TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Belmont rallied back from a five-run deficit and Indiana State was unable to respond late as the Sycamores fell on Friday night to the visiting Bruins at Bob Warn Field, 13-9.
The Sycamore (30-24, 15-8) loss moved Indiana State one game behind UIC (16-7) in the Missouri Valley standings for the regular season title chase with one game to play. Indiana State will close out the weekend series against Belmont (20-34, 10-13) on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET, while UIC will take on Bradley with first pitch set for 4 p.m. ET. Both Indiana State and UIC have clinched first round byes and the top two overall seeds at next week's Missouri Valley Baseball Championships in Murray, Ky.
Indiana State will honor its 2026 baseball senior class prior to first pitch on Saturday afternoon at Bob Warn Field. The ceremony is scheduled to begin around 1:40 p.m. ET as the Sycamores recognize team manager Zeb Brewer, Colby morse,
Breyllin Suriel,
Nomar Garcia,
Nick Sutherlin,
Caleb Niehaus,
Hunter Small,
Emil Estrella,
Carson Seeman,
Aaron Moss,
Ryan Karst,
Joey Valentine, and
Jack Armstrong in a pregame ceremony.
Indiana State appeared to take control of the game early as
Jeremy Martinez and
Colin Sander both homered to pace the Sycamores to an early 5-0 lead through four innings. Belmont responded with a six-run fifth inning as the Bruins sent 12 batters to the plate with six consecutive hitters recording hits in the rally against Indiana State starter
Ty Brooks (5-4).
The Bruins bats continued to connect from there as Belmont went up by as many as 13-6 in the seventh inning, before Indiana State attempted a late comeback.
Carter Beck, who homered earlier in the fifth inning, connected on an RBI single in the seventh and
Mason Roell came around to score on a Belmont throwing error to cut the score down to 13-8.
Nomar Garcia connected on an RBI double in the eighth inning to make it a 13-9 margin, however, that was as close as Indiana State was able to go the rest of the way in the loss.
All nine Sycamores in the starting lineup recorded hits in the game paced by three-hit efforts from both
Carter Beck and
Emil Estrella.
Nomar Garcia added a two-hit game in addition to his RBI double.
Ty Brooks took the loss allowing seven hits and six runs over 4.1 innings of work.
Owen Roberts,
Jack Armstrong, Huner Small,
Brady Banker, and
Trevor Fenters worked the remainder of the game on the mound.
How They Scored
- Indiana State took the 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Nick Sutherlin singled home Carter Beck, before Jeremy Martinez launched a three-run home run over the left field wall bringing home Sutherlin and Caden Miller to stake the Sycamores to the lead early.
- Colin Sander added to the Indiana State lead in the fourth with a solo home run to right center to make it a 5-0 Sycamore lead.
- Belmont sent 12 batters to the plate and had a stretch of six consecutive hits on their way to scoring six runs in the top of the fifth inning to go up 6-5. Landon Godsey had the big hit in the frame with a two-run single, while Jake Maddox connected on the go-ahead RBI single scoring Brady Holbrook.
- Indiana State answered and tied it up in the bottom of the fifth as Carter Beck connected on a solo home run over the wall in left center to make it a 6-6 game.
- Belmont took the 9-6 lead in the top of the sixth inning as Landon Godsey connected on an RBI sacrifice fly and Jake Maddox drove in two with a two-run single to center.
- The Bruins added four more runs in the seventh as Charlie Davis drove out a two-run home run and Mike Sprockett connected on a two-run single to right field to build a 13-6 lead.
- Indiana State scored two in the bottom of the seventh as Carter Beck singled home Nomar Garcia, while Mason Roell scored on a Belmont error in the inning to cut the deficit to 13-8.
- Caleb Niehaus and Nomar Garcia connected on back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the eighth inning with Garcia bringing Niehaus home to provide the final 13-9 scoring margin.
News & Notes
- Carter Beck extended his on-base streak to 38 consecutive games following his 3-for-5 day with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored in the contest.
- All nine Sycamores hit safely on Friday night with Nomar Garcia, Carter Beck, and Emil Estrella all posting multi-hit games.
- Indiana State recorded 14 hits overall in the contest with six extra-base hits.
- Carter Beck connected on his team-leading 14th home run of the 2026 season in the fifth inning, marking his third home run in the month of May and first since a two-run shot on Tuesday night against Lindenwood.
- Colin Sander connected on his fifth home run of 2026 with his solo shot in the fourth inning. It marked his first home run since April 2 against UIC.
- Jeremy Martinez connected on his second home run of 2026 with his three-run home run in the first inning. It marked his first home run since February 22 against UMass Lowell.
- Trevor Fenters tied his career-high in innings pitched (2.0) set back on March 21 against Bradley, while establishing a new career-high in strikeouts (3).
Up Next
Indiana State and Belmont close out the weekend series on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for 2 p.m. ET at Bob Warn Field. The game will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
Follow the Sycamores
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
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