TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State countered a three-run Southern Illinois rally in the top of the seventh inning with a four-run stretch of their own in the bottom of the frame as the Sycamores downed the visiting Salukis in the Sunday series finale at Bob Warn Field, 12-8.
 
The Indiana State (18-17, 7-5) win secured the Sycamores' third Missouri Valley series victory of the 2025 season after topping the visiting Salukis (24-11, 7-5) in both Friday and Sunday's contests in Terre Haute.
 
Southern Illinois rallied back from an 8-3 deficit after the fifth inning to bring the game all the way back to an 8-8 tie in the seventh. The Salukis loaded the bases with none out in the frame after Matt Schark scored on an Indiana State error making it an 8-6 ballgame. With Gavin Morris (5-3) on to relieve Zac Laird, Southern Illinois tied the game up at 8-8 as Michael Mylott's sacrifice fly to center field was deep enough to score Gabe Petrucelli, while Cade Nelis roped an RBI single to right field scoring Lemm to even the game up.
 
The Sycamores rallied back in the bottom of the inning against SIU reliever Sam Frizzi (1-2). Jeremy Martinez started the inning with a single up the middle, and then took second on Mason Roell's fielder's choice as the toss from shortstop to second base went wide of the bag. A Jackson Taylor sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position and Thomas Emerich made it count with a two-run single through the left side of the infield putting Indiana State back on top 10-8.
 
Indiana State stretched the lead out as Carter Beck connected on a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Emerich. Nomar Garcia followed with a pop-fly RBI single that landed just behind the second baseman's starting position on the infield as the defense was moving on Zack Henderson's attempted stolen base. Henderson motored his way around the bases and scored giving the Sycamores a commanding 12-8 lead with two innings to play.
 
Morris made the lead stand as the senior right-hander kept the Salukis off the scoreboard aided by a Taylor sliding catch down the right field line in the eighth. Taylor secured the final out in the ninth snagging the line drive off Jaxon Holder's bat in the ninth as Indiana State claimed the key MVC series win against the Salukis.
 
The Sycamores took the early 8-3 lead with a five-run fifth inning as Indiana State sent 10 batters to the plate and recorded five extra-base hits in the seven-hit inning. Henderson (RBI triple) and Carlos Pena (two-run home run) provided the key hits in the inning, while Emerich, Beck, and Garis all doubled in the frame.
 
All nine Sycamores in the starting lineup recorded hits on the day as Indiana State connected on 15 overall in the contest. Henderson was a career-best 4-for-4 from the plate with a double and triple, while Emerich, Pena, and Martinez added multi-hit games in the win.
 
Breyllin Suriel went the first 5.1 innings on the mound in taking the no-decision on Sunday. The right-hander allowed four hits and five runs (four earned), while striking out two. Carson Seeman and Laird worked the sixth, before Morris came in with 3.0 shutout innings allowing three hits with a pair of strikeouts to close out the contest.
 
John Lemm was 2-for-4 with a double and home run to power the SIU offense as the Salukis connected on 10 hits in the loss. Schark, Cade Nelis, and Tim Simay added multi-hit contests.
 
Frizzi took the loss on the mound allowing four hits and four runs (one earned), while striking out three over the final 2.0 innings. Meade Johnson went 4.0 innings in the start, while Tanner Gerdes and Jackson Payne worked the middle innings.
 
How They Scored

• Southern Illinois took the 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on John Lemm's solo home run to straightaway center field.
• The Sycamores responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning with Keegan Garis scoring on Mason Roell's RBI ground out, while Jackson Taylor's sacrifice fly was deep enough to bring home Jeremy Martinez and put Indiana State ahead 2-1.
• The Sycamores added to the lead in the top of the third inning as Carlos Pena's line drive single to right field scored Zack Henderson making it a 3-1 ballgame.
• The Salukis tied it up in the top of the fourth as Lemm's double down the right field line scored Gabe Petrucelli, while Tim Simay's single up the middle brought home Lemm to even the score at 3-3.
• Indiana State broke it open with a five-run fifth inning as the Sycamores sent 10 batters to the plate. Thomas Emerich opened the inning with a double to left field and Henderson followed with an RBI triple to left center putting the Sycamores back ahead 4-3.
• Carter Beck followed with an RBI double to right center, before Carlos Pena launched a two-run home run into the wind and left of the scoreboard in right center stretching the lead to 7-3.
• Roell capped the fifth inning scoring with an RBI infield single up the middle scoring Keegan Garis from second on the play to make it an 8-3 Sycamore lead.
• The Salukis battled back with two runs in the sixth as Cade Nelis' RBI single through the left side brought home Simay. Two batters later, Cecil Lofton scored on an Indiana State error, but Michael Mylott was thrown out at the plate to keep it an 8-5 Sycamore lead.
• SIU tied the game up with a three-run seventh inning with Schark scoring on an error, Petrucelli coming across on Mylott's sacrifice fly, and Lemm scoring on Nelis' RBI single to even it up at 8-8.
• Indiana State responded with four runs in the bottom of the seventh sparked by Emerich's two-run single scoring Roell and Martinez. Beck followed two batters later with an RBI sacrifice fly scoring Emerich, before Garcia put a cap on the game with a two-out RBI single to shallow right allowing Henderson to score from first base on the play to provide the final 12-8 scoring margin.

News & Notes

• Carlos Pena ran his on-base streak to 29 consecutive games after his RBI single in the bottom of the third inning. He finished the game 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
• Gavin Morris picked up his third MVC win of the season after throwing 3.0 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday afternoon. The senior right-hander added to his first save in MVC play this past Friday in the Sycamores 9-7 win and has posted a 0.55 ERA over 16.1 innings in conference action.
• Thomas Emerich retook the team's double lead on the 2025 season with his team-leading 11th double of the year in the fifth inning.
• All nine Sycamores in the starting lineup recorded hits on Sunday afternoon.
• Zack Henderson went a career-best 4-for-4 with a triple, double, and three runs scored in just his fifth start of the season.
• The Sycamores' freshman right fielder duo of Andrew Ortiz (Saturday) and Henderson (Sunday) went a combined 7-for-8 from the plate with a double, triple, home run, five runs scored, and two RBIs over the final two games of the weekend series.
• Indiana State claimed its third conference series win of the 2025 season after taking two of three from Southern Illinois. The Sycamores have now won 22 of their last 23 series and have not recorded back-to-back series losses since May 2022. 

Up Next
Indiana State returns to the road next week as the Sycamores head to Bloomington, Ind. on Tuesday evening to take on Indiana at Bart Kaufman Field. First pitch on Tuesday night between the Sycamores and the Hoosiers is set for 6 p.m. ET with the game to be carried live on B1G+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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