The Indiana State baseball team opens up the home portion of their 2012 schedule this week, hosting Eastern Illinois on Tuesday and in-state rival Indiana on Wednesday at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium. First pitch for both games is set for 3:00 p.m. in Terre Haute and can be heard live on 89.7 FM WISU.

The Sycamores have won six of their last seven games over the last two weekends, including a series victory at Eastern Kentucky last weekend.

Probable Indiana State Pitching Rotation
Tuesday: Kyle Rupe (Fr. -- RHP -- 6-1 -- 175 -- Indianapolis, Ind. -- Perry Meridian HS)
Last Start: Allowed one hit in five shutout innings at Alabama A&M in a 7-0 ISU victory
Wednesday: Sean Manaea (So. -- LHP -- 6-5 -- 215 -- Wanatah, Ind. -- Andrean HS)
Last Start: Went five innings at EKU in game two of the DH, allowing six runs on six hits

A Little History -- Eastern Illinois
Tuesday's game between Indiana State and Eastern Illinois will be the 194th meeting between the schools in a series that dates back to the 1905 season. ISU holds a 109-84 advantage in the contests, as the EIU series has the most total games of any in Indiana State's history. Indiana State won the only meeting between the schools last season, as the Sycamores won 5-2 in Terre Haute on March 30. The Sycamores have won six of the last seven meetings in the series, including four in a row in Terre Haute.

Scouting The Panthers
Eastern Illinois enters the week at 4-5 on the season, seeing their three-game winning streak come to an end on the final day of the Dunn Hospitality Diamond Classic in Evansville, Ind., this past weekend. The Panthers started their three-game streak with a 3-2 victory at nationally-ranked Louisville on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Sophomore Jacob Reese leads three Panthers that hit .379 or above, checking into Tuesday's game at .394 (13-for-33) on the season. Junior Ryan Dineen (.379, 11-for-29, seven RBIs) and redshirt senior David Ciaglia (.379, 11-for-29, two home runs) also lead the EIU offensive attack. Tuesday's starter Andrew Grahn, a freshman right-handed pitcher, has made one start and one appearance out of the bullpen, going 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings on the mound.

A Little History - Indiana
Wednesday's game will be the 95th meeting between the Sycamores and Hoosiers in a series that dates back to 1898. Indiana leads the all-time series by a 54-39-1 mark, including a pair of victories last season. IU won 6-4 in Terre Haute on March 9 and in 6-3 in Bloomington on April 13. Since the start of the 2000 season, the Hoosiers hold an 8-7 advantage over the Sycamores.

Scouting The Hoosiers
Indiana enters the week at 3-6 on the season, falling in five of their last six games. IU plays at nationally-ranked Louisville on Tuesday before coming to Bob Warn Field on Wednesday. The Hoosiers lost two out of three games this past weekend in a road series at East Tennessee State. Freshman Kyle Schwarber leads the team with a .303 (10-for-33) batting average and three home runs this season while freshman Chris Sujka tops the roster with 11 RBIs. Preseason All-American pick Micah Johnson has started the year in slump, hitting .143 (3-for-21) this season after checking in at .335 with 70 hits in his sophomore season.

Breaking Out The Bats
Indiana State hit nine home runs during their three-game weekend at Eastern Kentucky, with three each coming off the bats of senior Jon Hedges and junior Robby Ort while junior Jeremy Lucas hit two and redshirt junior Koby Kraemer hit one. Hedges hit two shots in Sunday's series finale, the first time a Sycamore has hit two in one game since Ort did it during his freshman season at The Citadel on April 9, 2010. Ort was followed twice for back-to-back home runs, as Ort and Lucas when back-to-back in the fourth inning of game two of the series before Ort and Hedges combined in the fifth inning of game three. The last time a pair of Sycamores had hit two consecutive home runs was when Lucas and Bryan Chestnut did so to end a string of four consecutive home runs at Saint Louis on March 16, 2010.

Leading Off
Freshman Landon Curry was moved into the leadoff spot over the final three games of the Bulldog Classic, sparking ISU's offense that scored 36 runs in those three games. Curry has made the leadoff spot his home, hitting .481 (13-for-27) with 13 runs scored and a .571 on-base percentage in the leadoff role. ISU's offense has also made a turn for the better, averaging 11.7 runs per game and going over 10 runs in five of the six games with the ISU newcomer digging into the batter's box first.

Scoring First
The Sycamores scored the first run in 36 of their 57 games last season, including 24 times in the first inning. Last season, ISU went 23-13 in games that they scored first with a 15-9 record when tallying a run in the opening frame. This season, ISU is 6-2 when scoring first and has scored in the first inning in five of their last six games.

Getting To The Seventh
Under head coach Rick Heller, Indiana State is 50-9 in games that they hold a lead heading into the seventh inning. When the Sycamores have trailed after the sixth inning, ISU is 9-37.

Allowing Big Innings
Under head coach Rick Heller, the Sycamores are 42-12 when the team does not allow a three-run inning during a game. When Indiana State does allow at least three runs to be scored in one inning during a game, ISU holds a 28-39 record.

Rounding The Bases
Indiana State scored 36 runs over the final three games of the Bulldog Classic, their most in a three-game span since scoring 42 runs in wins over Eastern Kentucky (14-5), Illinois-Springfield (13-1) and Butler (15-3) on March 20-23 last season.

Shut 'Em Down
The ISU pitching staff combined for three shutouts in their four games during the Bulldog Classic. The last time ISU turned in three shutouts in four games came back in 1999 when ISU shut down Wisconsin-Parkside (12-0), Eastern Illinois (4-0) and Viterbo (4-0) on March 6-13.

Three Runs Or Less
The key to Indiana State's success last season started on the mound and on defense. The Sycamores were 22-2 in 2011 when they allowed three runs or less to their opponents, but just 7-26 when their opposition reached the four-run plateau. That same success has carried over to this season, as ISU is 4-1 when allowing three runs or less.

Back-To-Back Winning Seasons Under Heller
The Sycamores finished the 2011 season at 29-28 overall, their second straight winning season under head coach Rick Heller. It was the 69th winning season in program history. ISU has tallied three-straight winning seasons, their first three in a row stretch since 2001-03.

On To The Next One...
ISU will play their next six games on their home field, taking on Tennessee Martin in a three-game set this weekend before wrapping up the homestand against SIU Edwardsville next Tuesday. All six games of the homestand can be heard live on 89.7 FM WISU.