Life in the Valley

Three on. Two out. A 1-2 count on Grant Magill. His Indiana State Sycamores trailing upset-minded Wright State, 5-4, in the 8th inning of an NCAA Regional in your home ballpark. Not many situations to produce a big hit that a hitter might dream of which would be better.

But Magill doesn’t need to dream. That was the situation he found himself in this afternoon and he delivered, blooping a 2-run single to short right field that scored the tying and go-ahead runs as Indiana State downed Wright State, 6-5, to move into the winner’s bracket off the Terre Haute Regional. The Sycamores (43-15), who won for the 35th time in their last 39 games, await the winner of tonight’s matchup between 2nd-seed Iowa and #3 seed North Carolina. Wright State will face elimination tomorrow against the Iowa/North Carolina loser.

The 8th-inning rally started with the Sycamores trailing 5-3. Josue Urdaneta singled and was still at first base with 1 out when Mike Sears doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. That spelled the end for ace Raiders starter Sebastian Gongora, who ended up being charged with 5 runs on 9 hits over 7 1/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk. His start seemed much more effective than that, however, and when Andrew Patrick’s 20th homer of the season gave the Raiders a 5-2 lead in the 5th with Gongora cruising, things seemed sticky for the Sycamores.

But Adam Pottinger homered in the 6th to make it 5-3. His sacrifice fly in the 8th cut the Wright State lead to 5-4 but was also the 2nd out. Keegan Watson and Miguel Rivera walked to load the bases for Magill, who delivered his biggest hit of the season and RBIs 31 and 32 on the season to go with it.

Now ahead, Indiana State had no problem in the 9th, as receiver Jared Spencer picked up his 6th save of the season by striking out Patrick looking for the first out, eventually retiring the side 1-2-3 to lock up the Indiana State victory.

Sycamores ace Matt Jachec allowed 5 runs over 4 innings and was replaced by Zach Davidson, who like Magill, played a major role in the victory. Davidson got the win by working 4 scoreless innings, giving up 4 hits with just 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. His appearance kept the Sycamores in the game long enough for the 8th-inning rally to swing the verdict of the contest.

Tristan Haught took the loss for Wright State, which fell to 39-22 on the season.