Life in the Valley

Sycamores Post a 20-run Inning in 36-6 Rout

College baseball’s first weekend is always entertaining. With the early tournament and showcases now and many high-level, cross-conference matchups, there’s plenty of great baseball to be had. But when you get to Sunday, and maybe a bit of fatigue sets in, and pitchers are trying to showcase their talent to lock up a weekend rotation spot for the rest of the season – well, things happen.

Things happened to the Wagner Seahawks Sunday.

Indiana State, already ahead 5-0, scored 20 (20!, Twenty!, Like 10 more than 10!) runs in the 3rd inning then added 10 more in the 5th en route to a 36-6 destruction to close the series between the teams. Wagner, which actually won 1 of the 2 games played between the teams on Friday, used 10 pitchers, 4 of whom only managed to get 1 out or less. Those 4 pitchers combined were charged with 25 of the 36 runs. Indiana State sent a staggering 78 batters to the plate in 9 innings (there was no run rule), giving up 29 hits, walking 12, and hitting 8. Perhaps mercifully, the box score doesn’t list the number of pitches thrown individually or combined.

Another insane fact … Indiana (2-1) wasn’t even the only team to score 36 runs on Sunday. Rhode Island, which had 17-run inning, also reached that mark in a 36-22 win over William & Mary.

The Indiana State hitting superlatives are almost too long to list. Jeremy Martinez and Jorge Cartagena each drove in 5 runs. Keegan Garis scored 5 runs, while Carlos Pena, Weston Fulk, Cartagena, Martinez, and Thomas Emerich all scored 4 times. Garis and Martinez each had 4 hits. Thirteen different Sycamores had a t least 1 hit, 10 scored a run, and 10 drove in at least a run.

Run support obviously wasn’t a problem for starter Ty Brooks, who went 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Four relievers each worked an inning, According to Indiana State, the 20 runs were a 3rd-inning Division I record. As illustrated below, at one point in the 3rd, 21 straight Sycamores reached base.

From Indiana State’s notes, the 36 runs are a school record, smashing the previous record of 32 set nearly 130 years ag0 (32-9 vs. Rose-Hulman). That 1897 Sycamore squad went 1-2 on the season.

By the time Wagner got on the board thanks to an RBI double by Bryce Phelps, it was already 25-0 Sycamores. Wagner lost by 30 but trailed by as many as 34. Indiana State led, 36-2, entering the bottom of the 6th inning.

Thanks to the outburst, five Sycamores are hitting at least .400 on the season, with Emerich leading the way at .583. Nine different Sycamores have an OPS of at least 1.167).

Notably, however, it’s worth mentioning too that Indiana State came out of the weekend with a 4.39 team ERA, which were the Sycamores able to maintain that number for the season, would probably make for another successful campaign in Terre Haute.

Here’s a look at the rest of the action around The Valley on Sunday.

Missouri State 9, Sam Houston 3: The Bears (2-1) picked a solid season-opening road series win, taking the rubber game from the Bearkats, 9-3. State wasted no time, scoring 5 runs in the 2nd inning and causing the rest of the way. Known for its homer prowess, it was a different type of offense for Missouri State in the 2nd, as they scored their 5 runs on 4 singles and a ground out. Taeg Gollert (3-for-5) drove in 2 runs with a base hit. Curry Sutherland (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) also had an RBI single, as did Nick Rodriguez and Max Knight. Sutherland later doubled. Tyler Charlton fanned 7 in 5 1/3 innings to get the win, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits.

UIC 10, Charleston Southern 3: The Flames (1-2) put good pitching and hitting together for the first time this season, earning a 10-3 win over host Charleston Southern to earn their first win of the season. Offensively, David Cox had 2 hits and 2 runs, Will Flanigan doubled twice as part of a 3-hit day, while Cox, Flanagan, Jackson Bessette, and Jack Snyder all scored 2 runs each. UIC also drew 7 walks. Kendall Lyons started and struck out 6 in 4 innings. Colin Hawkins worked the 5th and got the win, then Tommy Egan threw 3 innings of relief, allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 2 strikeouts. Zack Mills pitched a perfect 9th with 2 strikeouts.

Texas Rio Grande Valley 3, Southern Illinois 2: The Salukis thought they had a 5-3 lead in the top of the 9th with 2 outs when Cecil Lofton crushed a ball down the right field line, halfway to Galveston, but it was called foul. The call was upheld via video review, and Lofton was eventually retired on a sinker liner to left field for the final out in SIU’s 3-2 loss. Pinch-hitter John Lemm had hit a solo homer earlier in the 9th to cut the UTRGV lead to 3-2. Mason Schwalbach singled then Michael Mylott walked to keep the Salukis alive with 2 outs before Lofton’s would-be 3-run shot was denied. Lofton did have a hit, run, and stolen base in the loss. Dylan Petrey pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing just 2 hits with 0 runs and 0 walks while striking out 4.

Alabama 11, Bradley 4: The Crimson Tide finished off a dominating 3-game sweep of the Bradley Braves Sunday, winning 11-4. Alabama outscored the Braves, 40-13, in the series. Crimson Tide 3B Jason Torres went 3-for-4 with a run, 5 RBIs, a triple, and a homer. Justin Lebron (the Lebron who played on Sunday) and Coleman Mizell also homered for Alabama. Bobby Atkinson went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs for Bradley, while Mason Breidenbach had 2 more hits. Atkinson and Breidenbach combined to 8-for-21 on the weekend with 3 runs and 7 RBIs.

Little Rock 11, Evansville 1: The news wasn’t much better for Evansville, which lost 11-1 at Little Rock Sunday as the Trojans completed a sweep. Little Rock wasted no time establishing control of this one, scoring 5 times in the bottom of the 1st inning, two on RBI doubles from Ryan Geck and Ty Rhoades. Geck had 3 doubles in the game, scoring twice and driving in 2. Evan Waggoner led the Purple Aces with 2 hits and drove in UE’s lone run, which was scored by Cal McGinnis on Waggoner’s 6th-inning ground out. Little Rock walked-off the game in the 8th via run rule when Geck doubled in Cooper Chaplain to make it 11-1.

Samford 15, Valparaiso 5: Samford put up its own big number Sunday, scoring 9 runs in the 2nd inning to take a 10-1 lead and effectively finish off its sweep of the Beacons. Cade Carr’s grand slam was the big blow in the 9-run uprising. Carr finished with 2 hits and 7 RBIs in the victory. Thomas Cooper’s 2-run double scored a pair for Valpo in the 4th inning. After a 4-2 defeat on Friday, Valpo was outscored, 29-9, by Samford in the final 2 games.

Georgia State 11, Belmont 8: The Bruins saw a 1-0 lead in the 4th inning turn into a 10-4 deficit by the end of the 6th, as Georgia State finished off a sweep with an 11-8 win. Georgia State hit 5 homers in the win, including one each by Michael and William Maginnis. Ty Allen homered for Belmont, a 3-run shot in the 6th inning that got the Bruins back within 6-4 at the time. But homers by Michael McGinnis (3-run shot) and Cole Griffith (solo) in the bottom of the 6th gave GSU its 6-run lead and control of the game for good. On the bright side for Belmont, Jake Timbes started and gave the Bruins 2 good innings, allowing 1 hit with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in 36 pitches. Timbes, a redshirt sophomore from Kingsport, Tenn., pitched 16 2/3 innings a year ago and made 3 starts going 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA before injury ended his season. Now in his 3rd season at Belmont, his innings may be restricted early but continued good outings will be a welcome sight for Bruins fans.

Monday’s Streaming Menu: There’s only one game today involving Valley teams, but it will be streamed. UIC plays The Citadel at 2 p.m. Central on ESPN+.

Ed Morgans is the founder of MVCBaseball.com. An Evansville graduate, Ed has written about and broadcast college baseball, while following the sport for 40 years.