Games 29-31  ► Indiana State (17-11, 4-3 MVC) at Bradley (11-16, 0-4 MVC)

April 10-12, 2009  ►  Terre Haute, Ind.   ►   Sycamore Field (1,500)   ►   89.7 FM WISU

Game Times

Friday:             3:00 p.m. EST

Saturday:         1:00 p.m. EST

Sunday:           1:00 p.m. EST

Bradley Probable Starters

Friday:             #24 Brad Altbach, Jr., RHP

Saturday:         #27 Collin Brennan, Sr., RHP

Sunday:           #25 Rob Scahill, Jr., RHP

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

            Indiana State (17-11, 4-3 MVC) returns home for the first time in five games on Friday, when it begins a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series against Bradley (11-6, 0-4 MVC) at Sycamore Field.  First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST in the first game of the series, with 1 p.m. EST starting times on Saturday and Sunday.

            The Sycamores were scheduled to play two games mid-week, but Tuesday's contest at Miami (Ohio) was cancelled due to cold and snowy conditions in Oxford, Ohio.  So, on Wednesday the Sycamores played their only tune up for the weekend series at Eastern Illinois.  The Panthers pounded out a season-high seven home runs en route to a 25-7 defeat over the Sycamores to even their season series with ISU at 1-1.

            Last weekend, ISU swept Valley foe Northern Iowa on the road in Waterloo, Iowa.  ISU starter Eric Valdez (2-2) was solid on the mound for the Sycamores in the first game of the series on Friday, as he allowed just three earned runs on four hits in 7.2 innings of work.  The right-hander also struck out 12 UNI batters, his second 10+ strikeout performance of the season, while walking just two hitters.

            Nick Ciolli finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI and Bronco Lafrenz also finished 2-for-4 with a couple of RBI.  Ryan Strausborger picked up two hits, which extended his hitting streak to nine games, and Tyler Graham extended his hitting streak to eight games with a hit on Friday.

            ISU then took both games of a doubleheader on Saturday, with a 13-4 win in game one and a 5-1 victory in game two that secured the series sweep.  In game one, Jake Petricka (3-1) battled on the mound and picked up the victory, as he allowed just one earned run and two runs overall while scattering 10 hits over 5.2 innings of work.  He was helped on offense by Strausborger, who finished the game with a season high 4-for-6 effort with three runs scored for ISU.  Ciolli also finished the game 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI.

            Joe Rodriguez (3-1) was stellar on the mound in game two and picked up the win, as he allowed just one earned run on five hits while striking out six in 8.1 innings of work.  Luke Fieser finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBI for ISU, while Brady Shoemaker finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI.  Strausborger also finished with two hits in the game, giving him six on the day and eight in the three-game series.

            Bradley heads into the weekend having won five out of its last six games, including a doubleheader sweep at home over Chicago State on Wednesday.  On Tuesday, the Braves dropped an 11-9 decision to in-state rival Illinois, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) begins his third season as the Sycamore skipper (61-69) 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.

Elvis Dominguez (Creighton ?86) is in his first season as the head coach at Bradley (11-16).  Prior to taking over the helm at Bradley, Dominguez was the head coach at Eastern Kentucky from 2002-2008.  He compiled a 178-199-2 overall record in his seven years with the Colonels, but after enduring a 15-40 record in his first season in 2002, Dominguez's teams were 163-159-2 the last six years.  During his 18-year college coaching career, Dominguez has recruited and coached eight players that advanced to the major leagues, 22 All-Americans and three Ohio Valley Conference Players of the Year. 

Scouting The Braves

►        Bradley University is located in Peoria, Ill., and has an enrollment of 6,055 students.  The Braves are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at O'Brien Field (6,500).

►        The Braves finished with an overall record of 26-28 during the 2008 season and posted a 10-14 record in the Valley, which placed them in sixth place in the conference standings and qualified them for the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

►        Bradley has played just four Missouri Valley Conference games so far, going 0-4 in those contests.  The final two games of their weekend series at home against Wichita State were rained out on March 27-28, the same weekend the Sycamores had to cancel the final two games of their series at Illinois State.  The Braves have also had their “bye week” during conference play, as they won the final three games of a four-game series against North Dakota April 3-5.

►        On Tuesday night, Bradley fell to Illinois 11-9 at Illinois Field and snapped a series-long five-game winning streak against the Illini.  Illinois had not defeated the Braves (9-16) since April 6, 1999.

►        Bradley built a 10-2 cushion then survived a seventh-inning rally to earn a 10-8 victory in the opening game of the doubleheader against Chicago State in Wednesday's doubleheader at O'Brien Field.  The Braves then rallied from a 5-2 deficit by scoring six runs in the fifth inning en route to an 8-5 victory in the nightcap to pick up the sweep.

►        Freshman right-hander Justin Ziegler (1-0) cruised through the first six innings to pick up his first career win on Wednesday against Chicago State.  Ziegler limited the Cougars to two runs, one earned, on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts before giving way to the Bradley bullpen to start the seventh inning.

►        Senior Tommy Fitzgerald has led the way at the plate for the Braves with a .333 batting average in 27 games.  The left-handed hitter is tied for the team lead with 30 hits and three home runs and is tied for third in RBI with 17.

►        The Braves have struggled on the mound heading into the weekend with a 6.59 team ERA in 27 games.  Bradley's weekend starters Brad Altbach (1-4, 7.39 ERA), Collin Brennan (0-2, 8.13 ERA) and Rob Scahill (1-0, 5.60 ERA) have combined to start 16 games for the Braves and have posted just two wins in those outings.  Reliever Bryan Porter leads the way on the mound with a 2-1 record and 3.52 ERA.

Handling The Bat With Ease

Junior second baseman Ryan Strausborger set the table for the Sycamores at the top of the lineup, as the ISU leadoff man hit .571 (8-for-14) with a triple and five runs scored in a three-game weekend sweep over UNI.  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 run scored in the second game to help the Sycamores secure the series sweep.

Get Out Your Brooms

Weekend sweeps on the road in Missouri Valley Conference play are hard to come by for any team and before last weekend's 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 also its first since last season, when the team won its last three games of the year at home 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 last weekend's 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 .309 team batting average.  However, it was a trio of strong pitching performances last weekend 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.

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 Leading The Way

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.  After that streak was snapped, Fieser has hit safely in 18 of his last 20 games and during that time, the Woodinville, Wash., native has posted a .435 average with 30 hits, three doubles, a home run and 12 RBI.  In addition, Fieser has raised his season batting average from .294 to .393, 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 219 runs scored this season (8.1 runs per game), the Sycamores have had no problems scoring runs in 2009.  ISU has scored 10 or more runs nine times during the season, including a 23-3 victory against in-state foe Butler at Sycamore Field and a 14-6 win over in-state rival Ball State at home.   Last season, the Sycamores averaged 6.9 runs per contest while compiling a total of 504 hits and 36 home runs as a team.

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.

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.