TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Zach Davidson posted a career-high 10 strikeouts out of the bullpen and Adam Pottinger drove in three RBIs as Indiana State secured the Missouri Valley series win over Evansville with Saturday’s 6-4 victory.
Davidson (3-1) tied his career-high effort with 4.1 innings in relief of starter Brennyn Cutts and struck out 10 of the 17 batters he faced to record his second win in as many weeks. The senior left-hander entered the game with the Sycamores (36-10, 19-4) and Purple Aces (28-22, 14-9) tied 4-4 in the top of the fifth and proceeded to strike out five of the first six batters he faced on his way to silencing an Evansville offense that was starting to gain momentum.
The Sycamores took the lead on Luis Hernandez’s leadoff solo home run to right center in the bottom of the fifth inning as the first baseman went deep over UE starter Donovan Schultz (3-2) to push ISU ahead. Indiana State would add insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning as Grant Magill worked his way around the bases following a leadoff single before scoring on Josue Urdaneta’s sacrifice fly to put the Sycamores ahead 6-4.
Davidson continued to deal as the Hartsburg, Mo. native surrendered just three hits and a walk in his first double-digit strikeout outing at Indiana State before turning the ball over to Simon Gregersen (S, 6) with two outs and a runner on in the ninth. Gregersen allowed a single to Kip Fougerousse before getting Cal McGinnis to line out to Urdaneta at second base to secure his sixth save of the 2024 season.
The Sycamores clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley regular season title with Saturday’s win as Indiana State remained four games ahead of UIC (15-8) in conference play with four games remaining. ISU holds the tiebreaker over the Flames courtesy of their sweep over UIC back over March 29-31 at Bob Warn Field.
Pottinger and Parker Stinson both posted multi-hit games as Indiana State connected on 10 hits in Saturday’s win. Pottinger and Luis Hernandez both homered, while Mike Sears added his 13th double of the season to power the offense.
Cutts went the first 4.1 innings allowing six hits and four runs while walking three and striking out five. Davidson bridged the gap with his 4.1-inning outing, while Gregersen picked up the final out on the mound.
Kip Fougerousse went 5-for-5 from the plate with a home run and two doubles to pace Evansville’s offense on the afternoon. Mark Shallenberger and Simon Scherry both added multi-hit games in the loss.
Schultz went the first 4.0 innings allowing eight hits and five runs while walking three and striking out five to take the loss. Drew Fieger was effective in relief allowing two hits and a run over 3.1 innings, while Max Hansmann retired the final two outs for UE on the mound.
How They Scored
- Kip Fougerousse put Evansville ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning connecting on a two-run double to left center to give the Purple Aces the early lead.
- Indiana State responded in the bottom half of the inning with Mike Sears drawing a bases-loaded walk scoring Randal Diazwhile Adam Pottinger added a two-run single to give the Sycamores the 3-2 edge after the first inning.
- Fougerousse connected with a leadoff solo home run to right center and Evan Wagoner added an RBI single scoring Simon Scherry to put Evansville ahead 4-3 in the top of the fourth.
- Adam Pottinger knotted the game back up at the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff solo home run into the trees beyond the right field wall to make it a 4-4 game.
- Luis Hernandez put the Sycamores back in the lead at the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff solo home run to right center to give Indiana State the 5-4 lead.
- Joshua Urdaneta added insurance for Indiana State in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI sacrifice fly to center as Grant Magill slid into the plate ahead of the throw to provide the final 6-4 margin.
News & Notes
- Randal Diaz extended his hitting streak to 19 consecutive games and on-base streak to 25 games following his leadoff single at the bottom of the first inning. I finished the day 1-for-4 with a walk and run scored.
- Adam Pottinger extended his on-base streak to 18 consecutive games on Saturday following his two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. He finished the day 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs.
- Joshua Urdaneta extended his on-base streak to 35 consecutive games after connecting on a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. He finished the day 1-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base.
- Indiana State secured its 18th consecutive Missouri Valley series win on Saturday afternoon dating back to posting a 2-0-1 series win over Dallas Baptist back over May 19-21, 2022.
- The Sycamores improved to 18-0 in the second game of the series against Valley competition over the same span with Saturday’s win.
- Indiana State improved to 16-1 at Bob Warn Field in the 2024 season.
- The Sycamores are 45-7-1 over their last 53 Missouri Valley conference games.
- Luis Hernandez homered for the 16th time in the 2024 season to lead off the bottom of the fifth.
- Adam Pottinger homered for the eighth time in 2024 to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning.
- Zach Davidson became the first Sycamore to post a double-digit strikeout outing since Luke Hayden posted 11-strikeouts in a complete-game effort at Illinois State back on April 21.
- Davidson’s 10-strikeout game marked the most by a Sycamore relief pitcher in the Mitch Hannahs era and set a new career-mark for the Sycamore left-hander after posting eight strikeouts both last week against Belmont (May 4) and last year against Illinois (May 2, 2023) in relief appearances.
Up Next
Indiana State continues the weekend series on Sunday afternoon as the Sycamores take on the Purple Aces with a 1 pm ET first pitch at Bob Warn Field. The game is set to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
Sunday’s game day festivities include Senior Day recognition as a part of the pregame festivities starting around 12:45 pm, as well as a Mother’s Day Carnation Giveaway sponsored by Refreshment Services Pepsi.
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
