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May 11, 2007 SYCAMORES COME FROM BEHIND TO DOWN MISSOURI STATE SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Radar guns from professional scouts set their sights on the Hammons Field mound for Friday’s (May 11) MVC series opener between Indiana State and Missouri State, and the show was well worth the hype as Chad Dawson and Ross Detwiler each made strong showings in a 4-3 come from behind Sycamore victory. ISU improves to 24-23, 5-14 while MSU fell to 20-29, 5-14 MVC. In a season where head coach Lindsay Meggs has searched for key situational hits, he got a pair of them in eighth and ninth innings from Nick Ciolli and Chris Schmidt. Ciolli’s two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inched the Sycamores within a run of the Bears and Schmidt’s two RBI single in the ninth put ISU ahead to stay, 4-3. With the key hits, Indiana State stretches its current winning streak to three games. Adam Lindsay came on to pitch the ninth and earn the seventh save of the season as Indiana State won a Friday MVC contest for the first time in its last 13 tries, dating back to last season. Missouri State scratched out a run first against the Sycamores in the bottom of third inning against ISU starter Chad Dawson. The Bears got the first two runners on base thanks to a base hit from their leadoff man and then an error. Following a Dawson wild pitch, the Bears got the early 1-0 lead when Tanner Mattson scored on Chris Taylor’s slow grounder to second. Indiana State threatened to break through in the top of the fourth inning against MSU starter Ross Detwiler, but the rally would be thwarted. Ryan Bond led off the frame with a double and he was joined on base paths by Chris Schmidt after reaching on an error. With runners at first and second and no outs, Dave Brumagin struck out and then Nick Ciolli loaded the bases with a soft single to left. Casey Martin hit a fly ball to mid-range centerfield, but it was not enough to score Bond before the inning ended with Brett Siegmund striking out. Detwiler struck out six Sycamores in the first four innings of play. In the fifth, ISU’s Osborne reached on a four pitch walk and earned his first stolen base of the season in moving to second. Ryan Bond also walked and the duo shifted into scoring position with two outs on a wild pitch. Detwiler was able to strike out the side to get out the jam, including a punch out of the Sycamores’ leading batter, Chris Schmidt, for the third out. The Bears chased Dawson in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs to stretch their lead out to 3-0. Dawson finished the day by tossing 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and three runs. He struck out a trio of Bears in the no-decision. Indiana State made things interesting in the top of the eighth inning on a two-run, two-out home run by Ciolli – his team-high fifth of the season. Ciolli’s blast drove in Chris Schmidt, who earlier in the inning singled to center field to trim the Bears lead down to 3-2. The Sycamores earned their fifth MVC victory of the season with Schmidt’s two RBI single back up the middle in the top of the ninth for the 4-3 advantage. In the pitching match-up between Detwieler and Dawson, both pitchers earned a no-decision despite Detwiler setting a career-high with 14 strike outs. Detwiler tossed seven innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Austin Todd took the loss, giving up a pair of runs in the ninth to fall to 2-6. Indiana State and Missouri State return to action tomorrow (May 12) with the second game of this weekend’s MVC series. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. (ET).
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