Life in the Valley

If you’re intent on beating the Indiana State Sycamores, you’d better finish the job.

For the 2nd consecutive day, Indiana State rallied in the 8th inning, this time scoring 5 runs in the penultimate inning to stun the Iowa Hawkeyes, 7-4, in the winner’s bracket semifinal of the Terre Haute Regional. The win, combined with North Carolina’s 5-0 victory over Wright State in Saturday’s elimination game, sends the Sycamores to Sunday evening’s Regional final against either UNC or Iowa, who will run it back from their opening round game, this time with elimination at risk for both teams.

The rally, before 2,321 at Bob Warn Field, started only after Iowa starting pitcher Brody Brecht exited following 7 innings that saw him allow just 2 hits, 2 runs, with 4 walks and 8 strikeouts through 108 pitches (5.14 ppo). Brecht had only allowed 2 walks and 0 hits since the 3rd, but the pitch count in all likelihood led head coach Rick Heller to go to his bullpen and call on Jared Simpson, who immediately found trouble when he hit leadoff man Randal Diaz. After Josue Urdaneta struck out, Luis Hernandez’s infield single put runners at 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Adam Pottinger’s single loaded the bases, putting the go-ahead run at first base. Simpson then walked the final batter he faced, Mike Sears, to cut the Iowa to 4-3.

Luke Llewellyn then came on for the Hawkeyes with the bases still loaded but Iowa up one. He struck out Parker Stinson for the 2nd out and the Hawkeyes appeared to have a way out of the jam. But that light at the end of the proverbial tunnel turned out to be a train engineered by Miguel Rivera, who smacked a 2-run double that scored Hernandez and Pottinger to give Indiana State a 5-4 lead, the Sycamores’ first lead since it was 2-1 after 3 innings. But Iowa’s train wreck of an inning wasn’t through. Grant Magill, who delivered the go-ahead hit in Friday’s comeback win over Wright State, followed Rivera’s double with one of his own, scoring Sears and Rivera to built the Sycamores lead to 7-4.

That would make a winner of Connor Fenlong, who went 8 innings to run his record to 11-2 on the season. Fenlong fanned 8 and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits, throwing 106 pitches (4.42 ppo). Jared Spencer came on, walked one batter, then got an assist from Pottinger to keep the game from becoming 7-6, as Pottinger leaped at the wall in left-center field to rob Iowa’s Braden Frazier of a would-be 2-run homer in perhaps the defensive play of the season for a defensively gifted Indiana State club. Spencer then induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the game – only after an umpire’s video review confirmed the call on the field and allowed Indiana State players and fans to celebrate fully.

The Sycamores (44-15), who are 32-4 in their last 36 games and 42-7 in their lsat 49, need just one more win to advance to Super Regionals. The winner of Sunday’s elimination game between Iowa (43-15) and North Carolina (36-23) must not only beat the Sycamores Sunday evening, but would have to win over Indiana State again Monday to advance.

Wright State’s season is complete at 39-23.