TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Baseball team will play a pair of midweek games on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon against the Purdue Boilermakers and the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The Sycamores will welcome Purdue to Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium Tuesday evening, with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. The next day, ISU will travel to Charleston, Ill. to take on the Panthers with first pitch at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
Week Schedule vs. Purdue and Eastern Illinois
Tuesday: vs. Purdue, 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Wednesday: at Eastern Illinois, 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Probable Pitchers
Tuesday: Trent Lunsford (0-1, 15.0, 7.80 ERA, 11 K's)
Wednesday: TBA
A Little History -- Purdue
The Sycamores lead the all-time series with the Boilermakers by a 35-28-2 margin. Over the last 15 seasons, the Sycamores have posted a 5-6 record over that span and have won the last three meetings with the Boilermakers. ISU and Purdue took a six-year hiatus from playing each other from 2007-2011, before resuming the series in West Lafayette, resulting in a 1-2 loss for ISU to the then-13th ranked Boilermakers.
Scouting the Boilermakers
Purdue enters the contest with a 10-21 overall record and was swept by Iowa over the weekend. Comparable opponents include a three-game series with Big Ten opponent Rutgers. Purdue lost two of three games against the Scarlet Knights over the weekend of Mar. 20-22nd. Purdue also fell 8-2 to Ball State before being swept by Butler in a three game series.
At the plate, the Boilermakers are led by Kyle Wood who has started and played in 30 games for the Boilermakers. The redshirt junior has hit for a .351 (39-for-111) average while hitting seven doubles. Wood also leads the team with four home runs and has driven in 20 runs. Other notable performers for the Boilermakers include Brandon Krieg who has a .276 (35-for-127) average in 31 games this season, while hitting nine doubles and one triple. Kyle Johnson has racked up 19 RBI in the 2015 season while hitting for a .229 (24-for-105) average. Johnson has seven extra-base hits on the year including one homer.
Purdue's projected starter is RHP Gavin Downs. The junior is currently 2-2 with 15 appearances and four starts. Downs has a 7.34 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched and has given up 40 hits, 28 runs, 25 earned, walked 14 and struck out 20. Joe Eichmann has earned the most saves for the Boilermakers, picking up two in 15 appearances. Eichmann has a 3.10 ERA in 20.1 innings pitched while giving up 29 hits, nine runs; all earned walking 13 and striking out 10.
A Little History -- Eastern Illinois
The Sycamores and the Panthers have met a total of 196 times on the baseball diamond. ISU holds a 111-85 advantage over EIU and won the last meeting between the two schools. Over the last ten meetings, the Sycamores are 7-3 including winning seven of the last eight. In 2014, ISU defeated the Panthers in Charleston, Ill. by a score of 6-4. Eastern Illinois took the contest in 2013, 5-3 in the first win for the Panthers against the Sycamores since 2007.
Scouting the Panthers
The Panthers are coming off of their first victory of the 2015 season, a 14-2 drubbing of Tennessee Tech. The Panthers opened the season with 23-straight losses before Sunday afternoon. Some notable opponents for the Panthers include a pair of SEC opponents with Georgia and Arkansas.
The Panthers will send LHP Garrison Stenger to the mound to take on the Sycamores. Stenger on the season is 0-6 in seven starts this season while posting a 12.24 ERA. Stenger has logged 25.0 innings, giving up 36 hits, 37 runs, 34 earned, walked 21 and struck out 28. Opponents are batting .340 against him and he has allowed 13 extra-base hits.
At the plate, the Panthers are led by Caleb Howell. Howell has hit for a .337 (28-for-83) average with 13 RBI and nine doubles. Brant Valach has provided the thump for the Panther lineup, hitting .299 (26-for-87) average with four long balls on the year. Valach also has knocked in 14 runs and scored 13. The RBI leader for Eastern Illinois is Demetre Taylor, who has recorded 17 RBI while hitting for a .306 (22-for-72) average.
Midweek Sweep
Last week, the Sycamores played in their first midweek games since playing Nebraska on Mar. 17th and 18th, a pair of one run losses. Against Butler and Ball State, the Sycamores were 2-0. Both games were played at Bob Warn Field. ISU looks to repeat this feat against the Boilermakers and Panthers.
Young's Yahtzee's
Andy Young did something Saturday evening that is extremely rare in baseball. Not only is it rare to come up to bat in the same inning, but 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 and Ice
This last week Sycamore centerfielder Landon Curry was hit by the 50th pitch of his career. Curry, who has hit in the lead-off spot for 174 times since his freshman season, extended the career record after getting hit in the game against Ball State. Kevin Egli held the record before the season started, getting hit 43 times in his career from 2000-03. Curry also needs 10 stolen bases this season to etch his name into the ISU record book and tie him for sixth-most all-time.
Good Company
Redshirt Junior Jeff Degano currently has a streak of seven consecutive quality starts for the Sycamores. It is 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 just a few innings. In Keaffaber's three starts, he has pitched over six innings, allowing no more than two earned runs in each. Keaffaber has struck out eight hitters over the three starts, with a season-high five against Canisius in his first start of the year.
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 .337 (28-for-83) 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 played two games at first, including starting against Nebraska on March 18th, where he hit his first home run of the season.
#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 46.2 innings, allowing 12 runs; nine earned, 32 hits, and struck out a team-high 56, including a career-high 10 in three-straight appearances against Youngstown State, Canisius and Missouri State. Degano has also recorded six quality starts in a row. A quality start is 6.0 innings pitched, allowing three or fewer earned runs.
Extra Credit
During the Indiana State Tournament, the Sycamores found their power stroke, belting 20 extra base hits. Five Sycamores hit two doubles, as well as four hitting triples. Andy Young and Taylor Steen hit their first career home runs as Sycamores. Jacob Hayes showed his speed with two triples, bringing his season total to three. Hayes hit four during the 2014 season.
Speed Kills
ISU showed off their team speed during the Indiana State Tournament, hitting five triples, by four different players. The Sycamores also stole six bases in eight attempts. ISU's running game causes issues for pitchers, as Indiana State base runners constantly require attention from opposing pitchers. The Sycamores also took advantage of six opponent errors to score four unearned runs.
Early Season Recognition
The Sycamores placed four players on the Warhawk Classic All-Classic team during the weekend of Feb. 13-15 at the Warhawk Classic hosted by UL-Monroe. Position players Derek Hannahs, Kaden Moore and Andy Young earned a spot, along with pitcher Michael Eberle. ISU went 2-1 in games in Louisiana, placing second at the Classic.
Brothers in Arms
Redshirt juniors, Jeff Degano and Greg Kuhlman made their first appearances since 2013, on Opening Weekend. Both are coming off of arm injuries which didn't allow them to appear on the diamond for ISU in 2014. Kuhlman, prior to 2015, had a 3-3 career record and a 5.38 ERA after appearing in 27 games and making five starts. Degano, a transfer from Marshalltown CC, started in three games in 2013, posting an 0-1 record in 8.2 innings pitched. The pair of southpaws started Saturday and Sunday of Opening Weekend. The Sycamores featured an all-lefty rotation in the first weekend of the year at the Warhawk Classic in Monroe, La. with senior David Stagg getting the ball on Friday night.
Preseason Poll
ISU placed fourth in the MVC preseason poll with 42 points. Dallas Baptist is 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 1-2 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 first 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.
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 185 and played in 188 of the 190 games for the Sycamores since arriving in the 2012 season. Curry has a career .282 batting average and 58 stolen bases. Curry needs 10 stolen bases to tie for sixth-place all-time at ISU. Curry has hit in the lead-off spot 172 times of his 185 games played. 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 made the most of his one career home run, belting a grand slam against Ball State in 2012. Curry also holds the record for most times being hit-by-pitch at ISU with 49. Curry has also set a school record after getting reaching base via hit-by-pitch against Ball State. It was the 50th time Curry has reached on a hit-by-pitch.
Return to Action
The Sycamores are scheduled to return to action April 10th through the 12th as they play host to the Southern Illinois Salukis for the fourth Missouri Valley Conference series of the season. Currently ISU is 3-6 in the Valley, placing sixth in the eight-team league.
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.
