Games 34-36  ► Southern Illinois (15-20, 3-5 MVC) at Indiana State (20-13, 7-3 MVC)

April 17-19, 2009  ►  Terre Haute, Ind.   ►   Sycamore Field (1,500)    ►   WISU 89.7 FM

Southern Illinois Probable Starters

Friday:             #19 Adam Curynski, Sr., RHP

Saturday:         #32 Andrew Dunn, Sr., RHP

Sunday:           #12 Jimmy Cornell, Jr., LHP

Indiana State Probable Starters

Friday:             #23 Eric Valdez, Jr., RHP

Saturday:         #17 Jake Petricka, So., RHP

Sunday:           #42 Joe Rodriguez, Jr., LHP

Setting The Scene

            Coming of its second-straight sweep over a Valley opponent, Indiana State (20-13, 7-3 MVC) returns home to face off against Southern Illinois (15-20, 3-5 MVC) in search of its third consecutive MVC series win. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EST on Friday at Sycamore Field.

            ISU is coming off a couple of tough losses on the road at Missouri on Tuesday and Wednesday.  The highly-potent Sycamore offense struggled against Tiger pitching in the brief two-game set, as it scored just three runs on 12 hits in the two games.

            The Sycamores returned home after a long road swing to face off against Bradley last weekend at Sycamore Field.  A cold and rainy day on Friday postponed the start of the series until Saturday, but the gloomy conditions could not damper the team's spirit.  ISU took both games of the Saturday doubleheader and rallied on Sunday for a big win and their second straight sweep in conference play.

            In game one on Saturday, the Sycamores rallied with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overcome a 5-4 deficit and come away with a 9-5 win.  Catcher Bronco Lafrenz tied the game with a leadoff home run in the frame and a two-run single up the middle by Tyler Graham later in the inning capped off the comeback.  Junior Nick Ciolli finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Graham added a couple of hits and two RBI in the win.

            Game two was a different story, as the Sycamores led from the first inning on for a 10-2 win.  Sophomore Jake Petricka (4-1) controlled the game from the mound, as he allowed just one earned run on three hits while striking out three in eight strong innings for the Sycamores to earn his fourth victory of the year.  Ciolli finished the game with a hit and three more RBI to give him six on the day, while Joe Meggs and Kyle Burnam added two hits and two RBI each.

            The Salukis are coming off a couple of come-from-behind wins during the week, but The Dawg are on a five-game losing streak in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time in eight years.  SIU scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to earn a comeback over Illinois, 9-6, on Wednesday. The day before that, the Salukis scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning en route to a 4-2 win at SEMO (4/14).

On The Air

            All of this weekend's games can be heard live on 89.7 FM WISU, the radio home of the Sycamores and online at http://wisu.indstate.edu.  In addition, live stats will be available for all three games on the baseball schedule page on GoSycamores.com.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) begins his third season as the Sycamore skipper (64-71) 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.

Dan Callahan (Quincy ?81) is in his 15th year as head coach at Southern Illinois (405-410-1).  Since taking over the helm of one of collegiate baseball's most storied programs, Callahan has recorded a total of 405 wins, which rank second-best in Saluki baseball history. He helped produce 19 Major League draft picks and 16 first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selections. Callahan has also seen six of his players sign free agent contracts and four of his student-athletes win either the league's “Player,” “Freshman” or “Newcomer-of-the-Year” award.  Callahan has guided SIU to 30 or more wins in six of the last seven seasons and his teams have been top-four in the MVC in five of the last six seasons.

Scouting The Salukis

►        Southern Illinois University is located in Carbondale, Ill., and has an enrollment of 20,983 students.  The Salukis are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at Abe Martin Field (2,000).

►        The Salukis finished with an overall record of 34-23 last year and posted a conference mark of 12-12, which was good enough for fifth place in the Valley. Tournament and was placed in the Miami Regional.  The Tigers' season ended with a 9-6 loss on June 1 against Mississippi.

►        SIU is on a five-game losing streak in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time in eight years. The last time the Salukis lost five or more consecutive league games was in 2001 (8-game losing streak). SIU's longest losing streak in conference play is 15 games (1999).

►        The Salukis have homered in five-consecutive games. Five Salukis, including Jordan Sivertsen (1), Mark Kelly (1), Chris Murphy (2), Tyler Bullock (1) and Scott Elmendorf (2) combined for seven home runs in that span.

►        SIU play eight of its next 11 games away from home. After this weekend's series with the Sycamores, the Salukis hosts Illinois State (4/24-26) and then play at Illinois (4/28), No. 29 Eastern Illinois (4/29) and Bradley (5/1-3). SIU is 2-7 on the road this season.

►        The Salukis scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to earn their second-straight comebackwin when they beat Illinois, 9-6, Wednesday. On Tuesday, SIU scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning en route to a 4-2 win at Southeast

Missouri State. The Dawgs have come-from-behind to win eight games this year.

Six And Counting

With a 12-4 victory over Bradley on Sunday, the Sycamores secured their second straight sweep over a Missouri Valley Conference opponent for the first time since the league went to the three-game series format prior to the 2005 season.  ISU's six consecutive wins in conference play is its longest streak since 1998, when the Sycamores won seven straight games in Valley play with a four-game weekend sweep over Northern Iowa and twins in the first three games of a four-game set with Missouri State.

Strausborger Keeps Streak Alive

Junior Ryan Strausborger headed into the weekend series against Bradley with a 12-game hitting streak.  However, that streak was in serious jeopardy in game one of Saturday's doubleheader when Strauborger stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning with three walks and no hits on the day.  In that at bat, he popped up in foul territory but Bradley first baseman Jim Clayton dropped the ball to give him another swing of the bat.  Strausborger made it count, as he singled up the middle to keep the streak in tact and picked up hits in the next two games to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest for the Sycamores since 2007.  However, that streak was snapped on Tuesday when Strausborger went 0-for-4 in a 8-1 loss at Missouri.

Off And Running

Indiana State returned to its running ways last week, as the team was a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts throughout the week.  Junior Ryan Strausborger led the way by going 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts, while Kyle Burnam, Nick Ciolli and Ben Ferrell also got into the act with a steal each.  On the season, the Sycamores are 37-for-46 (.804) in stolen base attempts, with Strausborger leading the way with 12 thefts.

Petricka Shuts Down The Braves

Sophomore Jake Petricka was stellar on the mound in game two of Saturday's doubleheader against Bradley.  The right hander from Fariboult, Minn., picked up his fourth win of the season by giving up just one run on three hits while striking out three in eight innings of work against the Braves.  The win was Petricka's second in a row in Valley play, tied him for the team lead in wins and helped the Sycamores to their second-straight series sweep over a Valley opponent.

No Sweat For Ciolli

Junior outfielder Nick Ciolli struggled a bit at the end of March, but he has certainly turned that around recently.  Ciolli was the catalyst in the middle of the lineup for the Sycamores last week, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with three doubles, three runs scored and eight RBI for the Sycamores.  The Terre Haute, Ind., native also walked three times in four games for ISU, stole a base and posted a slugging percentage of .643.  In addition, Ciolli extended his hitting streak to nine games and raised his season batting average from .330 to .359.  However, Ciolli's hitting streak was snapped at 10 when he went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's 12-2 loss at Missouri.

J-Rod Picks Up Third Straight Valley Win

ISU starter Joe Rodriguez (4-1) struggled in the first two innings and gave up four earned runs to Bradley in last Sunday's series finale between the two squads.  However, the left-hander regained his composure and allowed just three hits over the next five-plus innings to pick up his fourth win on the season.  In all, Rodriguez pitched 7.1 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits while striking out four to move to 3-0 in three starts in Valley play.

Scoring Runs At Will

With 260 runs scored this season (7.9 runs per game), the Sycamores have had no problems scoring runs in 2009.  ISU has scored 10 or more runs 11 times during the season, including a 23-3 victory against in-state foe Butler at Sycamore Field and a 12 win over Bradley last Sunday in the series finale against the Braves.   Last season, the Sycamores averaged 6.9 runs per contest while compiling a total of 504 hits and 36 home runs as a team.

Handling The Bat With Ease

Junior second baseman Ryan Strausborger set the table for the Sycamores at the top of the lineup against Northern Iowa, as the ISU leadoff man hit .571 (8-for-14) with a triple and five runs scored in a three-game sweep over the Panthers.  The Osceola, Ind., native also added a walk and accounted for 10 total bases while finished 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.  Most of that damage was done in Saturday's doubleheader sweep over the Panthers, when he finished 6-for-10 with four runs scored and three stolen bases.  Strausborger posted a season high four hits in game one while scoring three runs in the 13-4 win and followed that up with two hits and a run scored in the second game.

Get Out Your Brooms

Weekend sweeps on the road in Missouri Valley Conference play are hard to come by for any team and before the team's weekend sweep at UNI, it had been a while since the Sycamores achieved that feat.  The last time ISU picked up a conference road sweep was in 2005, when the Sycamores picked up three wins at Missouri State from April 22-24.  The sweep for ISU was its first since last season, when the team won its last three games of the year in a weekend sweep over Illinois State.

What Can't He Do?

Senior Brady Shoemaker continues to be a threat in the middle of the lineup for the Sycamores, as he hit .455 (5-for-11) with a double, triple, home run and four RBI in a weekend sweep over at UNI.  Shoemaker also scored seven runs, was walked five times, stole two bases and accounted for 11 total bases on way to a .625 on-base percentage against the Panthers.

Strong Arming The Competition

The Sycamores have been getting the job done at the plate all season with their .311 team batting average.  However, it was a trio of strong pitching performances at UNI that made the difference for the Sycamores.  All three Sycamore starters earned wins against the Panthers and the ISU pitching staff allowed just eight runs in the three-game weekend sweep.  Junior Eric Valdez kicked off the series with a 12-strikeout performance in Friday's 9-3 victory, while sophomore Jake Petricka allowed just two runs in game a 13-4 win in game one on Saturday.  Junior Joe Rodriguez guaranteed the weekend sweep with a dominating 1-run effort in 8.1 innings in game two on Saturday to secure the team's first road sweep since 2005..

Multi-Homer Game For Shoemaker

The wind was blowing out at Sycamore Field, but Brady Shoemaker's two home runs hit would have cleared the fences no matter how much wind there was against Ball State.  The senior slugger from Brazil, Ind., hit two home runs against the Cardinals and finished the game with four RBI to lead the way for the Sycamores.  It was Shoemaker's second multi-home run game in his two-year career at ISU, with the other coming against Illinois State on May 17 at Sycamore Field when he launched three home runs and accounted for 10 RBI against the Redbirds in the season finale.

The Launching Pad

Sycamore Field turned into a launching pad, as the Sycamores hit a season-high four home runs against Ball State.  Senior Brady Shoemaker led the way with two home runs and four RBI against the Cardinals, while senior Brian Jett hit his team-leading fifth long ball of the season as well.  Junior Tyler Graham also got into the act, as he hit the first home run of his career in an Indiana State uniform to cap off the power display in the victory for the Sycamores. 

Hoosier State Supremacy

With a win on Wednesday at Sycamore Field against in-state rival Ball State, the Sycamores improved to 3-0 against teams from the Hoosier State this season.  Indiana State previously defeated Indiana by a score of 11-2 on March 3 at home and also defeated Butler by a score of 23-3 on March 18.  However, it would be premature to give the Sycamores the state title at this point in the season as they still have a three-game series remaining against Missouri Valley Conference foe Evansville and games against Oakland City, Southern Indiana and a re-match with the Hoosiers on April 22 in Bloomington, Ind.

Rodriguez Becomes The Stopper

ISU starter Joe Rodriguez stepped up when his team needed him the most and picked up a win on Sunday against Creighton to help the Sycamores avoid a series sweep.  The Middletown, N.Y., native allowed just three earned runs and scattered nine hits in seven inning of work to pick up his second win of the season for the Sycamores and earn a win for his team in the series finale.  

Lafrenz Goes Deep ... Again

Coming off a week where he hit three home runs and drove in seven runs on way to being named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, catcher Bronco Lafrenz picked up right where he left off in last Friday's Valley season opener against the Creighton Bluejays.  With the Sycamores trailing by three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Lafrenz came up with two runners on base and hit a long fly ball to right field that continued to carry in the wind over wall for a three-run home run.  It was Lafrenz's team-leading fifth of the season and his fifth in six games.

Is That Score Right?

One look at the scoreboard at Sycamore Field in the team's win over Butler and one might wonder if their eyes were playing tricks on them.  One look would show 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. However, the 23 runs surrendered to the Sycamores were not a season high for Butler, as the Bulldogs 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 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 chipped in with at least one hit 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 each for the Sycamores.  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.