TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Sycamore baseball team heads to Normal, Ill. to take on the Illinois State Redbirds in the final series of the season. The Sycamores and the Redbirds will play a Thursday, Friday, Saturday series as the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is set to begin on Wednesday in Wichita, Kan. The Sycamores enter with a 25-23 record, and 6-12 in the Valley. Illinois State is 26-23, and 8-10 in the Valley.
Weekend Schedule vs. Illinois State
Thursday: vs. Illinois State, 7:00 p.m.
Friday: vs. Illinois State, 3:00 p.m.
Saturday: vs. Illinois State, 2:00 p.m.
Probable Pitchers
Thursday: Jeff Degano (LHP, R-Jr., 6-3, 2.72 ERA, 112 K's)
Friday: Ryan Keaffaber (LHP, So., 1-4, 2.87 ERA, 44 K's)
Saturday: TBA
A Little History -- Illinois State
The Sycamores and the Redbirds have played in 171 games, with the Sycamores holding a 95-76 advantage. Last season, Indiana State and Illinois State met in Terre Haute, where the Redbirds took two of three from the Sycamores. It was the only Missouri Valley Conference series that the Sycamores lost at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium. Over the last five years, Illinois State has taken 13 of 19 games from Indiana State, including eliminating the Sycamores in the 2010 MVC tournament.
Scouting the Redbirds
Illinois State enters the weekend with a 26-23 overall record, including 8-10 in the Missouri Valley. The Redbirds are coming off of a series with the Bradley Braves where the Redbirds took the final two games in Peoria. Currently, the Redbirds sit in fifth place in the Valley, leading Indiana State by two games. The Sycamores are currently in seventh place in the Valley with a 6-12 conference record.
At the plate, Illinois State is led by Preseason All-MVC selection Paul DeJong. DeJong is hitting for a .347 (70-for-202) average, with 15 doubles to go with a conference-leading 14 home runs and is second in the Valley with 48 RBI and 47 runs scored. Mason Snyder has started in 48 games for the Redbirds and hit for a .300 (54-for-180) average with 14 doubles, five home runs and 35 RBI. Joe Kelch has recorded the highest batting average for the Redbirds, hitting .367 (44-for-120) in 37 games played. Kelch has seven doubles and four homers this season while driving in 23 runs.
On the mound, Illinois State's projected rotation is LHP Jacob Hendren on Thursday, LHP Will Headean on Friday and RHP Steve Heilenbach for the series finale. These three pitchers have the three lowest ERA's of the Illinois State pitching staff. Hendren is 10-1 this season in 13 starts with three complete games. Hendren has worked in 89.2 innings, giving up 29 runs (28 earned), good for a 2.81 Earned Run Average while striking out 82 hitters. Will Headean has started 13 games for the Redbirds, going 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA. In Headean's 81.2 innings, he has allowed 71 hits, 35 earned runs while fanning 82 hitters. Heilenbach has started five games for Illinois State while appearing in 13 on the season. Heilenbach has earned a 4.11 ERA and a 2-2 record in 46.0 innings. Heilenbach has also picked up one of the eight saves for Illinois State. He has given up 35 hits, 27 runs, 21 earned, and struck out 34 hitters this year. Ryan Koziol has earned four saves, the most of any Redbird pitcher. Koziol, a .298 (51-for-171) hitter, has appeared in 16 games on the mound, recording a 1-4 record and a 6.38 ERA.
Cardiac Trees
The Sycamores have had their fair share of close game victories over the last three weeks, including winning in their final at-bat against IU and walking off against Bradley. ISU's last eight wins, four have been walk-offs at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium, with the other four being won in ISU's last at-bat. 14 of the last 15 games have been decided by three runs or less, with ISU winning 10 one-run games during that span.
Tater Total
ISU has hit 29 home runs during the 2015 season, surpassing last season's total by 15. ISU had three different players go yard last week. Connor McClain hit the first home run of the week on Friday night. Belting a go-ahead three-run shot to take an 8-7 lead. Andy Young hit a three-run bomb to take the lead in the first inning of a 4-3 ISU victory. Kaden Moore has found his power stroke, hitting his second home run in as many weeks in the finale on Sunday against SEMO. Moore also went yard in the Tuesday contest with SIUE.
Closing Conway
Austin Conway has emerged as the ISU closer this season after Ryan Keaffaber tranisitoned to a starter. Conway has made the most appearances out of the ISU bullpen, working in 25 of the 48 contests this season. Conway has earned a team-high six saves and a 3-1 record in 45.0 innings. Conway is second on the team with 48 punch outs, and has held opponents to a .186 batting average.
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 29 in 2015. 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 25 wins, 13 have come against teams with winning records, most notably, Vanderbilt, Dallas Baptist and a two-game sweep of Indiana. ISU was competitive in the series with Dallas Baptist and Vanderbilt, 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 12-7 against teams with losing records, including dropping four of five to three teams below .500 during the week of April 6th-12th.
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 four 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. With the injuries, Manny Estevez has emerged as a solid player in the ISU lineup. Estevez has now started in 19 contests and has hit for a .289 (24-for-83) average with two home runs. Estevez has 16 RBI including the game-winning RBI in four contests, and two walk-off hits. For a portion of the season, redshirt senior Derek Hannahs moved from his position at second base, over to first base. Hannahs is hitting .279 (47-for-172) 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 went down after just nine games, 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, providing the chance for Estevez.
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 of innings. Keaffaber has a 2.87 ERA while striking out 44 hitters in 69.0 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 who 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. ISU took both games from IU while splitting with Youngstown State.
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 86.0 innings, allowing 24 runs; 20 earned, 67 hits, and struck out a team-high 104, including 10 in four starts against Youngstown State, Canisius, Missouri State and Southern Illinois and 11 against Bradley on May 1. Against Wichita State, Degano posted a career-high 12 strikeouts and is currently fifth 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.
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 squared 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 207 and played in 210 of the 212 games for the Sycamores since arriving in the 2012 season. Curry has a career .284 batting average and 64 stolen bases. Curry needs four stolen bases to tie for sixth-place all-time at ISU. Curry has hit in the lead-off spot 191 times of his 207 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 54 hit-by-pitches.
Return to Action
The Sycamores are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, May 20th as they travel to Wichita, Kan. to take compete for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at Tyler Field at Eck Stadium. The bracket will be announced on Saturday night after all Missouri Valley teams have finished their contests.
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.
