 
Parker Stinson started the scoring for Indiana State (37-11, 20-5) with a solo home run to right field in the top of the second inning for ISU's first blast of the day. Sears added a two-run shot in the fourth, while Josue Urdaneta (Solo, 6th), Luis Hernandez (Two-Run, 9th), and Sears again (Two-Run, 9th) also went deep in the contest as the Sycamore bats connected on eight extra-base hits in the contest against the Beacons (14-36, 6-19) in the win.
 
Spencer (6-0) cruised into the sixth inning surrendering just an Alex Ryan solo home run in the bottom of the second inning while striking out 10 Beacons in his final start of the regular season. The junior left-hander struck out two in the first, second, and third innings, while retiring three more on strikes in the fourth. He retired his final five batters of the contest picking up his final strikeout in the fifth to highlight his day on the mound.
 
Five Sycamores posted multi-hit games on Thursday afternoon with Stinson, Adam Pottinger, Sears, Grant Magill, and Urdaneta all pacing the way in ISU's 14-hit performance at the plate. Urdaneta led the team with three hits, while Sears drove in four runs in the win.
 
Jacob Pruitt worked 2.2 innings in relief allowing five hits and three runs while striking out five. Max McEwen recorded the final three outs of the contest and added a strikeout to wrap up the game.
 
Ryan was Valparaiso's leading hitter going 3-for-5 from the plate with a double and home run, while Kyle Schmack added a solo home run for the Beacons in the loss.
 
Connor Lockwood (2-4) took the loss allowing six hits and six runs (four earned) over 4.1 innings. Jake Jakubowski, Grant Jablonski, Lucas Foley, and Josh Spencer closed out the game on the mound for the Beacons.
 
How They Scored
  • Parker Stinson connected on a leadoff solo home run in the top of the second inning and Grant Magill singled home Adam Pottinger to put Indiana State ahead 2-0 early.
  • Alex Ryan's solo home run to left field in the bottom of the second inning cut ISU's lead down to 2-1.
  • Mike Sears drove a two-run home run to centerfield in the top of the fourth inning scoring Stinson to put the Sycamores ahead 4-1.
  • Josue Urdaneta scored on a dropped fly ball in the infield in the fifth inning, while Adam Pottinger singled home Dominic Listi to put Indiana State ahead 6-1.
  • Urdaneta connected on a solo home run to right field and Listi singled home Randal Diaz in the top of the sixth to extend the ISU lead to 8-1.
  • Kyle Schmack connected on a solo home run down the left field line and Kade Reinertson drove in Carson Husmann with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Sycamore lead down to 8-3.
  • Luis Hernandez and Sears both hit two-run home runs, while Urdaneta singled home Joe Kido in the top of the ninth inning to put Indiana State ahead 13-3.
  • Ryan Maka singled home Kaleb Hannahs in the bottom of the ninth to provide the final 13-4 margin.
News & Notes
  • Indiana State's win on Thursday afternoon gave the Sycamores 20 conference wins for the second consecutive season marking the first time in program history ISU has hit the mark in back-to-back years.
  • Josue Urdaneta extended his on-base streak to 37 consecutive games after singling to lead off the top of the fifth inning. He finished the day 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored, and an RBI.
  • Urdaneta's 37-game on-base streak is the longest on-base streak in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era surpassing the 36-game streak set by Adam Pottinger last season.
  • Mike Sears' two-homer game marked No. 20 and No. 21 for the redshirt senior in the 2024 season and set a new Indiana State single-season mark. Sears surpassed the previous mark of 20 home runs set by Boi Rodriguez back in the 1985 season.
  • Sears' two-homer game also marked the eighth time in his career that he has posted a multi-homer game and first since hitting two back on May 3 against Belmont.
  • It marked the ninth time an ISU player has connected on two or more home runs in the same game this season.
  • Adam Pottinger extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games on Thursday following his double in the bottom of the second inning. He finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI.
  • Randal Diaz extended his hitting streak to 21 consecutive games and on-base streak to 27 games following his two-out double in the top of the sixth inning. He finished the day 1-for-6 with a run scored.
  • Thursday's five-homer game was the fifth time in the 2024 season Indiana State has connected on five or more home runs this year and the first time ISU achieved the feat on the road. The previous four times came at Bob Warn Field against Indiana (Mar. 19), Bradley (Apr. 14), and Belmont (May 3 & May 4).
  • The Sycamores drew just one walk as a team on Thursday afternoon marking the lowest by ISU since Indiana State picked up just one walk back on March 23 against Missouri State.
  • The Indiana State pitching staff combined for 16 strikeouts in Thursday's contest marking the fourth time ISU has posted 16 or more strikeouts in the same game this season. It marked the first time the Sycamores hit the mark in a nine-inning contest – the other three times came in extra innings against Marshall, Michigan State, and Murray State.
  • The Sycamores are 46-8-1 over their last 55 Missouri Valley conference games.
Up Next
Indiana State continues the weekend series against Valparaiso as the Sycamores and Beacons are back on the field tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. ET. The game is set to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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