TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball begins a nine-game road swing with a pair of midweek games against Mid-American Conference opponents. The Sycamores will travel to Northern Illinois for a Tuesday meeting with the Huskies with a first pitch set for 4 p.m. before traveling to Muncie, Indiana to take on Ball State Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Fans can listen to the call free-of-charge with
Luke Martin via
GoSycamores.com/Watch. Fans can also follow the action via
@IndStBaseball on Twitter.
SYCAMORES AT A GLANCE
Jarrod Watkins (.333, 11 2B, 11 RBI) and
CJ Huntley (.296, 7 2B, 20 RBI) lead the Trees at the plate while
Dane Giesler and
Luke Fegen are hitting .284 and .271, respectively. As a team, the Sycamores are hitting .267 and have hit for 59 doubles, 9 triples and 30 home runs. The Indiana State pitching staff has struck out 247 batters and holds a combined 4.34 ERA which is second-best in the Missouri Valley Conference.
LOOKING AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois enters the week 13-25 overall and 5-10 in the MAC. The Huskies are hitting .226 on the season led by Brad Wood at .290 in 38 games. The NIU pitching staff holds a 5.20 combined ERA.
ALL-TIME VS NIU
The all-time series is tied at seven games each with Indiana State winning the last three meetings including a 17-8 victory in Terre Haute last season.
LOOKING AT BALL STATE
Ball State enters play with a 19-19 overall mark and a 7-8 record in MAC action. The Cardinals are hitting .258 on the season led by Jeff Riedel at .343 in 34 games. The BSU pitching staff holds a 5.16 combined ERA.
ALL-TIME VS BSU
Indiana State leads the all-time series with the Cardinals 91-51 with the last meeting coming a year ago at Bob Warn Field where the Sycamores walked away with an 8-2 victory. The Sycamores have won seven-straight games in the series with the last loss coming in Muncie in 2010.
WARD EARNS MVC PITCHER OF THE WEEK AFTER DOMINANT OUTING AGAINST DBU
Tyler Ward put together a masterful performance Friday night as he pitched a complete game shutout against No. 23 Dallas Baptist. Ward allowed just six hits to the high-powered Patriots offense that entered the game with 251 runs scored in 34 games. The right-hander shut down much of the DBU lineup with just five Patriots recording base hits. Ward also ended DBU leadoff man Jameson Hannah's 46-game reached base streak and his school record 35-game hitting streak. Ward, a Santa Claus, Indiana native, improved to 6-3 on the season after striking out eight and walking just two Patriots. He also retired eight of the final nine batters he faced.
IT WAS A DAY TO REMEMBER
It was a career day for
Dane Tofteland as he broke the Indiana State baseball single-game RBI record after driving in 11 runs on a trio of home runs, including two grand slams as the Sycamores took down Northern Illinois, 17-8 April 18 of last season. The RBI record was set 10 years ago in the Sycamores' season finale by Brady Shoemaker after he drove in 10 runs against Illinois State on May 17, 2008. Entering the contest last season, Tofteland had one RBI on the season and no home runs in limited action.
WEAR IT
Sycamore outfielder
Roberto Enriquez has been hit-by-pitch 19 times this season -- to rank 2nd in the nation in the category. With his 0.56 hit-by-pitches per game, he leads the country.
Luke Fegen has been nine times. As a team, ISU has been hit 66 times to lead the Missouri Valley and rank 12th nationally.
HE DOESN'T GO DOWN EASY
Jarrod Watkins leads the Sycamores at the plate this season with a .333 batting average over 35 starts. Another area the junior sits atop the team is in his strikeout numbers or lack thereof. Watkins is the toughest batter to strikeout in the Missouri Valley Conference at a 10.1 at bats per strikeout rating. In 141 total at bats, Watkins has struck out just 14 times. The mark is also 87th in the country.
FAST STARTS
Indiana State has been dominant to open games this season, outscoring the opposition 23-9. The Sycamores have outscored opponents in all but two innings this season including a 33-14 advantage in the ninth.
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,
Twitter and
Instagram.
