TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball opens Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend as Missouri State comes to town. Weather has once again played a factor in the schedule for this weekend as the teams will play a doubleheader Friday starting at 1 p.m. ET. Game two will follow at approximately 4:30 p.m. The teams will look to wrap up the series Saturday at 1 p.m. but if weather forces a cancellation, the series finale will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can watch the action on The Valley On ESPN3 or listen to the call with
Brian Fritz and
Luke Martin via
GoSycamores.com/Watch.
PROMOTIONS
The first 250 fans to Friday game will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Sullivan Automotive.
SYCAMORES AT A GLANCE
Jarrod Watkins (.372, 10 2B, 8 RBI) and
Luke Fegen (.333, 5 2B, 19 R, 11 BB, 8 RBI) lead the Trees at the plate while
Dane Giesler and
CJ Huntley are hitting .322 and .292, respectively.
Romero Harris is tops on the squad with five home runs and 22 RBIs. As a team, the Sycamores are hitting .285 and have hit for 40 doubles, 4 triples and 20 home runs. The Indiana State pitching staff has struck out 150 batters and holds a combined 4.14 ERA.
LOOKING AT THE BEARS
Missouri State comes into play with a 17-6 overall record and are riding a six-game winning streak. The Bears are coming off a midweek win against Kansas. The team is led offensively by Jeremy Eirman (.333, 5 HR, 21 RBI) and Drew Millas (.317, 2 HR, 29 RBI). As a club, the Bears are hitting at a clip of .250 while the pitching staff holds a 3.07 ERA.
ALL-TIME VS MISSOURI STATE
The Sycamores trail in the all-time series with Missouri State, 69-44. The Sycamores dropped a weekend series to the Bears in Springfield a year ago. In the last two series, each team has secured three-game sweeps as ISU swept the Bears in Terre Haute in 2016.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana State's nine-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday afternoon at Bob Warn Field, falling to No. 11 Indiana, 5-3. The Sycamores brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth but the Trees were unable to finish the comeback after
CJ Huntley hit his second home run of the season with two outs. The Sycamores left 11 runners on base, including two runners in each in the first three innings. Sophomore reliever
Donnie Ames went 3.2 innings in the contest, retiring 10-straight Hoosiers at one point while allowing just one hit in his outing.
Jarrod Watkins,
CJ Huntley and
Jake Means each tallied two hits to lead the Sycamores.
THE FRIDAY GUY
Tyler Ward will make his third series-opening start of the season against Missouri State. The right-hander enters the series with a 4-1 overall record and a 4.32 ERA. He has allowed just nine extra-base hits in 33.1 innings of work while holding the MVC's fifth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.89) with 29 strikeouts and just six walks. The junior has won three-straight decisions with his lone loss coming at the hands of No. 12 Vanderbilt.
HE CAN DEAL
Triston Polley has been the most dominant arm in the Sycamore rotation so far this year. In five starts, the Avon, Indiana product holds a 4-1 record to go along with a 2.33 ERA -- the third-best ERA in the MVC. Polley has pitched 38.2 innings and struck out 27 batters while holding opponents to a .222 average against. On the year, the southpaw has allowed only 10 earned runs and one or fewer earned runs in three starts.
WEAR IT
Sycamore outfielder
Roberto Enriquez has been hit-by-pitch 12 times this season -- to rank third in the nation in the category. With his 0.63 hit-by-pitches per game, he ranks first in the nation. Fellow Sycamore
Romero Harris has been six times. As a team, ISU has been hit 36 times to lead the MVC.
REACHING BASE
Indiana State junior
Jarrod Watkins has reached base in all 20 games in a Sycamore uniform. He has put together 10 multi-hit games, including three three-hit games. Watkins also held the longest hitting streak on the team at 14 games this season – currently at five games.
MOVING UP THE LIST
Head coach
Mitch Hannahs moved into third all-time in career wins at Indiana State with a pair of victories over Western Illinois, passing Rick Heller. Hannahs sits at 138 wins in five seasons at the helm of the program.
Rank Coach Wins
1 Bob Warn 1,070
2 Paul Wolf 140
3 Mitch Hannahs 138
4 Rick Heller 131
5 Jim Rendel 129
More…
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,
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Instagram.
