Sycamores close out road trip with midweek game at Purdue

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• INS Game Notes - at Purdue

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State closes out its five-game road trip on Tuesday night as the Sycamores make the trip to West Lafayette, Ind. and Alexander Field to take on Purdue University. First pitch between the Sycamores and the Boilermakers is set for 6 p.m. ET with the game to be carried live on B1G+ and 105.5 The Legend. The Sycamores (23-7) recorded their 13th consecutive Missouri Valley Conference series win this past weekend at Murray State as Indiana State rallied back from an extra-inning loss on Friday night, before sweeping Saturday's doubleheader at Johnny Reagan Field. Murray State took the Friday night extra-inning 5-4 opening win in the bottom of the 12th inning courtesy of a walk-off home run to offset Randal Diaz's three-hit game. The Sycamores took the lead in the eighth inning as Dom Krupinski scored on a wild pitch, but the Racers rallied back on Drew Vogel's solo home run to secure the series opener. Indiana State rallied back to sweep Saturday's doubleheader thanks to Parker Stinson and Adam Pottinger's power bats, Luis Hernandez's clutch hitting, and Max McEwen's strong relief outing. Stinson and Pottinger both connected on solo home runs, while Brennyn Cutts went 7.0 strong innings in Indiana State's 2-1 extra-inning victory to even the series. Luis Hernandez connected on the go-ahead three-run double in the top of the eighth inning to give ISU the 6-4 lead, while McEwen retired all nine batters he faced with six strikeouts to secure the series win. The Sycamores' MVC series win came on the back of Indiana State earning its first rankings in multiple polls in the 2024 season. ISU continued in the polls this week drawing the No. 18 spot in the Perfect Game rankings, while sitting just outside the top-25 in receiving votes in the USA Today poll. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association have not announced their weekly rankings at the time of this release. Indiana snapped Indiana State's 10-game winning streak against the Big Ten dating back to March 28, 2023, when the Sycamores topped Purdue, 8-2, at Bob Warn Field. ISU is 4-1 against the Big Ten this season with wins over IU, Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan State to date. The Sycamores topped the Boilermakers at Bob Warn Field this season in a back-and-forth game on March 26 as Indiana State took the 8-7 victory. Dominic Listi scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning as ISU rallied back from a 5-1 deficit to secure the midweek win over Purdue. Indiana State rallied back from an early 5-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a six-run frame highlighted by Connor Hicks and Grant Magill home runs. Hicks put one off the scoreboard to make it a 5-4 game bringing home Mike Sears and Stinson, while Magill followed a Josue Urdaneta single with a home run over the right field wall to give the Sycamores their first lead of the game. ISU added a sixth run on Hernandez's RBI single to left scoring Pottinger as all nine ISU batters came to the plate in the inning. Purdue rallied in the top of the ninth against ISU reliever Jared Spencer as Mike Bolton Jr. reached on a throwing error, while Camden Gasser and Luke Gaffney drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Simon Gregersen took the mound and proceeded to strike out Logan Sutter for the first out, before getting Connor Caskenette to roll over on a pitch for the game-inning ground ball double play to secure the one-run win for the Sycamores. Dominic Listi continues to lead the Indiana State offense with a .356 batting average over the first 30 games of the season. The outfielder boasts a .514 on-base percentage and has reached base in 29 of the 30 games this season, while tying for the team lead with 25 runs scored. Luis Hernandez (.349) has also been among ISU's top hitters pacing the Sycamores in hits (44) and RBIs (37) while sitting third with eight home runs. Randal Diaz (.315) and Parker Stinson (.303) are also hitting above .300 on the year with Diaz pacing the team in doubles (7) while sitting second in hits, while Stinson is second on the team in home runs (9) and leads ISU with two triples. The Indiana State pitching staff continues to be among the nation's best in multiple statistical categories. The Sycamores are first in the Valley in ERA (4.42), first in hits allowed per nine innings (8.29), first in shutouts (3), first in strikeouts per nine innings (10.7), and first in WHIP (1.41). ISU sits in the top-50 in the NCAA Division I standings in all five categories, while also sitting 43rd in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.45). Zach Davidson (1-1, 3.20 ERA) and Simon Gregersen (0-0, 2.70 ERA) have both made double-digit appearances in the 2024 season for Indiana State in leading 16 pitchers who have made appearances on the mound this year. Cole Gilley has made two starts in the midweek this season, while Brayden Lybarger, Adam Berghorst, and Cam Edmonson have also garnered starts for ISU in 2024. Scouting PurduePurdue enters the midweek matchup with a 20-12 overall record on the year and enter the contest on a four-game winning streak topping Ohio State back on March 31, before sweeping the series at Rutgers this past weekend. Purdue is 5-4 overall in Big Ten play on the year and have an 8-5 record in home games this year at Alexander Field. The Boilermakers swept four games against Albany this weekend, while picking up wins over Northern Illinois, Samford (twice), and Iowa. Purdue is scheduled to take on UIC (again), Valparaiso, Indiana State (again), and Evansville later this season playing six total games against Valley competition this year. Luke Gaffney (.384) is Purdue's leading hitter on the season posting team-highs in hits (48) and runs (35), while adding six home runs and 38 RBIs. Camden Gasser (.351) is also among the team's hitting leaders, while Jo Stevens (.333), Logan Sutter (.323), and Keenan Taylor (.317) are also hitting above the .300 mark on the year. Sixteen different Purdue pitchers have seen time on the mound this year with right-hander Cole Van Assen expected to make the start on Tuesday night. Van Assen has posted a 2-0 record with a 2.75 ERA over 19.2 innings while allowing opponents to hit .280 from the plate. Overall, Purdue's staff has posted a 4.81 ERA with a 258:114 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 284.2 total innings. Series HistoryIndiana State holds the all-time 47-31-2 edge over Purdue dating back to the first game in the series in 1902. The Sycamores are 19-13-1 in the series in West Lafayette including winning their last eight in the series dating back to the 2013 season. Last season, ISU swept the season series against the Boilermakers taking the 8-2 win over Purdue on March 28, 2023, while taking the 4-1 win in West Lafayette on April 2, 2023. ­­Follow the SycamoresFor 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 App Store and the Google Play Store.