Game 19 ► Butler (1-13, 0-0 Horizon) at Indiana State (11-7, 0-0 MVC)

March 18, 2009  ►  Terre Haute, Ind.  ►  Sycamore Field (2,500)   ►  89.7 FM WISU  

Setting The Scene

            Indiana State (11-7) begins a five-game home stand on Wednesday when the Sycamores welcome in-state rival Butler (1-13) to Sycamore Field for a mid-week match up.  First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST, with freshman Cordell Greene (0-1) taking the mound for the Sycamores.

            The Sycamores are coming off a week that saw the team post a 2-2 record against border foe Eastern Illinois and Conference USA opponent Memphis.  ISU picked up a hard fought 10-9 win over the Panthers last Tuesday at Sycamore Field in a slugfest between the two squads.  ISU had to fight back from an early four-run deficit, but a run in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 9-9 tie and earned them a 10-9 win over the Panthers in the first of two games between the two squads this season.

            Senior Matt Shelton (3-1) picked up the win in relief for ISU.  Shelton gave up just two hits while striking out two batters in two full innings of work in relief of starter Jake Petricka.  Bronco Lafrenz led the way for the Sycamores at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored, while Brian Jett finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and three runs scored.  Brian Ramirez and Pascual Del Real also drove in two runs each while Kyle Burnam chipped in two hits for the Sycamores.

            From there, ISU traveled to Millington, Tenn., to face Memphis at USA Stadium for a three-game weekend series.  The series opener was a heart-breaker for the Sycamores, as Memphis collected walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Tigers a 6-5 win.  Saturday was not much better for the Sycamores, as Memphis scored 20 runs on 19 hits to pick up a 20-1 victory in the second game of the weekend series. 

            However, Sunday was a different story as the Sycamores scored 12 runs on 14 hits to pick up a 12-6 win against the Tigers and avoid the series sweep.  Petricka (2-0) picked up his second win of the season in a strong outing, as he allowed three late runs in 6.1 innings of work while giving up nine hits and striking out four Tiger batters. Tyler Graham finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI, while Jett finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and the four RBI courtesy of the grand slam.  Lafrenz, Koby Kraemer and Nick Ciolli also added two hits apiece for the Sycamores on Sunday.

            Butler closes out a five-game road swing on Wednesday against Indiana State before they return home to kick off the Horizon League campaign on Friday against in-state rival Valparaiso at Bulldog Park.

            The Bulldogs come into Sycamore Field on a 13-game losing streak after being swept in a four-game series last weekend at Kansas State.  Luke Duncan leads the way at the plate for Butler with a .355 batting average and five RBI in 14 games.  Colin Ziegel is also hitting over .300 with a .321 average with three doubles, a home run and 10 RBI on the season.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) begins his third season as the Sycamore skipper (55-65) in 2009.  In his first season, Meggs coached the Sycamores to a 26-26 mark overall and a 7-17 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. Last year, the Sycamores were 18-32 overall and 9-15 in the Valley playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.  Meggs took the reigns of the Sycamore baseball program in 2006, coming to ISU after spending 13 seasons as head coach at California State-Chico.  While there, he guided the Wildcats to two NCAA Division II National Championships and compiled an overall record of 538-228-4.

Steve Farley (Minnesota ?81) is in his 18th season (428-508-1) as the Butler head coach in 2009. After coaching in his 1,000th career collegiate game last year, the baseball veteran begins his 21st season as a head coach with 481 victories to his credit, including a school-record 428 while at Butler. During his tenure, Farley has guided the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Tournament bids and five appearances in the league championship game since 1998.  A four-time Horizon League Coach of the Year, Farley has had 62 players earn all-conference honors, and 25 of his former players have signed professional baseball contracts, including current Minnesota Twins hurler Pat Neshek.

Home Sweet Home

Wednesday's game against Butler will be the team's fourth at home in this early season.  That's a stark contrast from last season, when the Sycamores played 22 straight road games to start the season before playing their home opener on April 4 against Northern Iowa.  Sycamore Field has been friendly to ISU this season, as the team has posted a 3-0 record against Saint Louis, Indiana and Eastern Illinois.  In those games, the Sycamores have posted a .327 batting average and have recorded 28 runs on 33 hits.

Bronco Earns Valley Player of the Week Honors

Senior catcher Bronco Lafrenz had one of his best weeks in a Sycamore uniform, as he hit .385 (5-for-13) in four games last week for Indiana State while bombing three home runs and driving in seven runs.  The Sioux City, Iowa, native posted a 1.073 slugging percentage in four starts, scoring five runs and also picking off two runners from behind the dish.  Lafrenz started the week with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Tuesday's 10-9 win over Eastern Illinois and hit his second home run of the week in Friday's extra-inning contest at Memphis.  He capped off the week with two hits, including his third home run of the week and fourth of the season, two runs scored and two RBI in Sunday's 12-6 win over Memphis.

Scoring Runs At Will

With 134 runs scored in their first 18 games of the season, it looks as if the Sycamores will have no problem scoring runs in 2009.  ISU has scored 10 or more runs six times during the season, including a 12-6 victory last Sunday in Millington, Tenn., against Memphis.  Those runs are coming via 11 hits per game from Sycamores batters and several of those runs have come from 16 home runs hit in 18 games.

Chicks Dig The Long Ball

The Sycamores met Memphis in Millington, Tenn., at USA Stadium last weekend and by the looks of the field dimensions, one would think very few home runs would be hit.  USA Stadium measures 334 ft. down the lines, 380 ft. in the gaps and 414 ft. to the center field wall.  However, that did not scare the Indiana State offense as the Sycamores launched six home runs out of the stadium in three games against the Tigers.  Bronco Lafrenz led the way with two dingers, while Brian Jett, Nick Ciolli, Koby Kraemer and Brian Ramirez each added a home run each during the series.

Offensive Production Leading The Way In The Valley

The offensive numbers the Sycamores have put up through the first 18 games of the season have been impressive and rank ISU as one of the top offensive teams in the Missouri Valley Conference.  Indiana State currently ranks first in the Valley in team  on base percentage (.398), runs scored (134), hits (192), RBI (123), total bases (285), at bats (658), walks (87) and hit by pitch (32).  The Sycamores also rank second in team batting average (.292), slugging percentage (.433) and triples (6) and home runs (16).

The Dynamic Duo

The outfield combination of Brady Shoemaker and Nick Ciolli in the middle of the Sycamore lineup is quickly becoming one of the more dangerous tandems in the league.  Shoemaker currently ranks first in the conference in hits (27), doubles (8), on base percentage (.534), runs scored (20) and is second in batting average at .403.  Not to be outdone, Ciolli is tied for first in hits (27) with Shoemaker, is first in triples (3) and total bases (48) and is third in the league with four home runs on the season.  He also currently ranks second in RBI (19), fifth in runs scored (17) and fifth in slugging percentage (.623).

Petricka Spoils The Sweep

Heading into Sunday's series finale against Memphis, it was up to Jake Petricka on the mound to keep the Sycamores from being swept in the weekend series.  The right-hander stepped up big for his team and did just that, as he picked up his second win of the season with a 12-6 victory over the Tigers.  Petricka (2-0) allowed three late runs in 6.1 innings of work while scattering nine hits and striking out four Tiger batters.

Fieser's Going Streaking

Third baseman Luke Fieser has made an immediate impact in the Sycamore lineup in his first season at ISU and currently has an 11-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday's game against Butler.  The junior transfer has played and started in 17 games for ISU this season and currently ranks second on the team with a .365 batting average.

Several Arms Pitching In Early For ISU

Through 18 games, eight different hurlers have picked up wins for the Sycamores.  Senior Matt Shelton leads the way with three wins in nine relief efforts while sophomore Jake Petricka has two wins in four starts.  In addition, Scott Harlan, Brendon Smith and David Gurbach have each picked up a win in relief efforts as well.  However, it was the starting rotation that picked up all of the wins at the Palm Beach Classic.  Michael Manus earned the win on Friday against Villanova, while Petricka and Eric Valdez picked up wins against Mount St. Mary's and St. Bonaventure in a doubleheader on Saturday.  Joe Rodriguez rounded out the solid weekend of starting pitching with a win in the 11-4 victory over New York Tech on Sunday.

Shutting Down The Hoosiers

Indiana State was dominant in its effort against in-state rival Indiana on March 3, earning an 11-2 win over their Big Ten counterparts.  Much of that had to do with reliever David Gurbach, who picked up his third win in a Sycamore uniform in a dominating effort.  The Aliso Viejo, Calif., native threw 5.2 innings of scoreless ball in relief of ISU starter Cordell Greene and allowed just three hits and walked just one Hoosier batter while striking out a career-high eight batters to earn the victory.

Lucky 13 For Valdez

Junior starter Eric Valdez dominated St. Bonaventure at the Palm Beach Classic on way to picking up his first win in a Sycamore uniform.  The right hander from Kearny, N.J., threw seven innings and gave up just one walk and three hits while striking out 13 St. Bonaventure hitters.  He also induced six ground ball outs in the win for the Sycamores as he helped them improve to 7-1 on the season at the time.

Strong Starts Becoming The Norm For The Sycamores

ISU's 9-1 start was its best start since the 1990 season, when the Sycamores also started 9-1 and went to 13-1 under head coach Bob Warn to begin the year.  ISU went on to finish that season 43-21.  This is the second strong start in three seasons under head coach Lindsay Meggs, as the 2007 squad started that season 4-1 in games against Georgia State and South Dakota State.

We're Gonna Need More Time

Nine innings of play just weren't enough for Indiana State and The Citadel in the season's opening weekend, as three of the four games in their series went into extra innings.  Both games of Saturday's double-header needed extra frames, but ISU picked up a 9-6 win in 10 innings in game one and an 8-7 in 11 innings in game two.  The fourth and final game of the set also needed some extra time, but this time The Citadel picked up a 5-4 win in 12 innings.  Overall, the two teams played a combined 32 innings in the four-game set and the Sycamores out-scored the Bulldogs 33-26 in the series.  

Bombs Away

The Sycamores wasted no time hitting the long ball against The Citadel, as they pounded out four home runs in their four-game season opening series against the Bulldog.   Senior Brady Shoemaker picked up right where he left off last season, as he hit his 10th career home run.  Fellow senior Brian Jett also went deep, as he picked up the fifth home run of his career.  Junior Ryan Strausborger also got into the act and freshman Kyle Burnam hit his first career home run in the opening series for ISU.

That's A Good Day's Work

Senior reliever Matt Shelton started the season off right for the Sycamores, as he picked up both wins of a Saturday double-header at The Citadel.  The right-hander from Loves Park, Ill., finished the weekend with a 2-0 record in two appearances for ISU.  In five innings of work, Shelton allowed just two hits and walked one while striking out five Bulldog hitters.  In game one of Saturday's double header, Shelton threw two innings of scoreless relief while giving up one hit and striking out two to help ISU to a 9-6 victory in 10 innings.  He followed that up by throwing three innings of scoreless relief in game two of the double header, allowing just one hit while striking out three in an 8-7 win in 11 innings.

Catch Those Thieves

ISU players were off and running in the team's opening series at The Citadel.  In fact, the Sycamores could not be caught as they went a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts in the four-game series against the Bulldogs.  Brady Shoemaker led the way with two swipes, while Ben Ferrell, Kyle Burnam, Pascual Del Real, Nick Ciolli and Ryan Strausborger each added a steal to help the Sycamores sprint out to a 3-1 start.

Success In The Holy City

Indiana State has had a lot of success in Charleston, S.C. the past two seasons, as they have a 6-2 record overall against teams from the “Holy City”.  The Sycamores went 3-1 in their season-opening series at The Citadel this season after defeating the Bulldogs in a single game last year 4-3.  Following that mid-week tilt last season, ISU took on the College of Charleston for a four-game set.  The Sycamores won the last two games of the series against the College of Charleston to leave the trip with three wins against teams from the Holy City.