TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State secured its 20th consecutive Missouri Valley series win on Saturday afternoon as the Sycamores topped Valparaiso in both ends of the doubleheader by scores of 2-1 and 10-5 against the Beacons.
 
The Sycamores' (11-13, 2-1) conference series winning streak dates back to May 19-21, 2022, when Indiana State went 2-0-1 in the final weekend regular season series against Dallas Baptist. Since then, the Sycamores have posted a 48-9 mark in conference play on their way to winning back-to-back regular season MVC titles.
 
Valparaiso (5-14, 1-2) snapped a 25-game losing streak to the Sycamores after taking Friday night's 8-3 win at Bob Warn Field, but the Beacons were stymied at the plate by strong relief outings from Gavin Morris (3-2) and Breyllin Suriel (S, 1) in falling in both ends of the doubleheader.
 
Game One: Indiana State 2, Valparaiso 1
Indiana State evened the weekend series in Saturday's opening game as the Sycamores utilized strong pitching from Ty Brooks and Gavin Morris, as well as clutch hitting from Keegan Garis and Jorge Cartagena in the 2-1 win.
 
Valparaiso took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning as Kade Reinertson's infield single between the pitcher and first baseman led to Kevin Denty scoring the first run of the contest and giving the Beacons the lead.
 
Garis evened the score with his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth as the redshirt senior outfielder turned on the pitch from Harry Deliyannis (2-2) and deposited it into the trees beyond the right field wall to even the score up at 1-1.
 
Brooks was solid through the first 5.0+ innings on the mound for the Sycamores before turning the ball over to Morris with two on, none out in the top of the sixth inning. Morris (3-2) promptly pitched Denty into a double play ball for the first two outs, while Spencer Warfield hit a soft line drive to Nomar Garcia at short to end the Beacons' threat.
 
Eli Gipson sparked the Sycamores' offense in the sixth inning as the junior third baseman dropped a bunt down the third baseline and beat out the throw to put the go-ahead runner on base. Three batters later, Cartagena turned on the first pitch from Deliyannis and drilled a line drive down the left field line that short-hopped the wall. Valparaiso's relay to the plate was nearly on-time, but Gipson swam his way past the tag and touched the plate to give Indiana State the 2-1 lead.
 
Morris surrendered a one-out single to Aidan Thaxton in the top of the seventh inning before retiring the final eight Valparaiso hitters to close out his third win of the 2024 season.
 
Carter Beck, Cartagena, and Jackson Taylor all doubled, while Garis homered to highlight Indiana State's six hits in the contest.
 
Brooks went the first 5.0 innings on the mound allowing six hits and one run while striking out five. Morris went the final 4.0 innings utilizing just 34 pitches in facing 12 batters and added a pair of strikeouts in the win.
 
Thaxton had two of Valparaiso's seven singles in the contest to highlight the Beacons' offense.
 
Deliyannis took the loss allowing five hits and two runs while striking out five over 6.0 innings. Josh Cottrill went the final 2.0 innings on the mound allowing one hit while striking out two.
 
How They Scored

• Valparaiso took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning as Kade Reinertson singled home Kevin Denty to put the Beacons ahead in the first game of the doubleheader.
• Keegan Garis tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth as the senior outfielder turned on the 2-2 offering from Valpo pitcher Harry Deliyannis and put it into the treeline beyond the right field wall for his sixth home run of the season.
• The Sycamores took the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth as Jorge Cartagena's double short-hopped the left field wall down the line and Eli Gipson slid home ahead of the relay to the plate to provide the final scoring margin in the Indiana State win.

Highlights


Game Two: Indiana State 10, Valparaiso 5
Carter Beck and Mason Roell both homered and Nomar Garcia stole three bases and scored three runs as Indiana State secured the series win over Valparaiso to open Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday evening with the 10-5 victory.
 
Beck connected on the go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning, while Roell went deep in a three-run sixth inning that provided key insurance runs late against reliever Lucas Foley (0-3) as the Sycamores bounced back from Friday's opening defeat to claim their 20th consecutive MVC series win.
 
Keegan Garis provided the early offense with a run-scoring single in the first inning to answer an early Valparaiso rally and keep the game knotted up early. Beck provided the offense in the bottom of the second inning driving a three-run home run, his seventh homer of the 2025 season, over the left field wall to give the Sycamores the 5-2 advantage.
 
After Valparaiso rallied back with three runs in the fourth inning to tie the game back up, Jorge Cartagena brought home Carlos Pena with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to swing the lead back to the Sycamores.
 
Breyllin Suriel (S, 1) took over from there as the senior right-hander turned in a 4.0-inning save allowing just two hits while striking out seven in shutting down the Beacons' offense.
 
The Sycamores added insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings highlighted by Roell's two-run home run, while Garcia scored on an errant Valparaiso throw in the eighth to provide all the run support Suriel would need to close out the game.
 
Carlos Pena and Jackson Taylor both turned in multi-hit games on Saturday evening as the Sycamore duo combined for four of Indiana State's 10 hits in the win. Miguel Cantu, Taylor, Pena, and Jeremy Martinez all doubled to go with Beck and Roell's home runs as the Sycamore bats displayed their power at the plate.
 
Colby Morse worked the first 3.0 innings on the mound allowing five hits and three runs in his second start of the 2025 season. Jack Armstrong (1-0) worked the fourth and fifth innings, allowing two hits and two runs while striking out two, before Suriel took over with the 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth.
 
The Bonao, Dominican Republic native struck out the first three batters he faced and allowed just leadoff singles in both seventh and eighth innings in shutting down the Beacons' offense for his first save of the 2025 season.
 
Patton, Kevin Denty, and Patrick Ilitch all recorded multi-hit games for Valparaiso in the loss.
 
Foley took the loss on the mound going 4.0 innings in relief, allowing four hits and four runs (one earned), while striking out one. Spencer Boynton went 2.0 innings in the start, while Adam Guazzo worked the final two frames to close out the contest.
 
How They Scored

• Valparaiso took the early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning following Kevin Denty's RBI double to right field scoring Ryan Maka, while Thomas Cooper's RBI grounder scored Liam Patton.
• The Sycamores responded in the bottom of the first inning as Keegan Garis connected on an RBI single to left field bringing home Carter Beck, while Carlos Pena scored on the play as the Valpo left fielder misplayed the ball to even the score at 2-2.
• Beck added to the Indiana State lead in the bottom of the second inning as the sophomore centerfielder connected on a three-run home run into the wind and over the left field wall scoring Jackson Taylor and Nomar Garcia to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
• Valparaiso evened the score in the top of the fourth as Patton's two-run single plated Patrick Ilitch and Case Sullivan, while Denty's RBI single scored Maka to tie the game up at 5-5.
• Indiana State retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Carlos Pena tagged up and scored on Jorge Cartagena's sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field to make it a 6-5 contest.
• The Sycamores added to the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Jeremy Martinez scored on Beck's RBI grounder, before Mason Roell drilled a two-run home run to left center scoring Garcia to give Indiana State the 9-5 lead.
• Garcia swiped third and then came around to score on an errant throw in the bottom of the eighth inning to provide the final 10-5 scoring margin.

Highlights


News & Notes

• Carlos Pena ran his on-base streak to 18 consecutive games after reaching base safely in both contests
• Keegan Garis' on-base streak reached 14 consecutive games after reaching base safely in both contests.
• Beck's three-run home run in the series finale marked his fifth home run in the last eight games dating back to March 11 against Indiana. He's overtaken Keegan Garis (6) for the team's home run lead through the middle of March.
• Indiana State continued their Missouri Valley Conference series winning streak to 20 consecutive series dating back to the end of the 2022 season when the Sycamores went 2-0-1 in the series against Dallas Baptist.
• Included in the 20-series winning streak is the Sycamores improving their mark to 20-0 in game two of the conference weekend series dating back to the DBU series.
• The Sycamores have posted a 48-9 record in Missouri Valley play dating back to the start of the 2023 conference season. Eight of the nine losses have come in the opening game of the series with the other loss coming in the series finale against Evansville last season on Sunday.
• Jackson Taylor continued his torrid hitting over the week finishing with a .429 batting average with four doubles over the games against Illinois and Valparaiso. 

Up Next
Indiana State continues MVC play next weekend with a three-game series over March 28-30 in Chicago, Ill. against UIC. All three games will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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