TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (Interstat) — Mason Roell’s RBI single through the left side in the bottom of the 11th inning scored Jaxon Sparks with the winning run and lifted Indiana State to a 5-4 victory over Belmont on Thursday afternoon in the opener of a Missouri Valley Conference series at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium.

The Sycamores improved to 30-23 overall and 30-23 in the Missouri Valley. The Bruins fell to 19-34 and 19-34.

Belmont seized an early lead on a second-inning RBI single by Gardner Lawrence and a fourth-inning solo home run by Lawrence. Brady Holbrook added a solo homer in the eighth to push the Bruins’ lead to 3-0.

Indiana State rallied in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three unearned runs off Belmont reliever Sam Heyman. A two-out error by the center fielder allowed Carter Beck to reach and Nomar Garcia to score. Emil Estrella followed with an RBI single, and Caden Miller doubled to left-center to plate Estrella, tying the game 3-3.

Belmont regained the lead in the top of the 10th. Charlie Davis led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout and scored on another wild pitch to make it 4-3.

The Sycamores answered in the bottom half. Mason Roell singled, and after a groundout and an intentional walk to Estrella, Caleb Niehaus singled through the left side to drive in Roell and tie the game 4-4.

In the 11th, Jeremy Martinez doubled down the left-field line and was replaced by pinch runner Jaxon Sparks. Colin Sander reached on a muffed throw by the second baseman on a sacrifice bunt attempt, putting runners at second and third. After two strikeouts, Roell delivered the walk-off single to score Sparks.

Belmont starting pitcher Shane Duke was dominant, tossing five no-hit innings with six strikeouts and no walks, leaving with a 2-0 lead. Heyman worked 4 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with one strikeout but was charged with two unearned runs. Tate Marland pitched a scoreless 10th with two strikeouts.

Indiana State starter Ryan Karst, the top star for the Sycamores, went 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts. Carson Seeman gave up a hit and an earned run in 1 1/3 innings. Colby Morse allowed two hits and an earned run in two innings with four strikeouts. Justin Hoff struck out two in a scoreless 11th for the win.

For Belmont, Holbrook went 2 for 5 with a home run and an RBI, and Lawrence was 2 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs. For Indiana State, Estrella was 1 for 3 with an RBI, and Roell had two hits and the game-winning RBI.

The Bruins managed nine hits to Indiana State’s 10.

The game was the first of a three-game series, with the teams scheduled to play again Friday and Saturday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Indiana State 6, Belmont 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Indiana State with a 75.60 percent probability to win.