Games 25-27  ► Indiana State (14-10, 1-3 MVC) at UNI (12-13, 2-4 MVC)

April 3-5, 2009  ►  Waterloo, Iowa ►  Waterloo Riverfront Stadium (4,277)

Weekend Game Times

Friday:             7 p.m. EST

Saturday:         3 p.m. EST

Sunday:           2 p.m. EST

* If inclement weather on Sunday, the last two games will be played as a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. EST

Indiana State Probable Starters

Friday:             #23 Eric Valdez, Jr., RHP

Saturday:         #17 Jake Petricka, So., RHP

Sunday:           #42 Joe Rodriguez, Jr., LHP

Northern Iowa Probable Starters

Friday:             #4 Nick Kirk, Sr., LHP

Saturday:         #34 Derek Ott, Jr., RHP

Sunday:           #25 Carlos Pinedo, Jr., RHP

Setting The Scene

            Indiana State (14-10, 1-3 MVC) continues a long road swing this weekend, when the Sycamores travel to Waterloo, Iowa, to face off against  the Northern Iowa Panthers (12-13, 2-4 MVC) at Riverfront Stadium.

            The Sycamores are coming off their biggest rest of the season, as the team has not played a game since last Friday at Illinois State.  ISU began an eight-game road swing at the newly constructed Duffy Bass Field against Redbirds, but it was the not the start the they had hoped for as the Redbirds scored 11 runs in three innings to pick up an 11-6 win in the first game of the weekend series.

            A solo home run off the bat of Luke Fieser in the top of the fifth inning cut the Illinois State lead to 5-3, however the Redbirds answered with six runs on six hits in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead to 11-3.  Fieser finished the day 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a RBI, while Kyle Burnam and Tyler Graham each added two hits for the Sycamores.

            ISU never got a chance to get revenge, however, as the remaining two games of the season were cancelled due to inclement weather.  Rainy and windy conditions forced Saturday's game to be postponed to a doubleheader on Sunday, but rain throughout the night and a light snowfall on Sunday morning forced an end to the series.

            With no mid-week games this week for the Sycamores, the team will take the field on Friday against the Panthers for the first time in almost a week.  ISU does so with several hot hitters at the plate, including junior Ryan Strausborger who carries an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend.  Designated hitter Tyler Graham has hit safely in his last seven game and Fieser is on a four-game hitting streak, after snapping a 12-game streak earlier in the season.

            The Panthers come in as winners of four of their last five games, including a 2-1 series win last weekend at Evansville.  UNI then came home and defeated Clarke College in its home opener on Tuesday by a score of 9-6 to open the week.

            From there, UNI headed to Minneapolis to face off against the No. 25 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers.  After falling behind 6-1 in the fifth inning, the Panthers out scored Minnesota 8-1 in the final four innings to take a 9-7 win from the Gophers Wednesday night in the Metrodome. 

            Jeff Taliaferro was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Panthers, while Cory Ege and Brett Douglas each added two hits for UNI in the win over the Gophers.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) begins his third season as the Sycamore skipper (58-68) 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.

Rick Heller (Upper Iowa ?86) is in his 10th season as the head baseball coach at Northern Iowa (258-265-1).  Last season, Heller earned his 200th win with the Panthers, as well as his 500th win as a head coach. In his ten seasons at the helm of the program, he has led the Panthers to three MVC tournaments, winning the Championship in 2001 with all-American Ryan Brunner claiming the league MVP award and all-American Nic Ungs taking home Pitcher of the Year honors. Prior to coming to UNI, Heller spent 12 seasons building a nationally-ranked program as the head coach at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa (291-194-3).

Scouting The Panthers

►        The University of Northern Iowa is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and has an enrollment of 12,908 students.  The Panthers are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at Waterloo Riverfront Stadium (4,277).

►        The Panthers finished with an overall record of 30-24 during the 2008 season and posted a 14-10 record in the Valley, which placed them in fourth place in the conference standings. 

►        Northern Iowa returns 11 lettermen from last year's team, including three position starters and two starting pitchers.

►        Conference play has been good to UNI sophomore shortstop Cory Ege. Ege was hitting .250 entering league action, but he is 10-of-23 (.435) from the plate in UNI's six MVC games to boost his season average to .307.

►        UNI senior Deric Manrique enters the week just two stolen bases shy of tying the UNI career record in that category. He has tallied 63 stolen bases in his career, three shy of the mark set by Eric Snider from 1986-87. Manrique is 15-of-16 on steal attempts this season.

►        Nick Kirk is leading the Panthers with 42 strikeouts, averaging seven per start. That total ranks second in the MVC, and his ERA of 2.30 is the fourth-lowest in the league.

►        Junior college transfer Travis Bennett has made a good impression through his first 23 games with the Panthers. He leads UNI with a .3889 average, and he leads the Valley with 28 RBIs. He also leads the league lead with 10 doubles, and he is second in the MVC with 37 hits.

►          UNI will play five games this week, four of them at home at Riverfront Stadium. UNI defeated Clarke College in its home opener on Tuesday by a score of 9-6 to open the week.

►        After falling behind 6-1 in the fifth inning on Wednesday, the Panthers out scored No. 25 Minnesota 8-1 in the final four innings to take a 9-7 win from the Gophers Wednesday night in the Metrodome.  Jeff Taliaferro was 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Panthers, while Cory Ege and Brett Douglas each added two hits for UNI.

A Long Layoff For The Sycamores

The college baseball season is a grind, with as many as five games in a normal week for most teams.  However, the Sycamores have had a pretty big layoff to rest some aches and pains, after not playing since last Friday at Illinois State.  The final two games of the series against the Redbirds were cancelled due to rain and snow, the first of the season to be cancelled for the Sycamores.  In addition, ISU did not play any mid-week games for the first time this season, meaning the Sycamores have not played a game in almost a week.

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.

Mid-Week Success

Collegiate baseball mid-week games have a reputation of being high-scoring affairs and often not very fun for teams.  However, the Sycamores seem to be having a lot of fun during their mid-week games this season as they have posted a 5-1 record in those contests.  ISU is a perfect 5-0 at home in mid-week games and their only loss away from the weekend came on March 4 at Austin Peay.  In the team's five mid-week wins at home, the Sycamores have scored 65 runs while giving up just 25 to their opponents.

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 his first home run of his career at ISU to cap off the power display 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 in Bloomington, Ind.

Fieser's Gone Streaking

Junior third baseman Luke Fieser has made an immediate impact in the Sycamore lineup in his first season at ISU and had a 12-game hitting streak heading into the series opening game against Creighton.  Unfortunately, that streak was snapped on Friday with a 0-for-3 performance at the plate against the Jays in the series opener.  But, Fieser bounced back and has picked up hits in his last four games to keep his hot streak in tact.  He has now hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games and during that time, the Woodinville, Wash., native has posted a .436 average with 24 hits a home run and eight RBI.  In addition, Fieser has raised his season batting average from .294 to .403, which currently leads the way for the Sycamores in that category.

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 last 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. 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 in last Wednesday's 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 chipped in with at least one hit in the team's 23-3 rout over Butler last Wednesday.  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.

Scoring Runs At Will

With 186 runs scored in their first 23 games of the season (8.1 runs per game), it looks as if the Sycamores will have no problem scoring runs in 2009.  ISU has scored 10 or more runs eight times during the season, including a 23-3 victory last week against in-state foe Butler at Sycamore Field and a 14-6 win over in-state rival Ball State on Wednesday at home.  Those runs are coming via 11 hits per game from Sycamores batters and several of those runs have come from the 24 home runs hit by ISU sluggers.  Last season, the Sycamores averaged 6.9 runs per contest while compiling a total of 504 hits and 36 home runs as a team.

These Guys Can Hit

The offensive numbers the Sycamores have put up through the first 22 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 runs scored (186), on base percentage (.404), hits (258), doubles (47), RBI (170), total bases (393) and being hit by pitches (34).  The Sycamores also rank second in the conference in batting average (.307), slugging percentage (.468), triples (8) and home runs (24).

Petricka Spoils The Sweep

Heading into Sunday's series finale against Memphis on March 15, 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.

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 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.

That's A Good Day's Work

Senior reliever Matt Shelton started the season off right, 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.