Baseball

Sycamores Advance to First MVC Baseball Championship Since 2001

Normal, IL –  Chris Ayers blasted a grand slam homer as Indiana State scored in five of the first six innings on the way to a 10-6 win over Illinois State in an elimination game of the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament Friday at Duffy Bass Field.

The No. 3 seed Sycamores (39-16) advance to play No. 1 seed Dallas Baptist (41-16) at 2 p.m. Saturday. If the Sycamores win, it would force a second title game.

The Sycamores are making their 11th championship game appearance, first since 2001, and are looking for their 7th Valley baseball title, first since 1995. No. 2 seed Illinois State (34-24) awaits a possible NCAA Tournament At-Large bid.

Indiana State got started with Clay Dungan drawing a walk and Jake Means earning a base on error. Jarrod Watkins drove in Dungan with a single, advancing Means to third. Roby Enriquez hit into a 4-6-3 double play, with Means scoring the second run.

In the second, CJ Huntley was safe on an error. Max Wright sacrificed him to second. Dane Tofteland’s single drove in Huntley and made it 3-0, Sycamores. Indiana State made it 4-0 in the third when Means led off with a single and went to third on Enriquez’s single. Ayers walked to load the bases. Means scored on Huntley’s sacrifice fly.

Indiana State starter Tyler Ward (6-3) blanked the Redbirds on one hit for the first five innings to pick up the win. Redbird starter Brett Wicklund (4-4) took the loss.

After John Rave’s two-run homer in the top of the sixth cut the lead to 6-2, Indiana State broke the game open in the seventh on Ayers’ grand slam homer, his second of the day (he homered earlier Friday in the Sycamores’ win over Southern Illinois). During the regular season, Ayers had just one home run and eight runs batted in. In Friday’s two games, he had two homers and five RBI.

The Redbirds picked up two runs in the seventh on doubles by Joe Butler and Gunner Peterson and a single by Aiden Huggins, cutting the Sycamore lead to 10-4. Joe Aeilts added another two-run homer in the eighth to finish the scoring for Illinois State.