WICHITA, Kan. — When the Indiana State baseball team entered the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament, the Sycamores had high hopes of contending for a NCAA Tournament bid, or at the very least, to play for the conference championship.
By the time the Sycamores exited Wichita State’s Eck Stadium, they were resigned to playing in a deadening, anti-climactic game that meant nothing to either their aspirations or Friday opponent Southern Illinois.
With no pressure and nothing of consequence on the line, the Sycamores still couldn’t find a way out of a demoralizing rut. ISU led SIU by three runs early in the game, but the Salukis roared back to notch a 10-6 victory, ending the Sycamore season on a depressing down note.
“We picked the wrong time to play bad. The last week and a half, we’d hit and we couldn’t pitch. Or we’d pitch and we couldn’t hit. It just didn’t work out,” ISU left fielder Brady Shoemaker said.
ISU, which led the MVC by a game going into the final regular season series, ended its season on a seven-game losing streak. The NCAA aspirations, the national ranking the Sycamores briefly had, they all seemed a distant memory as No. 2-seeded ISU was the only team to go 0-3 at the MVC Tourney.
“It was a very frustrating three days for us. We didn’t at any time play the game we did that got us here. We have to get better at that next year. It was a learning experience for us,” ISU coach Lindsay Meggs said.
ISU appeared to regain its moxy with early offense and effective pitching by starter Jake Petricka. A two-run home run by Brian Jett in the second inning and a solo blast by Nick Ciolli in the third staked the Sycamores to a 3-0 advantage. Petricka only allowed one hit in the first three innings.
“We came in relaxed, maybe too relaxed, and were doing a lot of free-swinging,” SIU first baseman Mark Kelly said. “Once we calmed down and realized we should have fun, we were fine.”
Then the bottom fell out. An error by second baseman Brian Ramirez started a five-run Saluki flood in the fourth inning. A two-run double by Aaron Roberts, along with RBIs by Tyler Bullock, Jordan Sivertsen and Tony Lepore helped SIU take a 5-3 lead.
The SIU (24-28) advantage was 6-3 in the sixth when they put the game away. A four-run sixth inning, all but one of the runs were scored with two outs, finished the Sycamores off as ISU needed to use three pitchers in the inning to get out of trouble.
Jett’s second home run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth, but potential Sycamore rallies in the eighth (bases loaded) and ninth (runner at second) were stamped out by SIU’s bullpen.
Despite the bittersweet end to the season, ISU (33-21) finished with its best record since 2003 and it was its second-best record in the last decade.
Eleven seniors finished their ISU careers, including starters Ramirez, Jett, Brady Shoemaker and Bronco Lafrenz. Several more might have played their last games in a Sycamore uniform as juniors are eligible for the Major League Baseball draft and several ISU players could get drafted.
“I’m proud of our team, I’m proud of our accomplishments. The seniors turned the program around and got us back on the map in the Midwest,” Meggs said.
College
ISU baseball swept out of Wichita
Sycamores end season on 7-game losing streak
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A time for firsts: SMWC seniors have national title aspirations
Even though St. Mary-of-the-Woods College has won eight national titles in softball in the last 16 years, seniors Sara Goelz and Jessica Jonas are among the many current Woods players who have not been part of a national championship team.
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Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
As Indiana State’s baseball team tried to climb to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference mountain on Saturday against Southern Illinois, it stood to reason that the air would get more rarefied as they neared the summit.
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Major Clay takes fourth straight MVC high jump title
For the fourth straight year, Indiana State’s Major Clay will climb to the top spot on the awards podium as the Sycamore captured his fourth high jump championship at the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The competition was conducted at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. -
Edgewood takes Western Indiana Conference golf crown
Edgewood and senior Jackson Cowden took top honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys golf championship played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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North grad wins 10,000 at Big Ten Championships
Terre Haute North alumnus Zach Mayhew ran a Dan McClimon track record at the University of Wisconsin to win the 10,000 meters at the Big Ten Championships.
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Top-seeded Rose-Hulman falls in opener of HCAC Tournament
A couple of Rose-Hulman streaks came to an end Thursday night in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament action, but the home-team jinx looks to be still alive.
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ISU's Ort getting hot at right time for Sycamores
Indiana State’s baseball game notes list game-by-game performance for each Sycamore batter. It lists them box score-style: at-bats, runs, hits and RBI.
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Terre Haute native getting national attention as freshman for Kentucky
On a day where Terre Haute native A.J. Reed returned home to continue his college career, he got plenty of time to be on-stage.
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Top seed, home field doesn’t guarantee Rose success
On the surface, serving as host for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament would appear to benefit Rose-Hulman’s No. 1-seeded team, which finished the regular season 27-12 overall and 18-6 in the conference.
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Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
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Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
- METRO ROUNDUP: Rose baseball team takes first game of doubleheader
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ISU starting pitchers in rhythm heading into Wichita State series
“Gettting into rhythm” is such an oft-used cliché in sports that it’s hard to hear the term and fight the urge to not let it enter one ear and escape another.
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ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
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ISU baseball living on the edge
Indiana State’s baseball team got its game against Nebraska-Omaha in Saturday between morning and evening rain showers. But in the wake of another walk-off 3-2 victory against the struggling Mavericks, one might be forgiven if they felt the Sycamores are walking between the raindrops a bit.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Central baseball improves to 10-2
North Central lost a 7-1 game to Vincennes Rivet, and then Nolan Kinnett pitched the Thunderbirds to victory, adding a double and three RBIs against Riverton Parke in a pair of high school baseball games on Saturday.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Jenkins, Goatee win inaugural Rush the Punter 5K
Steve Jenkins and TaPring Goatee were the 5K winners in the inaugural Rush the Punter event on Saturday at Fairbanks Park.
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Providing perspective: ISU’s vets have 2009 as window into 2012
Indiana State’s baseball team has reached dizzying heights, but if the Sycamores have any trouble keeping their feet on the ground, they can turn to three teammates who can remind them how dangerous it can be to get complacent.
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Missouri State wins MVC golf championship as expected
Missouri State was a unanimous pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship, the pollsters citing their experience with four upperclassmen.
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Uphill Battle: ISU 23 strokes back of MVC leader No. Iowa
Indiana State maintained sixth place after two rounds of the Missouri Valley Conference Golf Championships, but the Sycamores face a tough challenge to move into the top half of the league after today’s final round at the Country Club of Terre Haute.
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Enter Cummings, exit McWhorter
All it took was a stat sheet to show Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing the glaring need the Sycamores had as they built their 2013 team.
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TH golf community steps up for ISU
The Terre Haute golf community and the Indiana State women’s golf program can be a thriving partnership, and this week’s Missouri Valley Golf Championships have put that potential on display.
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ISU blue after football scrimmage
One of Indiana State football coach Trent Miles’ stated goals for Saturday’s Blue-White spring football scrimmage was to get through the game unaffected by injuries.
As the 12-minute running clock ticked down — one of the concessions made by the football staff to speed the scrimmage up and get players off the field unscathed — it appeared ISU would make it through its spring game more-or-less unscathed.
But on the last play of the scrimmage, disaster struck. -
Hosting Missouri Valley Conference meet, ISU golf heading in right direction under Towne
It’s been a loooooong time in the making.
When the Indiana State women’s golf program was resurrected in 2005, it had already been on a 28-year hiatus. Since then, the Sycamores have enjoyed modest success, but have not hosted a golf match or invitational.
That changes beginning today — in a big way. -
ISU golfers step up after injury sidelines top player
Indiana State will be missing its best player, junior Reece Feducia, in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championships at the Country Club of Terre Haute from today through Tuesday.
Feducia was the team’s medalist in their first five tournaments of the fall season, but is still recovering from complications due to gall bladder surgery. She was all-MVC a year ago, finishing tied for third in last year’s MVC tournament. -
Walterhouse blast keys ISU to victory vs. Dallas Baptist
Ryan Walterhouse couldn’t have picked a better time to get a pleasant surprise.
The Indiana State senior lofted what looked like a routine towering fly to right field with two out in the bottom of the first inning Saturday at Bob Warn Field only to see it disappear — maybe a yard fair, possibly less than that beyond the fence — for a three-run homer that was the big blow in the Sycamores’ 6-3, series-tying victory over Dallas Baptist. -
ISU baseball drops weekend series opener to DBU
Indiana State and Dallas Baptist are playing this weekend at Warn Field for the opportunity to position themselves for a NCAA baseball tournament at-large bid.
The first statement was made by the visiting Patriots. - ISU football hopes to survive as well as evaluate
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METRO ROUNDUP: ISU's Padgett breaks school record in 10,000 meters
Indiana State senior Craig Padgett broke a five-year-old school record in the 10,000 meters late Thursday night and junior Albaro Escalera ran the third fastest 10,000 meters in school history at Hilmer Lodge Stadium during the 54th Mt. SAC Relays.
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Padgett breaks ISU track record in 10K
Indiana State's Craig Padgett ran a time of 29 minutes, 38.70 seconds to set a new school record in the 10,000-meter run.
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