Life in the Valley

It wasn’t the way the Indiana State Sycamores wanted this insane season to end, but the journey will be one to remember and appreciate. The Sycamores fell, 6-4, to the TCU Horned Frogs in Game 2 of the Terre Haute Super Regional at Fort Worth Saturday, as TCU swept the best-of-3 series and advanced to the College World Series for the 6th time – all since their debut appearance in 2010.

Indiana State (45-17), seeking its first Omaha trip since 1986 and only its 2nd in program history, took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning on RBI singles from Keegan Watson and Miguel Rivera. And with Connor Fenlong on the mound – he of the 4 complete-game shutouts this season to lead the country – that early advantage must have given the Sycamores a lot of hope.

But much of that might have been extinguished in a tumultuous bottom of the 4th inning that saw TCU (42-22) score 5 runs, take the lead for good, and benefit from a rare Indiana State error – one of two by the Sycamores in the game. And perhaps more frustrating for the Sycamores is that TCU didn’t score any runs via the homer in the inning, they were all balls put in play and then excellent base running and quality at-bats lifted the Horned Frogs into the lead.

Tre Richardson singled in a run to make it 2-1; Cole Fontenelle scored on a throwing error to tie it. Anthony Silva’s RBI single gave the Horned Frogs a 3-2 lead. Luke Boyers doubled in a run and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Austin Davis made it 5-2. Instead of the bludgeoning TCU often has been giving opponents lately, this was more like torture by paper cuts as the Horned Frogs built their lead against the MVC Pitcher of the Year.

But it was only the 4th inning and the Sycamores did have more half the game to recover. Fontenelle made that more difficult in the 5th with a solo homer to make it 6-2, but Rivera’s RBI double got that marker back in the 6th. Rivera later scored when Magill produced an RBI ground out. But on a 3-2 pitch with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Ben Abeldt struck out Randal Diaz looking to end the threat.

Indiana State put 2 runners on in the 7th but Adam Pottinger was picked off at second base to end the inning. Magill singled in the 9th, but when Luis Hernandez flied out to center field, the Sycamores’ long winding road of a 2023 season ended. From 2-8 to a 50-game span that saw Indiana State go 43-7, there just wasn’t enough to slow down the TCU Express, which has authored 11 wins in a row and will be a threat to win it all in Omaha.

Indiana State will have a ton of memories and accomplishments to look back on from this season. This Sycamore bunch is one of the great Valley teams in recent memory and falling in the Super Regional certainly doesn’t change that.