Games 20-22 ► Creighton (5-12, 0-0 MVC) at Indiana State (12-7, 0-0 MVC)

March 20-22, 2009  ►  Terre Haute, Ind.  ►  Sycamore Field (2,500)   ►  89.7 FM WISU  

Indiana State Probable Starters

Friday:             #23 Eric Valdez, Jr., RHP

Saturday:         #17 Jake Petricka, So., RHP

Sunday:           #42 Joe Rodriguez, Jr., LHP

Creighton Probable Starters

Friday:             #13 Greg Hellhake, So., LHP

Saturday:         #41 Jonas Dufek, So., RHP

Sunday:           #11 Jeremy Hauer, Sr., LHP

Setting The Scene

            Indiana State (12-7) opens Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend beginning on Friday with a 3 p.m. EST contest against the Creighton Bluejays (5-12) at Sycamore Field.  ISU has not opened conference play at home since the 2005 season, when Bradley took two out of three games from the Sycamores on their home field.  The match up with the Jays will also be the first to open Valley play between the two schools since the 1999 season.

            The Sycamores are off to one of their best starts in years, thanks to a strong 4-0 record at home.  ISU has won two-straight games heading into the weekend, thanks to a 23-3 victory over in-state foe Butler on Wednesday in non-conference action.

            ISU pounded out a season-high 24 hits which resulted in a season-high 23 runs scored against the Bulldogs.  The Sycamores blew the game wide open from the start, as they scored an astounding 12 runs in the bottom of the first inning on 10 hits.

            Brady Shoemaker finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs scored and six RBI, while Luke Fieser extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a 4-for-4 performance, two runs scored and two RBI.  Joe Meggs and Ryan Strausborger also chipped in three hits apiece in the victory for the Sycamores.

            Freshman Cordell Greene (1-1) picked up the win for ISU, as he allowed just three earned runs on seven hits while striking out three batters in six full innings of work.  Brandon Dorsett, Matt Bayes, Brendon Smith and Scott Harlan combined to throw the final three innings of scoreless baseball for the Sycamores.

             The Bluejays head into the game after taking two out of three games in their home opener last weekend against South Dakota State.  Creighton earned an 8-2 win over the Jackrabbits to open the series on Saturday and then picked up a 12-3 win against SDSU in the second game of a double header on Sunday thanks to two home runs from T.J. Roemmich.

            The Jays spent their first 14 games on the road to start the 2009 season and took trips to Texas, Arizona, Kansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

            Creighton has dominated the series between the two squads of late, winning the last 10 match ups and 17 of the last 18 games overall against the Sycamores, including a 5-0 record against ISU in 2004. That year the two teams met on the final week of the regular season and the opening game of the Valley Tournament. CU owns the all-time series lead between the schools 65-45 and swept ISU last season 3-0 in Omaha.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) begins his third season as the Sycamore skipper (56-65) 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.

Ed Servais (Wisconsin-La Crosse ?81) is in his sixth season (200-110-1) at the helm of the Bluejay baseball program in 2009.  Last season, Servais guided the team to another strong season with a 37-21 record overall and the Jays finished with a .976 fielding percentage as a team, good for third in the nation.  Last Saturday against South Dakota State, Servais reached a career plateau at Creighton as he picked up his 200th career win e at Creighton.  During his time as head coach, Servais has taken the Jays to two NCAA Tournaments and has won the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award three times in his five seasons.  In the last 10 years, the Bluejays are one of just 10 schools in the Midwest to earn four or more NCAA Regional berths during that time, and just one of two MVC schools.

Scouting The Bluejays

►        Creighton University is located in Omaha, Neb., and has an enrollment of 7,051 students.  The Bluejays are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at the CU Sports Complex (1,000).

►        The Bluejays finished with an overall record of 37-21 during the 2008 season and posted a 16-8 record in Missouri Valley Conference play.  The team ended its season with a 6-5 loss to Southern Illinois in Wichita, Kan., at the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

►        Creighton returns 17 lettermen from last year's team, including four position starters and nine pitchers.  The Bluejays have also picked up 17 newcomers, making their team an interesting mix of experienced and new players.

►        The 2009 season has not started the way the Bluejays had hoped, as the team is off to a 5-12 start overall.  Most of those games have been on the road, as CU has played just three home games all season.

►        Last weekend in the team's home opener against South Dakota State, T.J. Roemmich showed his power, launching two home runs in the second game of the double header on Sunday to lead the Jays to a 12-3 win.  The Jays took two out of three games from the Jackrabbits to earn their first series win of the season.

►        Vicente Cafaro has been the team's hottest hitter at the plate, as he is on a team-high 11-game hit streak, going 17-39 (.436) during the run.  However, he is not the only dangerous hitter in the lineup for the Jays, as senior preseason All-MVC selection Darin Ruf leads the team with a .403 average and 19 RBI and is tied for the team-lead with three home runs.

►        The Jays are led on the mound by reliever Brian Koenigstein, who has posted a 2-0 record and a 1.54 ERA in five appearances for Creighton.  Creighton's weekend starters Greg Hellkake (1-1), Jonas Dufek (1-3) and Jeremy Hauer (0-4) have struggled, but Hellhake pitched the best game of his career last Saturday against South Dakota State as threw career-high seven innings, allowing just two runs on five hits.

Welcome To The Valley

After playing 19 games against non-conference opponents to start the season, the Sycamores will open Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend against the Creighton Bluejays.  ISU has not opened conference play at home since the 2005 season, when Bradley took two out of three games from the Sycamores on their home field.  In Valley season openers under head coach Lindsay Meggs, the Sycamores are 1-5 overall as they were swept at Wichita State in 2007 and won one out of three games last year in the league opening series at Southern Illinois.

Is That Score Right?

One look at the scoreboard on Wednesday and Sycamore Field and you may wonder if your eyes were playing tricks on you.  First there was a 12 put on the board in the bottom of the first inning and by the end of the game the score read 23-3.  The 12 runs in the first inning, the 23 runs on the day and the 24 hits were all game highs for ISU this season but it was a not a season high for the Bulldogs.  Butler had previously given up 24 runs to UNLV earlier in the year.

Make It A Dozen

The Sycamores have been scoring nearly nine runs a game during the season but they eclipsed that mark in Wednesday game against Butler in just the first inning.  ISU exploded for 12 runs on 10 hits in the bottom of the first against the Bulldogs to put the game out of reach early.  Brady Shoemaker, Tyler Graham, and Luke Fieser all picked up RBI singles to start the inning before Pascual Del Real struck the big blow with a three-run triple to make the score 6-0 at the time.  Joe Meggs then picked up a RBI on a single up the middle that scored Del Real from third and Shoemaker later tacked on two more RBI with another single to make the score 11-0.  Fieser capped off the hitting barrage with a RBI single to left field with two outs in the inning.

Everybody Chips In

Every member of the ISU starting lineup on Wednesday chipped in with at least one hits in the team's 23-3 rout over Butler.  Third baseman Luke Fieser led the way with four hits, while Joe Meggs, Ryan Strausborger and Brady Shoemaker each added three hits apiece.  The feat was in jeopardy until the eighth inning as Brian Jett headed into his at bat 0-for-5 to that point.  However, Jett launched a two-run home run over the right field wall to pick up his first hit of the game and his fourth home run of the season.

Home Sweet Home

Indiana State will open Missouri Valley Conference play against Creighton at Sycamore Field, a place that has been very friendly to ISU so far this season.  The Sycamores have posted a 4-0 record at home in mid-week games against Saint Louis, Indiana, Eastern Illinois and Butler.  In those games, the Sycamores have posted a .390 team batting average while scoring 51 runs on 57 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 157 runs scored in their first 19 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 seven times during the season, including a 23-3 victory on Wednesday against in-state foe Butler at Sycamore Field.  Those runs are coming via 11 hits per game from Sycamores batters and several of those runs have come from the 18 home runs by ISU hitters in the first 19 games of the season.

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 feet down the lines, 380 feet in the gaps and 414 feet 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 in the series on way to earning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honores, while Brian Jett, Nick Ciolli, Koby Kraemer and Brian Ramirez each added a home run over the weekend.

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 batting average (.306), on base percentage (.406), runs scored (157), hits (216), triples (7), RBI (142), total bases (321), at bats (706) and hit by pitch (33).  The Sycamores also rank second in walks (90), slugging percentage (.455) and home runs (18) among teams in the Valley.

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 (30), doubles (8), on base percentage (.543), runs scored (23) and is second in batting average at .423.  Not to be outdone, Ciolli is first in total bases (49) and tied first in sacrifice flies (3) and triples (2).  In addition, Ciolli is second in hits (28) behind teammate Shoemaker, tied for third in RBI (20), tied for third with ISU teammates Brian Jett and Bronco Lafrenz with four home runs and is fourth in runs scored (19).

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 to earn his first career win in an ISU uniform.

Fieser's Going Streaking

Junior third baseman Luke Fieser has made an immediate impact in the Sycamore lineup in his first season at ISU and currently has an 12-game hitting streak heading into Friday's game against Creighton.  During that time, the Woodinville, Wash., native has posted a .461 average with 18 hits and 6 RBI.  In addition, Fieser has raised his season batting average from .294 to .411 and currently ranks second on the team with that .411 average behind Brady Shoemaker at .423.

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.

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.

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.

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 doubleheader, allowing just one hit while striking out three in an 8-7 win.

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.