Sycamores fall in MVC Tournament Championship to No. 3 Evansville, 8-6 - Indiana State University Athletics (2024)

EVANSVILLE, Ind.– No. 1 Indiana State was unable to complete the comeback bid on Saturday night as the Sycamores fell to No. 3 Evansville in the Missouri Valley Tournament Championship Game at German American Bank Field, 8-6.

The Sycamores (42-13) advanced to the title game after falling in their tournament opener to No. 6 Southern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon following a lengthy weather delay as ISU dropped a 10-9 extra-inning decision to the Salukis. From there, ISU battled back winning elimination games over No. 2 Murray State (11-4), No. 5 UIC (5-3), and the Saturday morning rematch against SIU (7-3) to advance to the title game.

Evansville (35-23) topped No. 4 Illinois State (17-6), and utilized a day off due to weather before topping UIC (12-1), and Illinois State again (17-7) on Saturday afternoon prior to the finale on Saturday evening. The win against the Sycamores earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2006 season.

Indiana State jumped ahead early on UE starter Kenton Deverman (8-1) as the Sycamores tagged the MVC Freshman of the Year for three runs in the bottom of the first highlighted by Mike Sears' two-run double to left center.

The Purple Aces battled back with a six-run second inning highlighted by Kip Fougerousse's three-run home run off ISU reliever Brennyn Cutts to hold the lead.

Following the early offensive outburst, the teams settled into a pitcher's duel and defensive battle as Deverman, Cutts, and ISU's Cole Gilley stymied the opposition's offense throughout the middle innings.

The Sycamores had their chances putting two runners on base in both the third and fourth innings, but Deverman and the Evansville defense were able to hold ISU off the scoreboard and keep the lead intact.

Cutts went 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball after allowing the Fougerousse home run, while Gilley went 3.1 innings allowing just two hits while striking out five to keep Evansville off the board until a ninth inning rally.

Indiana State kept the game close with Randal Diaz scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, while the Sycamore shortstop connected on an RBI double to left center in the eighth inning scoring Josue Urdaneta to make it a one-run game at 6-5 heading into the ninth.

Evansville loaded the bases in the final frame and added insurance with Brent Widder getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while Cal McGinnis worked a walk to bring home a second run and extend the lead to 8-5.

The Sycamores battled back against Jakob Meyer (S, 5) in the bottom of the ninth with Luis Hernandez connecting on his 22nd home run of the 2024 season to lead off the frame and narrow the score down to 8-6. ISU put two runners on base following the home run as Sears and Pottinger both drew walks, but UE was able to turn the game-ending double play to end the contest and secure Evansville the conference title.

Diaz recorded three of Indiana State's 11 hits in the loss including his 15th double of the 2024 season. Urdaneta and Hernandez also added multi-hit contests in the game.

Cam Edmonson (5-2) took the loss on the mound allowing five hits and five runs while striking out one over 1.0+ innings of work. Cutts went 3.2 innings allowing one hit and a run while striking out two, while Gilley added 3.1 innings of work on the mound posting five strikeouts. Simon Gregersen went the final frame to close out the game.

Mark Shallenberger went 3-for-4 from the plate with a pair of runs scored to highlight Evansville's nine hits in the contest. McGinnis added a multi-hit game for the Aces.

Deverman went 6.0 innings allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out five in the win. Max Hansmann went 2.1 innings in relief allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out four, before Meyer went the final 0.2 innings to secure the save.

How They Scored

• ­Indiana State took the 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Mike Sears connected on a two-run double to left center driving in Parker Stinson and Dominic Listi, while Adam Pottinger singled home Sears to put ISU ahead early.
• Evansville rallied back to score six runs in the top of the second inning as Simon Scherry connected on a two-run single and Mark Shallenberger added an RBI base hit before Kip Fougerousse connected on a three-run home run to right center to stake UE to the 6-3 lead.
• The teams settled into a pitching duel before Indiana State cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh as Randal Diaz scored on a wild pitch to narrow the gap to 6-4.
• Diaz cut the Evansville lead down to 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning with an RBI double to left center scoring Josue Urdaneta to make it a one-run game.
• The Purple Aces added insurance in the top of the ninth inning as Brent Widder was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Cal McGinnis followed drawing a walk to extend the UE lead to 8-5.
• Luis Hernandez connected on a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth to provide the final 8-6 margin.

News & Notes

• Adam Pottinger extended his on-base streak to 27 consecutive games on Saturday night following his two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first. He finished the game 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk.
• Randal Diaz extended his hitting streak to 28 consecutive games and on-base streak to 34 games following his two-out single in the bottom of the fourth. He finished the day 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
• Eight of Indiana State nine in the starting lineup reached base safely in Saturday night's contest against Evansville.
• Cole Gilley tied his season-high going 3.1 innings in relief allowing two hits and a run while striking out five. It marked the fourth time in the 2024 season he's gone at least 3.1 innings in relief, and the third time he's posted five or more strikeouts on the year.
• Gilley finished the tournament going 4.2 innings over games against UIC and Evansville allowing three hits and a run while walking two and striking out six. He also added his first save in the Sycamores' win over the Flames on Friday night.

Up Next
Indiana State will wait for the announcement of the 2024 NCAA Tournament Field on Monday starting at noon ET on ESPN2. The 16 regional host sites will be announced on Twitter at @NCAABaseball as well as on the ESPN ticker starting on Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m. ET

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