MARION, ILL. – Carlos Pena homered and drove in two RBIs and Grant Parson went into the seventh inning on the mound as Indiana State secured the Sunday afternoon 4-2 win over Bradley at Mountain Dew Park.
 
Indiana State (22-25, 10-11) secured the Sunday victory to avoid the Bradley (11-32, 7-14) sweep as the Sycamores utilized timely hitting and key base-running from Carter Beck over the late innings to claim their 10th MVC win of the 2025 season.
 
Pena sparked the offense in the top of the first inning as the senior first baseman connected on a solo home run over the wall in right center and into the Indiana State bullpen to put the Sycamores up 1-0. It marked his team-leading 14th home run of the 2025 season to put Indiana State on the board early against Bradley starter Jack Stellano (2-1).
 
The Braves answered in the bottom of the inning on Bobby Atkinson's RBI single to tie the game up at 1-1 as the teams settled into a pitcher's duel over the early part of the game.
 
Bradley loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning as Ashton Horchem and Cole Smith both singled and Mason Breidenbach drew a walk in threatening to break the game open against Parson (2-3). However, the sophomore right-hander struck out Atkinson looking to end the threat and keep it a 1-1 game.
 
The Sycamores rode the momentum and capitalized in the top of the sixth as Beck led off and reached on an infield single and advanced to second on Andrew Ortiz's sacrifice bunt. A balk brought Beck to third and Pena sent him home with an RBI single through the left side to put Indiana State ahead 2-1. Two batters later, Jorge Cartagena turned on the pitch and drove a double to the wall in left center scoring Pena and making it a 3-1 Sycamores' lead.
 
Beck later scored on Jeremy Martinez's sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning for the final Sycamore run of the contest.
 
Parson worked into the seventh before turning the ball over to Ty Brooks with two on, one out in the inning. The Sycamore freshman promptly got Cole Smith to line into a double play to end the threat and worked a through a Bradley rally in the eighth to keep the lead at 4-2 heading into the ninth.
 
Gavin Morris (S, 4) made his second appearance of the weekend and needed just 13 pitches to work a scoreless ninth inning with Ortiz hauling in the final out on a fly ball to right field to secure the Indiana State win.
 
Pena went 3-for-4 from the plate with two runs and two RBIs to pace the Indiana State offense on Sunday afternoon. Beck and Nomar Garcia both added multi-hit games in the win.
 
Parson went 6.1 innings allowing five hits and one run while striking out seven (season-high) on Sunday in securing his second win of the season.
 
How They Scored

• Carlos Pena put the Sycamores on the board in the top of the first inning as the senior first baseman launched the ball into the Indiana State bullpen for a solo home run to put Indiana State ahead 1-0.
• Bobby Atkinson evened the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to center field scoring Jackson Smith.
• Pena made it a 2-1 game in the top of the sixth inning as he singled home Carter Beck to put Indiana State back in the lead.
• Jorge Cartagena followed two batters later with an RBI double to left center scoring Pena stretching the lead to 3-1.
• The Sycamores made it a 4-1 ballgame in the top of the eighth inning as Jeremy Martinez connected on a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Beck.
• Bradley made it a 4-2 game in the bottom of the eighth as Beau Durbin's fielder's choice brought home Mason Breidenbach to provide the final scoring margin.

News & Notes

• Carter Beck extended his hitting streak to 17 consecutive games with his infield single to third base in the top of the seventh inning. He finished 2-for-5 from the plate with two runs scored.
• Carlos Pena connected on his team-leading 14th home run of the 2025 season with his solo home run in the first inning. It also marked Indiana State's 50th home run as a team on the season.
• Grant Parson worked a season-long 6.1 innings on the mound on Sunday afternoon and posted a season-high seven strikeouts in the win over the Braves.
• Gavin Morris recorded his team-leading fourth save of the 2025 season and stretched his scoreless streak to 9.2 consecutive innings across four appearances. It marked his sixth scoreless outing over his last seven appearances.
• Jorge Cartagena doubled for the second time over the weekend on Sunday afternoon marking his fifth double of 2025.
• Indiana State (10-11) holds a two-game lead over Evansville (8-13) and three game lead over Bradley (7-14) for the seven-seed in the MVC baseball standings with two weeks to play. The Sycamores sit one game back of Illinois State (11-10) and two back of Belmont (12-9) and UIC (12-9).
• Indiana State has 10 wins in Missouri Valley play following Sunday's win, continuing a decade-long trend of the Sycamores winning double-digit conference games dating back to the 2015 season.

Up Next
Indiana State continues the eight-game road trip on Tuesday, May 6, as the Sycamores travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to take on the University of Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET and will be carried live on SEC Network+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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