TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Sycamore baseball team welcomes Missouri Valley Conference rival Bradley Braves to Terre Haute this weekend. The Braves and the Sycamores will play a three-game series beginning Friday, May 1st at 6:30 p.m. at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium. Bradley and Indiana State will then play a single game on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with both games beginning at 1:00 p.m. Saturday's contest will be broadcast locally on WAWV ABC in Terre Haute.
Weekend Schedule vs. Bradley
Friday: vs. Bradley, 6:30 p.m.
Heroes Night - $1 general admission tickets for all Military & Emergency Personnel. Addition tickets will pay the group rate of $4.
MVP Appreciation Night - The Sycamore players have selected their MVP's (Most Valuable Professors) to be there guest at tonight's game. Help us show appreciation for what these faculty and staff members mean to our athletes and to the University.
Sycamore Manor Baseball Bingo – all fans can grab their BINGO cards on their way into Bob Warn Field. Fans who play along and win can return the cards to the ticket office to receive their prize, while supplies last.
Saturday: vs. Bradley, 1:00 p.m.
Scout Day – All Boy and Girls Scouts who are in uniform will receive free admission to the game. Additional tickets are $4.
Sunday: vs. Bradley, 1:00 p.m.
Run the Bases – Immediately following the conclusion of the game, all kids eighth grade and under will have an opportunity to run the bases at Bob Warn Field!
Probable Pitchers
Friday: Jeff Degano (6-3, 2.32 ERA, 73.2 IP, 93 K's)
Saturday: Ryan Keaffaber (1-4, 2.62 ERA, 55.0 IP, 34 K's)
Sunday: Ethan Larrison (3-3, 4.67 ERA, 34.2 IP, 22 K's)
A Little History -- Bradley
The Sycamores and the Braves have played 140 times, with ISU holding an 83-57 advantage. In 2014, the teams split their four meetings. The Sycamores won two of three in Peoria during the regular season, before dropping the opening round of the MVC tournament to Bradley in Terre Haute. Over the last five seasons, ISU has gone 9-7 against the Braves, winning four-straight regular season series. The last time ISU swept Bradley was in 2009, winning all three games in Terre Haute.
Scouting the Braves
The Braves enter the series with the Sycamores after falling 6-5 to Milwaukee on Wednesday evening. The Braves are now 29-12 on the season, and 6-5 in the Missouri Valley. Bradley is currently on a two-game losing streak after falling in the finale of the Evansville series 10-0, and dropping the midweek to Milwaukee.
On the mound, the Braves have been able to use the same starting rotation all year. RHP Elliot Ashbeck has been the series starter. Ashbeck is 8-3, with a 3.41 ERA. Ashbeck has logged 66.0 innings, striking out 54 hitters, walking 17, while allowing 34 runs, 25 earned. Bradley's Saturday starter has been junior Steve Adkins. Adkins has thrown in 53.1 innings, going 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA. Adkins has struck out a team-high 56, while walking 19, allowing 22 runs, 17 earned. Sunday's starter will be junior southpaw Brent Stong. Stong has started nine games while earning a 5-3 record, and a 5.34 ERA. Stong has worked 55.2 innings, striking out 38 hitters and walking 15. Matt Dennis has been a solid stopper for the Braves. Dennis was named to the NCBWA National Stopper of the Year watch list earlier this month. Dennis has a 1.64 ERA in 18 appearances, recording 10 saves. Dennis has allowed six runs in 2015, while striking out 32 hitters, walking 12 and holding opponents to a .147 batting average.
At the plate, the Braves are led by outfielder Isaac Smith. Smith is hitting .365 (42-for-115) in 36 starts, with nine extra-base hits. Spencer Gaa leads the team with a .412 (35-for-85) batting average. Gaa also has 11 extra-base hits and has driven in 23. Elliot Ashbeck leads the team with RBI. Ashbeck, normally the Friday night starter, is hitting .289 (26-for-90) in 26 games while driving in 26. Chris Godinez has scored 42 runs on the year, while posting a .286 (34-for-119) average with 16 extra-base hits, including tying for the team-lead with five home runs.
He's the Manny
Manny Estevez delivered clutch hits all last week for ISU Estevez recorded the game-winning RBI in all three contests. Estevez drove in an insurance run against Purdue, which the Sycamores ultimately needed after allowing a run in the ninth to win 7-6. Estevez provided the dramatics on Friday night. With a runner on second and two outs, Estevez belted his second home run of the season to left field and give the Sycamores their first walk-off victory since May 10th, 2014. Estevez came through again on Sunday. With runners on first and second with one out, Estevez single to left field to bring home the game-winning run, helping ISU go 3-0, for their first perfect week of 2015.
Commanding Conway
Austin Conway appeared in two of the three games last week, earning a win and a save in the process. Against Purdue, Conway logged 3.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out a game-high four Boilermakers in route to earning the save in a 7-6 ISU win. Conway picked up the win in the series opener with Arkansas-Little Rock after throwing 2.0 innings, giving up two hits, two runs (one earned), and striking out three hitters. The last Sycamore to pick up a win and a save in the same week was Ryan Keaffaber in 2014. Keaffaber earned the win against Canisius on 4/20/14, before earning the save against Dallas Baptist on 4/25/14.
Hammering Hayes
Jacob Hayes hit six home runs over a span of seven games earlier this season, including a string of five-straight. The Sycamores as a team have already surpassed last year's Tater Total by hitting 21 in 2015. ISU hit 16 in the 2014 season. The eight homers are the most for a Sycamore since 2012 when Jeremy Lucas hit nine in 60 games. Lucas is currently at the AA level playing for the Akron Rubberducks, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Hayes has also hit five triples in 2015, surpassing his total from 2014 and improving his career total to 10.
Playing to Competition
This season the Sycamores have raised their game to be competitive with some of the top teams in the country, on the flip side; ISU has also been in competitive games with teams with losing records. Of the Sycamores 20 wins, nine have come against teams with winning records, most notably, Vanderbilt, Dallas Baptist and a two-game sweep of Indiana. ISU was competitive in both series, winning one in each. Against Dallas Baptist, the Sycamores were outscored by two runs during the course of three games. The Sycamores also have gone just 11-7 against teams with losing records, including dropping four of five to three teams below .500 during the week of April 6th-12th.
Streaks Snapped
Junior third baseman Andy Young had a streak of 21 games reaching base snapped on Wednesday against Eastern Illinois. Young's streak dated back to a Feb. 21st loss at Georgia Tech. Redshirt junior Jeff Degano had made seven-consecutive quality starts before the 4/10 game with Southern Illinois. Degano gave up 12 hits and four earned runs to SIU, while striking out 10 hitters. Degano has fanned 93 hitters in 2015, and allowed just a .226 batting average. The four runs given up are the most since his start against Grambling State on Opening Weekend at the UL-Monroe Warhawk Classic.
MVC Player of the Week
Junior third baseman Andy Young earned Missouri Valley Player of the Week Honors during the week of Mar. 30th-Apr. 5th. During that week, Young hit for a .556 average with four multi-hit performances in five games, and a team-high eight RBI. During the second game against Wichita State, Young led off the eighth inning with a solo home run. After ISU batted around, Young hit his second home run of the inning and the Sycamores erased a four-run ninth inning deficit for the come-from-behind victory.
Young's Yahtzee's
On Saturday Apr. 4th, Andy Young hit two-home runs in the ninth inning of the second game against Wichita State. The first home run sparked an eight-run comeback which saw the Sycamores erase a four-run deficit. Young's second homer was the exclamation point on the inning which put the Sycamores up by four entering the bottom half of the final frame.
Curry's Contusions
Sycamore centerfielder Landon Curry was hit by the 50th pitch of his career against Ball State (Apr. 1). Kevin Egli held the record before the season started, getting hit 43 times in his career from 2000-03. Curry also needs eight stolen bases this season to etch his name into the ISU record book and tie him for sixth-most all-time.
The Curse at First
The Sycamores have seen a revolving door at first base in 2015. Injuries have moved redshirt senior Derek Hannahs from his position at second base, over to first base. Hannahs is hitting .303 (46-for-152) in 2015, and has had the team's highest batting average each of the last two years. Four Sycamores have started at first base during the 2015 campaign. Last year's starter Jeff Zahn has gone down with an injury, which made room for Dane Giesler, a transfer from Wabash Valley CC. Giesler suffered an ACL injury in his first start at first base against Youngstown State. Manny Estevez has started in 12 games after another injury moved Hannahs back to second. Estevez has 15 RBI including the game-winning RBI in four contests.
Good Company
Redshirt Junior Jeff Degano had a streak of seven consecutive quality starts snapped against the Southern Illinois Salukis on Friday, Apr. 10th. It was the longest such streak since Sean Manaea had seven-straight quality starts in 2013. After Manaea's 2013 campaign in which he finished 5-4 with a 1.47 ERA, he was taken in the first round of the June Amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. Manaea is currently ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Royals minor league system.
Keaffaber's Transition
Ryan Keaffaber has transitioned from one of the premier closers in college baseball, to a formidable starter for the Sycamores. After being named to the National College Baseball Writers of America's Stopper of the Year watch list prior to the season, Keaffaber has proven to be a tough out for more than a couple innings. Keaffaber has a 2.62 ERA while striking out 34 hitters in 55.0 innings pitched. Keaffaber took a no-hitter to the eighth inning against Arkansas-Little Rock on April 26th, and on April 11th struck out a career-high eight against Southern Illinois.
#Fearless
Fearless has been the attitude of the 2015 Sycamore Baseball program. This attitude was personified in the second week of the year when a schedule change saw the Sycamores travel to Port Charlotte, Fla. to take on the defending National Champion Vanderbilt Commodores. Vanderbilt took the series 2-1 but the stats during the games were comparable. Runs were tied at 10, the Commodores managed just two more hits than the Sycamores, and ISU issued 12 walks compared to 19 from Vanderbilt. Other opponents for the 2015 season include two teams that ISU saw in the NCAA Bloomington Regional, Indiana and Youngstown State. Dallas Baptist is also on the schedule who is a Top 25 team. Georgia Tech is receiving votes several polls; the Yellow Jackets took three games from ISU during the third week of the season.
Degano's Dominance
Starting pitcher Jeff Degano took over the Friday night starter's role in the series against Georgia Tech. This season Degano has pitched a combined 73.2 innings, allowing 23 runs; 19 earned, 61 hits, and struck out a team-high 93, including 10 in four starts against Youngstown State, Canisius, Missouri State and Southern Illinois. Against Wichita State, Degano posted a career-high 12 strikeouts and is currently seventh in the nation for strikeouts this season. Degano had recorded a streak of seven quality starts in a row before giving up four runs against Southern Illinois. A quality start is 6.0 innings pitched, allowing three or fewer earned runs.
Preseason Poll
ISU placed fourth in the MVC preseason poll with 42 points. Dallas Baptist was the preseason favorite to win the conference, earning seven of the eight possible first place votes and 62 points overall. Missouri State picked up the one other and placed second on the list with 53 total points. Wichita State finished a spot ahead of the Sycamores with 43 points. Rounding out the bottom of the conference was Evansville with 28 points, Illinois State with 26, Bradley with 18, and Southern Illinois with 15.
Preseason All-MVC
Ryan Keaffaber was the lone Sycamore to place on the preseason all-MVC team. Keaffaber is a relief pitcher that finished 2014 with a 3-2 record and a 3.26 ERA. He also was named to the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year. Other members of the preseason all-conference team are as follows: Paul DeJong of Illinois State; Spencer Gaa and Tyler Leffler of Bradley; Daniel Salters, Justin Wall, David Martinelli, and Brandon Koch of Dallas Baptist; Dylan Becker, Tate Matheny, and Jon Harris of Missouri State; and Daniel Kihle and Sam Tewes of Wichita State.
2-for-3
Over the past three seasons, the Sycamores have earned at-large bids into the NCAA Regionals. In 2012, ISU earned a spot in the NCAA Regional in Eugene, Oregon. ISU also earned an at-large bid last season when the Sycamores competed in the NCAA Regional in Bloomington, Ind.
Sycamores against the Big 10
Indiana State has accrued a 4-3 record against the Big Ten Conference. ISU showed its strength against Rutgers, the first of four Big Ten teams ISU will square off with during the regular season. The Sycamores won the contest by a 14-4 tally. The Sycamores then traveled to Lincoln, Neb. where they dropped a pair of one run games at Hawks Field against the Cornhuskers. The Sycamores split their season series with the Purdue Boilermakers, with each team winning when on the road. ISU swept the Indiana Hoosiers for the first time since 2010, winning 6-2 on April 14th, and then 6-5 in ten innings in Bloomington on April 29th.
Lucky Number Seven
ISU is looking to make it seven winning seasons in a row. The Sycamores earned their sixth-straight winning season in 2014 after going 35-18 and earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Bloomington Regional. The six winnings seasons are the longest such streak since the 17-season streak from 1977-1993.
Look at Me, I Can Be Centerfield
Landon Curry has started in 200 and played in 203 of the 205 games for the Sycamores since arriving in the 2012 season. Curry has a career .284 batting average and 60 stolen bases. Curry needs eight stolen bases to tie for sixth-place all-time at ISU. Curry has hit in the lead-off spot 184 times of his 200 games started. On March 18th against Nebraska, Curry hit in the second spot of the lineup, the first time since April 24, 2013 where Curry hadn't hit lead off. It snapped a streak of 84 straight games with Curry being on the top of the lineup card. Curry has two-career home runs. In his freshman season, the lefty belted a grand slam against Ball State, and as a senior, hit a game-tying two-run shot against IU in the ninth inning with two outs. Curry has also set a school record after reaching base via hit-by-pitch against Ball State in 2015. It was the 50th time Curry has reached on a hit-by-pitch. Landon has since added to his career total, with 51 hit-by-pitches.
Return to Action
The Sycamores are scheduled to return to action on Friday, May 8th as they host the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium in a three-game non-conference series.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
