Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Indiana State Baseball (24-13, 4-2 MVC) put together a 12-run eighth inning to defeat in-stat rival, Purdue (6-28, 1-11 Big Ten) 22-4. The marathon lasted nearly four hours through rainy conditions, as the Sycamores trailed 4-0 until the fourth inning. Junior Tony Rosselli led the Sycamore offense with four hits and eight RBIs. The Sycamores have now won 10 of their last 12 games, and now own four wins over Big Ten foes.
Indiana State allowed Purdue to notch the first run of the night cap as Brett Carlson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning. The Boilermakers scored two more in the bottom half of the third, as the Sycamores trailed 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, Indiana State rallied back, scoring four runs on back-to-back, base-clearing doubles from junior Tony Rosselli, and sophomore Dane Giesler.
The Sycamores struck again in the top of the fifth inning as junior Hunter Owen was hit by his eleventh pitch of the year, just before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Senior Kaden Moore then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that would score Owen and put the Sycamores ahead for the first time in the ball game. A pair of freshman, Chris Ayers and Clay Dungan, then reached safely on back-to-back hits to put runners in place for Rosselli who doubled, plating his third and fourth RBIs of the game to put Indiana State on top 7-4.
The Sycamores would not stop with the three-run lead. In the top of the seventh inning, Ayers sent one over the right field wall, Dungan reached on a walk, and Rosselli hit a two-run bomb over the left field wall, plating his fifth and sixth RBIs of the game and giving the Sycamores the 10-4 lead.
Indiana State continued the scoring campaign in the top of the eighth, plating 12 more runs on seven hits and two errors to go up 22-4, as Rosselli picked up his eighth RBI of the game.
For the Sycamores, Rosselli led at the plate going 4-for-5 with eight RBIs, three runs scored, two doubles, a two-run home run, and a walk. Young went 3-for-6 with three runs scored, while Hunter Owen broke the single season total bases record with 16, as he scored each of the four times he was on base. Chris Ayers was 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and three runs scored.
Senior Kaden Moore collected two RBIs on the night, putting him at 36 on the year, while Dane Giesler picked up three RBIs. Freshman CJ Huntley notched his first hit as a Sycamore with a pinch hit single in the eighth inning, and freshman Dominic Bifano was 1-for-1 on a pinch hit appearance with one run scored.
The Sycamores will return for a big weekend at Bob Warn Field as they host Missouri Valley Conference foe, Dallas Baptist, for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m. ET. Saturday's 3:00 p.m. game will be broadcast on WTWO.
