TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Sycamore baseball team opens up play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against the second seeded Dallas Baptist Patriots. The seventh-seeded Sycamores enter the tournament on a hot streak, going 11-3 in their last 14 games, all but one decided by three runs or less. No seven seed has won the MVC tournament. All games of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will be broadcast on ESPN3, while Indiana State games can be heard on 1230 WIBQ AM in Terre Haute.
Week Schedule at Missouri Valley Tournament
Wednesday: vs. Dallas Baptist, 1:30 p.m.
Thursday: vs. Bradley/Evansville, with win, 5:00 p.m. or with loss, 10:00 a.m. (All times are Eastern)
Probable Pitchers
Wednesday: Jeff Degano (LHP, R-Jr., 7-3, 2.57 ERA, 117 K's)
Thursday: Ryan Keaffaber (LHP, So., 1-5, 3.00 ERA, 46 K's)
A Little History -- Missouri Valley Tournament
The Sycamores have a combined 63-53 record in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, dating back to 1977. In the tournament opening game for ISU, the Sycamores will face off with the Dallas Baptist Patriots. The Patriots enter with a 41-11 overall record, and were 15-6 in the Valley this season. Dallas Baptist took the 2014 tournament, their first as a member of the Missouri Valley. ISU and DBU have never played in the Valley tournament. Last season, Indiana State dropped their games to Bradley and Missouri State and was eliminated from tournament play. This season against the Patriots, Indiana State is 1-2, defeating DBU in the first game of the series 6-5 in Dallas. ISU and DBU played two competitive games to end the series, with the Patriots take two one-run games. The winner of the DBU, ISU game will take on the winner of the Bradley and Evansville game. The loser of each game will face off in an elimination game on Thursday, May 21st at 9:00 a.m.
Scouting the Dallas Baptist Patriots
The Patriots enter the Missouri Valley Tournament with the second overall seed. During the regular season, DBU went 41-11, and 15-6 in the Valley. Two of those six losses came to the first seeded Missouri State Bears. Dallas Baptist enters the tournament ranked 12th in four of five polls, and have been first in the RPI for a number of weeks.
DBU's ace and Friday night starter has been Joseph Shaw. Shaw is 10-2 in 13 starts this year, with a 2.87 earned run average. In his 75.1 innings pitched, he has allowed 66 hits, 26 runs (24 earned), walked 22 and struck out 57. The DBU bullpen has been a contributing factor to the 41 win season for the Patriots, most notably closer Brandon Koch. Koch, a preseason All-MVC selection, Koch has appeared in a team-high 24 games, going 2-2 with a 1.49 earned run average with an MVC-leading 14 saves. The 14 saves tie him for seventh in the NCAA. Koch has given up six earned runs in 36.1 innings, struck out 67 hitters and is holding opponents to a .171 batting average. Chance Adams boasts a 7-1 record in 20 appearances out of the Patriot bullpen, posting a 2.16 earned run average. Adams also has earned two saves in his 50 innings pitched, while giving up 14 runs (12 earned), walking twelve and leading the team with 69 strike outs.
At the plate, DBU is led by their lead-off hitter, second baseman Drew Turbin. Turbin is hitting .344 (62-for-180) with 14 doubles, four triples and three home runs while driving in 31 RBI and scoring 46 runs in 48 games played. The true power threat in the DBU lineup is Justin Wall. Wall is hitting .305 (69-for-226) in 52 games this season. Wall leads the team with nine home runs, and four triples while driving in 48 runs this season. As a team, DBU leads in every major offensive category with the exception of triples, Indiana State leads with 15, DBU has 14 on the season.
Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades
The Sycamores have come on strong as of late, going 11-3 in their last 14 games. During those 11 wins, seven have come in Indiana State's last at bat, including four walk-off wins at Bob Warn Field. Of the last 17 games, 16 have been decided by three runs or less. The one that wasn't, was an 8-2 victory over SIU Edwardsville. Nine of the 11 wins were earned by the Sycamore bullpen, and ISU picked up five saves during that run.
Seed Spoilers
The Sycamores won one Missouri Valley Conference series this season, taking two of three from Illinois State in the final series of the regular season. Indiana State defeated Illinois State 5-3 in 10 innings at Duffy Bass Field on Saturday afternoon. The loss cost the Redbirds a chance at a three seed in the conference tournament. Instead with the loss, Illinois State is the sixth seed and will face Wichita State at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night.
Tater Total
ISU has hit 31 home runs during the 2015 season, surpassing last season's total by 17. ISU used two home runs to take the first game of the series against the Illinois State Redbirds. Andy Young hit his seventh home run of the year to put the Sycamores up 1-0, before Jacob Hayes hit his team-leading ninth home run to increase the lead to 2-0. ISU would later add another run to win 3-0. The 31 team home runs are the most since the 2012 season when nine Sycamores combined to hit 35 dingers.
Awesome Austin
Austin Conway has emerged as the ISU closer this season after Ryan Keaffaber transitioned to a starter. Conway has made the most appearances out of the ISU bullpen, working in 27 of the 51 contests this season. Conway has earned a team-high seven saves and a 4-1 record in 49.0 innings. Conway is second on the team with 51 punch outs, and has held opponents to a .178 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 31 in 2015. The nine 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, and places him second in the Valley in that category.
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 27 wins, 15 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 three 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 contributor in the ISU lineup. Estevez has now started in 22 contests and has hit for a .277 (26-for-94) 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. Four Sycamores have started at first base during the 2015 campaign. Last year's starter Jeff Zahn went down with an injury after 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 3.00 ERA while striking out 46 hitters in 75.0 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 91.0 innings, allowing 30 runs; 26 earned, 75 hits, and struck out a team-high 117, 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 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
No matter the outcome of the MVC tournament, ISU has clinched its seventh winning season in a row on Sunday in Normal, Ill. ISU is currently 27-24, and with the double elimination format of the MVC tournament cannot go under the .500 mark. During the middle of the season, the Sycamores were 13-19, which was the lowest below .500 for the season. After winning six of their last seven, and 11 of their last 14 games ISU is now three games over .500. 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 210 and played in 213 of the 215 games for the Sycamores since arriving in the 2012 season. Curry has a career .283 batting average and 65 stolen bases. Curry needs three stolen bases to tie for sixth-place all-time at ISU. Curry has hit in the lead-off spot 194 times of his 210 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
Depending on the result of Wednesday's game, ISU will play at on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. with a win. A loss will put the Sycamores in the 9:00 a.m. game on Thursday morning.
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.
