TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball will play nine games over the next 11 days as they begin a West Coast swing which features games against Utah Valley, Seattle and No. 11 Washington. The Sycamores will kick off the action Friday against Utah Valley in a four-game series that will conclude Sunday. The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. ET due to impending weather forecasted for Monday. 
 
LOOKING AT THE SYCAMORES
Dominic Bifano (.421) and CJ Huntley (.357) lead the team in hitting while leadoff man Tyler Friis is hitting .310 in seven starts for the Sycamores, including a home run and a double to go along with three RBI. Infielder Dane Giesler leads ISU with a pair of home runs through seven games as well as RBI with eight on the year.
 
On the mound, Jeremy McKinney is a perfect 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA. The junior struck out nine batters in his last outing to up his season total to 14 in 8.2 innings of work. Sophomore Tyler Ward comes into the weekend with a 1-1 record and a 6.10 ERA. Ward knocked off Youngstown State during opening weekend and has allowed only 10 hits in 10.1 innings.
 
LOOKING AT UTAH VALLEY
Utah Valley enters play with a 1-6 overall record after a 1-4 week on the diamond. The team is led offensively by Trevor Peterson (.423) while Jackson Overlund and Jake Berry have tallied a team-high five RBI through seven games. As a club, the Wolverines are hitting at a clip of .223 while the pitching staff holds a 6.63 ERA.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This weekend will mark the first meeting between the two programs.
 
LIKE OPPONENTS
Utah Valley opened the 2017 season in Wichita, Kansas as they battled the Shockers in a three-game series. WSU came out on top, sweeping the series (4-3, 16-2, 6-5). The Sycamores will also take on Seattle University on their West Coast swing; an opponent that Utah Valley will see in three games May 18-20.
 
ROUGH WEEKEND
The Sycamores are coming off a 1-3 road trip to Starkville where the team faced off with Mississippi State and Marist. Indiana State came away with a win over Marist, 3-1, Sunday but dropped two games to the Bulldogs and their Friday opener against the Red Foxes.
 
STRIKEOUTS GALORE
Indiana State pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts in Sunday's 3-1 win over Marist. The Sycamores allowed just four hits on the day and one unearned run. Jeremy McKinney finished with the win and nine strikeouts in five innings. Trent Lunsford retired six via the swing and miss while Austin Conway retired both batters he faced on strikeouts. In all, the Sycamores finished the weekend with 38 K's compared to 25 from its opponents.
 
KEEPING IT GOING
CJ Huntley has reached base in all seven games this year for the Sycamores. The sophomore from Kalamazoo, Michigan has a .357 batting average and 10 hits, including a double and home run. He has a .500 slugging percentage and has driven in four RBIs.
 
STRONG OUTING FROM MCKINNEY
McKinney picked up his second win of the season Sunday in Starkville, Mississippi as Indiana State defeated Marist 3-1. The right-hander went five complete innings and allowed just two hits. In all, McKinney retired nine of the 17 batters he faced via the strikeout. Marist scored one unearned run against the Sycamores.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS
Indiana State has been outscored 60-46 through seven games this season. The Sycamores' worst inning is the sixth when its opponents have scored 14 runs while ISU has tallied only five. ISU is 3-0 when outhitting the opposition and 2-1 when scoring the first run of the contest. On the other hand though, the Sycamores are 0-3 when opponents score first and 0-4 when getting outhit.
 
MILESTONE REACHED
Indiana State head coach Mitch Hannahs reached 100 career wins at the Austin Peay Invitational (2/17-19). He is the sixth coach in program history to reach 100 wins. Long time skipper Bob Warn leads all coaches with 1,070 career wins at ISU.
 
WARD COMING OFF FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN CAMPAIGN
Right-hander Tyler Ward became the 12th player in school history to pick up the honor and the first since Ryan Keafabber in 2014. Ward went 6-5 in his rookie season with the Sycamores, holding a 3.81 ERA with a save and 40 strikeouts. He earned 12 starts in 2016 and made 18 total appearances on the mound for ISU, who finished the season 35-21 overall and second in the Missouri Valley Conference. He went a season-long eight innings in Indiana State's 3-2 win over Illinois State where he struck out five. He fanned a season-high six in a win over Bradley on May 14 and picked up the start in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament matchup versus Missouri State.
 
SYCAMORES PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Indiana State has been picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll as voted on by the league coaches. The Sycamores are coming off a 35-21 season a year ago and a second-place finish in the conference after a 13-8 MVC campaign. Dallas Baptist tallied 59 points and were named the favorite over second-place pick Southern Illinois (53 points), as the Salukis tallied three first-place votes. Missouri State (51 points) finished third, while Indiana State and Wichita State finished tied for fourth with 36 points. Bradley was selected in sixth place with 25 points, followed by Evansville (20 points) in the seventh slot and Illinois State eighth (8 points).
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
In 2015, ESPN and the Missouri Valley Conference announced a 10-year extension to their current media rights agreement that will provide increased coverage of conference events across ESPN platforms through the 2023-24 academic year. Fans can keep tabs on the Sycamores through The Valley on ESPN3. As part of the deal, ESPN, the MVC and its 10 member institutions will work jointly to develop in-house production capabilities at each campus that will provide significant coverage for multiple sports on ESPN3.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.