WATERLOO - Rick Heller didn't see it coming.

After the University of Northern Iowa baseball team won four of its last five games, including a victory over 25th-ranked Minnesota Wednesday, Heller believed his squad was starting to turn the corner.

Now, the Panthers find themselves near the bottom of the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

UNI followed Friday night's 9-3 defeat with 13-4 and 5-1 setbacks Saturday afternoon to Indiana State at Riverfront Stadium, leaving the Panthers (12-16) at 2-7 in conference play and in eighth place.

"I don't know how we can play so well in streaks and then play so poorly other times," Heller said. "It's pretty disheartening, and honestly I'm a little embarrassed."

The Panthers were outplayed in all three phases. From failing to deliver the clutch hit and sloppy fielding to mediocre pitching, UNI found itself playing from behind all weekend.

Indiana State (17-10, 4-3 MVC) scored first in all three games, including a three-run first inning in Saturday's opener. Panther starter Derek Ott needed 27 pitches just to record an out.

"After our talk last night, I figured we'd come out with a lot of fire today," Heller said. "We give them six outs in the first inning.

"We sleepwalk through the first part of the first game, and I felt that set the tone for the entire day. It was disgusting."

UNI stranded 10 baserunners in the opener and nine in the nightcap. The Panthers mustered only five runs in 18 innings Saturday against a pitching staff that came into the series with an ERA of 6.18.

Defensively, UNI - the league's worst fielding team statistically - committed five errors in Game 1.

"Very disappointing," said UNI outfielder Deric Manrique, who did break Eric Snider's school mark for career stolen bases with 67. "I thought we were making good strides in the Evansville series, but this is disappointing."

Like Friday, Indiana State seized control in the late innings.

After plating six runs in their final two at-bats to take the series opener, the Sycamores tallied eight runs in the final three innings of Game 1. Then in Game 2, the Sycamores scored a pair of ninth-inning runs.

Indiana State outscored UNI 16-3 in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings during the three games.

"We're a lot better team than we showed this weekend," third baseman Grant Grgurich said. "We either didn't field it well or we didn't have it offensively. It was definitely a tough weekend."

UNI basketball player Lucas O'Rear, who joined the team last Tuesday, made his college baseball debut in the opener. The sophomore right-hander threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs and struck out two. O'Rear, who hasn't pitched in two years, featured an 88 to 91 mph fastball and a sharp slider.

"You can see the potential," Heller said. "I wanted to get his feet wet in a situation where there wasn't a ton of pressure.

"I think down the road, hopefully by the end of the month, he's one of our main guys somewhere.

"I don't know what his role will be, but he's got what it takes to be successful."

Indiana State southpaw Joe Rodriguez took a shutout into the ninth inning of Game 2 before pinch-hitter Brett Douglas dropped in an RBI single for UNI's lone run.

Meanwhile, the top three hitters in Indiana State's lineup - Ryan Strausborger, Nick Ciolli and Brady Shoemaker - were a combined 14-for-29 Saturday with 12 runs scored and four RBIs.

"We've got to wear this right now and forget about it come Monday," Taliaferro said. "We'll come ready to play next weekend at Creighton."

First, UNI will host South Dakota State in a mid-week game at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com

FIRST GAME

Indiana State ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi

Strausborger,2b 6 3 4 0 Manrique,cf 5 1 2 0

Ciolli,cf 6 2 3 0 Ferguson,rf 4 0 1 1

Shoemaker,lf 3 3 2 1 Douglas,2b 4 0 0 0

Graham,dh 5 1 1 2 Schultz,ph 1 0 0 0

Fieser,3b 4 1 1 1 Bennett,lf 5 0 2 0

Burnam,rf 4 2 1 2 Summers,1b 3 0 1 0

Lafrenz,c 4 0 1 0 Taliaferro,c 3 0 1 0

Meggs,1b 4 1 1 0 Ege,ss 4 0 0 0

Jett,1b 0 0 0 1 Arp,dh 3 2 1 0

Ferrell,ss 5 0 1 1 Grgurich,3b 4 1 3 2

Totals 41 13 15 10 Totals 36 4 11 3

Indiana State 300 200 233 - 13 15 1

Northern Iowa 110 000 020 - 4 11 5

E - Ferrell; Douglas 2 (8), Summers (4), Ege (12), Grgurich (5). DP - Indiana State 2, UNI 2. LOB - Indiana State 12, UNI 10. 2B - Ciolli, Graham; Manrique (2), Taliaferro (12). 3B - Shoemaker. HR - Grgurich (2). SB - Strausborger 2, Shoemaker; Manrique 2 (18), Ferguson (8). SH - Burnam.

Pitching summary

Indiana State IP H R ER BB SO

Petricka (W,3-1) 5.2 10 2 1 2 4

Harlan 2.1 1 2 2 2 2

Shelton 1.0 0 0 0 0 0

Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO

Ott (L,1-3) 5.0 8 5 4 2 4

Rea 2.1 3 3 2 3 0

Macek 0.1 0 2 2 2 0

O'Rear 1.1 4 3 2 0 2

HBP - by Petricka (Ferguson); by Ott (Fieser); by Macek (Graham, Jett).

WP - Petricka; Ott, O'Rear 2. PB - Talaiferro.

U - Greg Harmon (plate); Matt Moore (first); Tony Harrison (third). T -3:24.

SECOND GAME

Indiana State ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi

Strausborger,2b 4 1 2 0 Manrique,cf 4 0 0 0

Ciolli,cf 5 1 1 0 Ferguson,rf 2 0 1 0

Shoemaker,lf 5 2 2 1 Summers,1b 3 0 0 0

Graham,dh 2 1 0 0 Bennett,lf 4 0 0 0

Fieser,3b 5 0 3 2 Taliaferro,c 3 1 1 0

Burnam,rf 4 0 1 2 Dinizo,dh 3 0 2 0

Lafrenz,c 5 0 1 0 Ege,ss 4 0 0 0

Jett,1b 4 0 0 0 Grgurich,3b 2 0 0 0

Ferrell,ss 3 0 1 0 Schultz,2b 3 0 1 0

Douglas,ph 1 0 1 1

Steichen,pr 0 0 0 0

Totals 37 5 11 5 Totals 29 1 6 1

Indiana State 002 010 002 - 5 11 0

Northern Iowa 000 000 001 - 1 6 1

E - Ege. LOB - Indiana State 11, UNI 9. 2B - Ciolli, Shoemaker; Dinizo (4). SB - Strausborger, Shoemaker, Graham, Fieser, Ferrell; Ferguson 2 (10), Manrique (19), Grgurich (7). SH - Graham; Ferguson. SF - Burnam.

Pitching summary

Indiana State IP H R ER BB SO

Rodriguez (W,3-1) 8.1 5 1 1 6 6

Shelton 0.2 1 0 0 0 1

Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO

Pinedo (L,1-4) 5.0 8 3 2 1 3

delaTorriente 3.0 0 0 0 2 1

Fujiya 1.0 3 2 2 1 2

HBP - by Shelton (Grgurich).

WP - Rodriguez; Torriente. Balk - Rodriguez.

U - Moore (plate); Harrison (first); Harmon (third). T - 3:10. Att - 231.