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Indiana State University Athletics

Sears
5
Belmont BEL 22-23, 9-10 MVC
15
Winner Indiana State INS 32-10, 15-4 MVC
Belmont BEL
22-23, 9-10 MVC
5
Final
15
Indiana State INS
32-10, 15-4 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Belmont BEL 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 5 5 0
Indiana State INS 5 2 1 0 0 3 4 15 17 0

W: Pruitt, Jacob (2-2) L: CIUFFETELLI, Blake (2-4)

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

Diaz, Sears homer twice to power Indiana State past Belmont in Friday series opener

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Randal Diaz and Mike Sears both homered twice in an offensive explosion that featured 10 different Indiana State players reaching base as the Sycamores topped visiting Belmont, 15-5, in Friday night's series opener at Bob Warn Field.
 
Luis Hernandez, Diaz (twice), and Sears (twice) combined for five home runs as the Sycamores (32-10, 15-4) connected early and often in taking the Friday night contest against Belmont (22-23, 9-10). Jacob Pruitt (2-2) went 3.2 innings in relief to pick up the win as the Sycamore pitching staff limited the Bruins to five hits in the contest.
 
Hernandez and Sears homered in the first inning to propel the Sycamores to an early 5-0 lead, while Diaz connected on a pair of solo shots in the second and third frames as Indiana State jumped out to an 8-3 advantage early.
 
Pruitt took over on the mound in the bottom of the third inning getting a double play ball to end Belmont's best scoring opportunity in the game on his way to a 3.2-inning relief outing. The sophomore right-hander allowed two hits and struck out three in a strong outing to pick up his second win of the season.
 
Sears connected on his second home run of the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning to continue the scoring and put ISU ahead 11-4 and Parker Stinson capped the scoring in the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off two-run double to right center as the Sycamores secured their sixth walk-off win of the 2024 season.
 
Six Sycamores recorded multi-hit games as Indiana State's offense combined for 17 hits in the game. Stinson and Sears had three hits apiece, while Diaz, Dominic Listi, Hernandez, and Adam Pottinger all recorded two hits apiece in the win. Stinson had a pair of doubles in the win, while Joe Kido added a double as ISU combined for eight extra-base hits in the contest.
 
Jared Spencer went the first 2.1 innings in the Friday night start allowing one hit and three runs while striking out five early in the contest. Cam Edmonson allowed one run in the top of the seventh while striking out one in his lone inning of work.
 
Max Blessinger homered and Landon Godsey doubled for Belmont as the Bruins' offense was limited to five hits on Friday night. Brodey Heaton connected on a pair of singles in the loss.
 
Blake Ciuffetelli (2-4) took the loss allowing four hits and five runs over 0.2 innings. Jordan Zuger and Ty Allen went six combined innings in relief, while Jett Thielke faced the final two batters in the game.

How They Scored
  • Luis Hernandez and Mike Sears put the Sycamores on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of home runs to take the early 5-0 lead. Hernandez connected on a two-run shot to score Dominic Listi, while Sears brought home Parker Stinson and Adam Pottinger to put ISU ahead early.
  • Diaz connected on a solo home run to left center and Sears added an RBI single bringing home Stinson to make it a 7-0 Sycamore lead in the bottom of the second inning.
  • Belmont scored three runs in the top of the third inning taking advantage of five walks issued by the ISU pitching staff while Brodey Heaton added an RBI single to cut the Sycamore lead down to 7-3.
  • Diaz put the Sycamores back in the scoring column in the bottom of the third inning with a one-out solo home run into the trees beyond the left field wall to make it an 8-3 game.
  • Belmont's Max Jones' RBI groundout scored Blake Barton in the top of the sixth inning to cut the ISU lead down to 8-4.
  • Adam Pottinger connected on an RBI sacrifice fly scoring Luis Hernandez, before Sears connected on his second home run of the game, driving home Stinson with a shot near the scoreboard in right center to make it an 11-4 ISU lead.
  • Belmont continued to chip away at the Indiana State lead in the top of the seventh as Max Blessinger connected on a leadoff solo home run to make it an 11-5 ballgame.
  • Joe Kido scored on a wild pitch and Listi singled home Josue Urdaneta, before Parker Stinson connected on the walk-off two-run double bringing home Hernandez and Listi to cap the scoring at 15-5.
News & Notes
  • Randal Diaz extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games following his leadoff solo home run in the second inning. He finished the day 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in the win.
  • Diaz connected on solo home runs in both the second and the third innings to become the fifth different Sycamore to post a multi-homer game in the 2024 season.
  • Mike Sears connected on a three-run home run in the first and a two-run shot in the sixth inning to mark his third multi-homer game in the 2024 season and sixth of his career.
  • Diaz's 11th and 12th home runs and Sears' 16th and 17th of the season add on to a list that includes Sears (Mar. 8 at Florida A&M, Mar. 31 vs. UIC), Luis Hernandez (Mar. 15 at Xavier), Adam Pottinger (Apr. 14 vs. Bradley), and Parker Stinson (Apr. 30 at Illinois) with multi-homer games in 2024.
  • Josue Urdaneta extended his on-base streak to 31 consecutive games with a bunt single in the seventh inning. He finished the day 1-for-4 with a run scored.
  • Mike Sears recorded Indiana State's eighth game with five-plus RBIs in the 2024 season after driving in six runs on Friday night. It marked his third game with five-plus RBIs this year.
  • Friday featured Indiana State's sixth walk-off win of the 2024 season and fourth in Missouri Valley play. The last came back April 14 when Adam Pottinger connected on a walk-off grand slam in the 17-6 win over Bradley.
  • The Sycamores picked up their fourth consecutive run-rule win at Bob Warn Field dating back to the Bradley series when ISU topped the Braves in run-shortened games in all three contests.
  • Jacob Pruitt picked up his second win of the season on the mound and first since he went 6.0 scoreless innings in the start against UConn back on February 17.
Up Next
Indiana State continues the weekend series on Saturday afternoon against Belmont with first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET. The game will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Among Saturday's game day festivities include a Star Wars Day/Lightsaber Keychain Giveaway, Kids Run the Bases Postgame, and State Dance Marathon/Riley Member Throws Out First Pitch.
 
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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.
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