Games 45-47 ► Evansville (25-23, 7-11 MVC) at Indiana State (30-14, 12-4 MVC)

May 8-10, 2009  ►  Terre Haute, Ind.  ►   Sycamore Field (1,500)  ►  89.7 FM WISU

Weekend Game Times

Friday:             6 p.m. EST

Saturday:         1 p.m. EST

Sunday:           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

Evansville Probable Starters

Friday:             #20 John Foley, Sr., RHP

Saturday:         #34 Wade Kapteyn, Jr., RHP

Sunday:           #33 Keegan Dennis, Jr., RHP

Setting The Scene

            Winners of four consecutive Missouri Valley Conference series, Indiana State (30-14, 12-4 MVC) will look to make it five in a row with a series victory this weekend against in-state rival Evansville (25-23, 7-11 MVC) in a three-game set at Sycamore Field.

            The weekend will begin with a very special ceremony, as former ISU baseball head coach Bob Warn will be joined by dignitaries for the official groundbreaking of Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium.  The Indiana State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the renaming of the new baseball stadium on Feb. 27, which is tentatively scheduled to begin construction at the end of the 2009 baseball campaign.

            Warn spent 31 seasons as the head coach of the Sycamores, compiling 1,070 career victories and six Missouri Valley Conference Championships.  He was honored three times as Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year and guided his 1986 club to the school's only appearance in the College World Series.  The ceremony is set to begin at approximately 5:45 p.m., with coach Warn throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior ISU's game against in-state rival Evansville at 6 p.m. EST.

            The weekend will continue with a 1 p.m. EST match up on Saturday in game two of the series and will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m. with Senior Day festivities at Sycamore Field.  11 seniors will be honored in a pre-game ceremony in their final Missouri Valley Conference home game.

            The Sycamores are coming off a series win last weekend at Wichita State.  After being shut out 2-0 by WSU starter Tim Kelley in Friday's series opener, ISU rallied for a 9-4 come from behind victory on Saturday and wrapped up the weekend with a 5-3 win over the Shockers on Sunday at Eck Stadium.  With the win, ISU extended its Valley series winning streak to four in a row, its longest since 1998, and picked up its first series win against the Shockers in Wichita since 2001.

            Evansville comes to Terre Haute as winners of five of its last six games and with a 7-11 mark in Valley play.  The Purple Aces are coming off a big road win on Wednesday, as they recorded their third victory of the year over nationally-ranked opponent with a 4-3, 10-inning victory over No. 25 Illinois.  Junior outfielder Jared Baehl was able to reach base on a two-out error in the top of the 10th inning on which junior Tom Heithoff raced all the way home from second base to give UE the victory over the Illini.

            Indiana State leads the all-time series between the two schools 70-52-1.  Last season, the Sycamores dropped two out of three games to the Aces in Evansville at Braun Stadium, with the only win coming via a 14-13 win in game two of the series.

About The Coaches

Lindsay Meggs (UCLA ?93) is in his third season as the Sycamore skipper (74-72) 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.

Wes Carroll (Evansville ?01) is in his first season as the head coach at Evansville.  Carroll was named the 12th head coach in UE baseball history on July 2, 2008, returning to his alma mater.  Carroll earned all-conference and all-region honors on the UE infield during his four-year career (1998-2001), before being named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Centennial Team in 2007 as one of the top players in league history. After retiring from the professional ranks in the spring of 2006, Carroll returned to his alma mater in the summer of 2006 as an assistant coach with the Purple Aces' program.  Carroll's main responsibilities the past two years have included serving as the team's hitting coach and infield coach.

Scouting The Purple Aces

►        The University of Evansville is located in Evansville, Ind., and has an enrollment of 2,593 students.  The Purple Aces are members of the Missouri Valley Conference and play their home games at Braun Stadium (1,200).

►        The Purple Aces finished with an overall record of 14-42 last season and posted a conference mark of 4-20, which placed the Aces in ninth place in the conference standings.  UE returns 26 lettermen from last season and return eight on nine starters in the field.   

►        Junior pitcher Keegan Dennis was named this week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week and was also named one of five “Louisville Slugger” National Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.  Dennis earned both awards after tossing the first no-hitter at Evansville since 2005 on Saturday in the Purple Aces' 9-0 victory over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.  He issued just one walk and one hit batsman, as he faced just two batters over the minimum in his no-hit effort against the Cougars.

►        The Aces are led at the plate by junior catcher Andy Pascoe, who leads the team with a .347 batting average.  He has tallied 52 hits in 45 games and has scored 19 runs and driven in 19.

►        Evansville is coming off a big road win on Wednesday, as the Aces recorded their third victory of the year over nationally-ranked competition with a 4-3, 10-inning victory over No. 25 Illinois.  Junior outfielder Jared Baehl was able to reach base on a two-out error in the top of the 10th inning on which junior Tom Heithoff raced all the way home from second base to give UE the victory over the Illini. 

Hoosier State Supremacy

Indiana State is having one of its best seasons in recent memory, thanks to taking care of business in their own state against in-state foes. After wins against Oakland City and Southern Indiana, the Sycamores improved to 7-0 against teams from the Hoosier State this season.  Indiana State defeated Indiana by a score of 11-2 on March 3 at home and also defeated Division I foes Butler (23-3) and Ball State (14-6) in games at Sycamore Field.  However, it would be premature to give the Sycamores the state title at this point in the season, as they still have a big Missouri Valley Conference series at home against Evansville this weekend.

Home, Sweet Home

After playing the majority of their games on the road last season, the Sycamores have made the most of their home schedule this season.  ISU has posted a 14-2 record in 16 games at Sycamores Field and are hitting .348 as a team with 18 home runs and 158 runs scored after their 11-10 victory over No. 28 Illinois on Wednesday.  In contrast, ISU's opponents are hitting just .290 with eight home runs and 72 runs scored in Terre Haute.  The Sycamores' only two losses at home were to Valley foe Creighton in back-to-back losses on March 20-21.

Those Are Some Impressive Numbers

Indiana State was one of the better offensive teams in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, but their numbers this season are threatening to top last year's by a large margin.  With 10 games remaining in the regular season, the Sycamores have posted a .317 batting average, scored 335 runs and collected 471 hits.  Last season, ISU finished with a team average of .287, while scoring 344 runs and collecting 504 hits.  The Sycamores have already topped their home run total from last season, 36, with an even 40 in 2009.

Shoemaker Picks Up Academic All-District Honors

Indiana State senior outfielder Brady Shoemaker was honored for his hard work on the field and in the classroom earlier this week when he was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V First Team selection by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).  Shoemaker, a physical education major with a 3.85 cumulative GPA at ISU, has played and started in all 44 games this season for the Sycamores.  He currently leads the team with a .384 batting and 10 home runs while compiling 14 doubles and 39 RBI.

They're Going Streaking

Indiana State currently leads all teams in the Missouri Valley Conference with a .316 team batting average, thanks to a couple of extremely consistent hitters.  ISU currently has two players with hitting streaks of at least 10 games, led by Luke Fieser's current 19-game streak after already posting a 12-game streak earlier this season.  Fieser's 19-game string is the longest of the season by an ISU player, topping Ryan Strausborger's 15 game streak.  Nick Ciolli is also on a roll, as he brings a 10-game hitting streak into this weekend's series with Evansville rounds out the group with a seven-game streak.

Flashing The Leather

The Sycamores are known for their potent offensive attack, but its their defense that is garnering some national attention.  ISU has a posted a team fielding percentage of .975, which ranks 15th in the country through May 3 according to the NCAA baseball national ranking summary.  However, that mark ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference as Creighton has posted a .982 fielding percentage which ranks second in the country overall.

What A Difference A Year Makes

Indiana State was one of the better offensive teams in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, but their numbers have topped last year's by a large margin.  With seven games remaining in the regular season, the Sycamores have posted a .316 batting average, scored 349 runs and collected 501 hits on way to a 30-14 season record.  Last year, ISU finished with a team average of .287, while scoring 344 runs and collecting 504 hits on way to an 18-32 overall record.  In addition, the Sycamores have already topped their home run total from last season, 36, with 42 in 2009.

Call Him Mr. Consistent

A consistent approach at the plate this season for Luke Fieser has turned him into one of the best hitters on the Sycamores roster and in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The ISU third baseman is third on the team and fourth in the conference with a .373 average (56-for-150) in 43 starts, thanks in part to a couple of long hitting streaks.  The Woodinville, Wash., native posted a 12-game hitting streak earlier in the season and currently has a 19-game streak going.  Overall, Fieser has hit safely in 35 of his last 37 games.

Potent Is An Understatement

The Indiana State offense has been labeled as being potent by many media members, however potent may be too light of an adjective to describe the Sycamores ability at the plate.  ISU currently leads all teams in the Missouri Valley Conference in batting average (.316), slugging percentage (.465), on base percentage (.407), runs scored (349), hits (500), runs batted in (315) and sacrifice bunts (41).  In addition, the Sycamores rank second in home runs (42) and total bases (737).

Scoring Runs At Will

With 349 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 15 times during the season, including a 16-5 victory against in-state foe Oakland City on April 24, a 10-0 shutout of Southern Indiana at Bosse Field on April 25, an 11-0 mercy rule win over Oakland City on April 26 in Evansville and an 11-10 win on Wednesday against No. 28 Illinois on April 29.

Strong Arming The Competition

Last season, the Sycamores had just one pitcher (Matt Shelton) win at least four games on the mound as the team posted an 18-32 record.  However, that trend has changed this season as four Sycamores have four wins or more on the bump which has helped the Sycamores to their first 30-win season since 2005.  Sophomore Jake Petricka (6-1) and junior Joe Rodriguez (6-1) lead the way with six wins each, while junior Eric Valdez (4-3) and senior Matt Shelton (4-1) have recorded four win each. 

The Trees Keep On Rolling

Heading into last weekend's series at Wichita State, Indiana State had won nine straight games in conference play and had swept its last three opponents (UNI, Bradley and Southern Illinois).  The Sycamores were looking to make it four in a row with a series win against the Shockers, but that came in doubt after Friday's 2-0 shutout loss to Tim Kelley.  However, the Trees bounced back with a 9-4 win on Saturday and a 5-3 win in Sunday's series finale.  With the win, ISU extended its Valley series winning streak to four in a row, its longest since 1998.  In addition, the Sycamores picked up their first series victory first against the Shockers in Wichita since 2001.

Let's Play Two

Most teams dread the idea of playing a doubleheader, but Indiana State has come to love double dips this season as the Sycamores are 8-0 in doubleheader action this season.  ISU started early in the year with a two wins on Saturday in its season-opening series at the Citadel (February 21) and has since posted a 6-0 record in doubleheader action in league play with wins against Northern Iowa (April 4), Bradley (April 11) and Southern Illinois (April 18) in consecutive weekends.  In addition, if you figure in ISU's wins over Mount St. Mary's and St. Bonaventure on February 28 at the Palm Beach Classic, ISU is 10-0 when playing two games in a day this season.

Tough Luck For Valdez

Junior starter Eric Valdez wanted to start last weekend's series on a high note for the Sycamores against Wichita State.  The right-hander from Kearney, N.J., did all he could on the mound to help ISU, but he was out-dueled by WSU's Tim Kelley in a 2-0 shutout loss.  Valdez suffered the loss, after allowing just two earned runs on nine hits while striking out eight Shocker hitters in eight innings of work.  With that loss, Valdez is now 4-3 with a 4.02 ERA in 11 starts for the Sycamores in his first season at ISU and leads the team with 65 strikeouts in 71.2 innings of work.

J-Rod Picks Up Fourth Straight Valley Win

Junior starter Joe Rodriguez took the mound last Sunday hoping to give ISU its fourth-consecutive series win in Valley play and its first against Wichita State since 2001.  The Middletown, N.Y., native struggled early against the Shockers, but bounced back to pick up the win in 6.2 innings of work.  Rodriguez allowed three earned runs on five hits through the first three innings of Sunday's start, but rallied to allow just three hits in his remaining 3.2 innings to pick up his fourth win in a row in Valley play and improve his conference record to 4-0.  Overall, Rodriguez scattered eight hits and walked just one while striking out a season-high seven batters.

The Hits Keep Coming For Ciolli

Junior outfielder Nick Ciolli continued his hot hitting last week, as he posted an average of .471 (8-for-15) with five runs scored and three RBI to help the Sycamores to a win over No. 28 Illinois and a weekend series win at Wichita State.  The Terre Haute, Ind., started the week with a 2-for-4 effort with two runs scored and two RBI in Wednesday's 11-10 win over No. 28 Illinois.  He then headed into the weekend against Wichita State and finished the series 6-for-13 against the Shockers, including accounting for three of the team's four hits in Friday's series opener.  During his current 10-game hitting streak, Ciolli has posted a .512 batting average (21-for-41) with a double and seven RBI.

A Reversal Of Roles For Shelton

Senior Matt Shelton spent the majority of his first three seasons on the mound as a starter for the Sycamores.  Prior to this season, Shelton appeared in 41 games with 21 starts and posted a 9-8 overall record.  However, Shelton has embraced his new role at the ISU closer out of the bullpen this season and his numbers have improved significantly.  The right-hander from Loves Park, Ill., is 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 20 appearances for the Sycamores.  He also leads the team with five saves and has struck out 31 batters in 28.1 innings of work.  In Missouri Valley Conference play, he is even more effective as he is 1-0 with a 0.71 ERA and three saves in 12.2 innings on the mound.

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.  With sweep over Bradley and Southern Illinois at home, the Sycamores extended their streak to three-straight series sweeps earlier this season.

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.  

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.

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.