KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – After opening the home portion of their 2014 schedule with a series sweep of the Western Illinois Leathernecks, the Indiana State baseball team is hoping to play one more in the friendly confines before hitting the road for the fourth time this season.
Indiana State (12-1) has won 12 straight games since opening the season with a 4-0 loss to the Auburn Tigers at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., which is the best start for a Sycamore team through the first 13 games of the season.
The Sycamores are scheduled to host the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (4-9) at 3 p.m. (ET) Wednesday on Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium. The Cougars opened their Ohio Valley Conference season last weekend by taking two of three games from Eastern Illinois in a series played at Edwardsville.
Indiana State will have their bags packed before the game and leave for Wilmington, N.C., after the contest where they will take on the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks (6-8) for a three-game weekend series. The Sycamores and Seahawks are scheduled to open the series at 4 p.m. (ET) Friday with Saturday's game scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (ET) and the finale on Sunday at 12 p.m. (ET).
SERIES NOTES:
This will be the 11th meeting between Indiana State and SIU Edwardsville with the Sycamores holding a 6-4 edge in the series which began in 2008. SIUE won both games in 2013 as they defeated Indiana State 6-3 in Terre Haute and won 9-8 in Edwardsville. The Sycamores did sweep the season series in 2012 as they won 10-2 in Terre Haute and 5-1 at Edwardsville.
When the Seahawks and Sycamores take the field on Friday it will be only the second time that the two schools have met on the baseball diamond. UNC-Wilmington won the previous meeting when they edged Indiana State 4-3 at the Lamar Tournament in Beaumont, Tex., in 2005.
SYCAMORE WINNING STREAK REACHES 12
The Sycamores are off to the best start in school history with 12 victories through the first 13 games of the season. The 1979 team won 15 of their first 17 games which included an 11 game win streak after starting the year 4-2. The school record for the longest winning streak belongs to the 1986 team that recorded 16 straight wins during the season. The 2003 and 2012 teams each had 13 game winning streaks while the 1998 team had two streaks of 12 straight wins during the season sandwiched around a pair of losses.
LAST TIME OUT
The Sycamores recorded their second series sweep of the season as they opened the 2014 home campaign by taking three games from the visiting Western Illinois Leathernecks.
David Stagg won his fourth game in four starts as Indiana State opened the series on Saturday with a 4-2 victory.
Josh Dove recorded the win in relief of starter Brad Lombard in the series second game on Sunday as the Sycamores rallied late to win 8-5.
Kurt Kudrecki worked late into the eighth inning, his longest start of the season, and recorded the win on Monday as the Sycamores took the series with a 7-4 win over the Leathernecks with Ryan Keaffaber picking up his sixth save in seven attempts.
Mike Fitzgerald belted his second home run of the season and had five RBI while hitting .375 in the three games. Manuel Estevez recorded his first hit as a Sycamore in a big way with a solo home run Monday. Tyler Wampler (.500) and Derek Hannahs (.455) were the big hitters during the three games for Indiana State.
