TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State baseball team welcomes in the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State to Terre Haute for the final home series of the 2015 season. The Sycamores and the Redhawks will play games at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, before taking the field at 1:00 p.m. for the finale on Sunday. Saturday's contest will be senior night as the seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium. ISU is 21-23 on the year; the Redhawks enter with a 31-17 overall record. This is the first time that SEMO has made the trip to Terre Haute.
Weekend Schedule vs. Southeast Missouri State
Friday: vs. Southeast Missouri State, 6:30 p.m. – 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. Southeast Missouri State, 6:30 p.m. – Senior Night – seniors will be honored prior to the game in their final weekend series at Bob Warn Field.
Sunday: vs. Southeast Missouri State, 1:00 p.m. – Mother's Day – the Sycamores will honor their mom's during pregame ceremonies – 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, 2.23 ERA, 80.2 IP, 104 K's)
Saturday: Ryan Keaffaber (1-4, 2.77 ERA, 61.2 IP, 37 K's)
Sunday: Ethan Larrison (3-4, 5.58 ERA, 40.1 IP, 24 K's)
A Little History -- SEMO
The Sycamores and the Redhawks have faced twice in baseball, with the Sycamores holding a 2-0 advantage. The two games were played in Cape Girardeau, Mo. in 2006 as ISU swept the two-game series. The Sycamores won the first contest 8-1 before taking the finale 10-6 in 11 innings. SEMO currently holds a 31-17 record. ISU is 0-1 against member of the Ohio Valley, falling to Eastern Illinois earlier in the year.
Scouting the Redhawks
Southeast Missouri State enters the weekend with a 31-17 overall record. The Redhawks are coming off of an 8-5 victory over Missouri in Columbia. SEMO is 2-7 against members of the Missouri Valley, having faced off with Illinois State, Bradley, Missouri State and Southern Illinois before traveling to Terre Haute. SEMO's two MVC victories in a midweek against Southern Illinois and taking one of three from Bradley in the third weekend of the season.
SEMO boasts an impressive .307 team batting average, ranking 14th in NCAA Division I. The Redhawks have also scored 384 runs, currently placing them fourth in Division I in runs scored this season. Their 53 team home runs also places the in the top ten in the nation, coming in seventh. There are eight players who have started at least 30 games and have an average over the .300 mark, along with four players who have hit over five home runs. Andy Lennington has hit for a .346 (55-for-159) average, with 11 doubles and is third on the team with seven home runs. Branden Boggetto leads the Redhawks with nine home runs while hitting for a .309 (60-for-194) while tying for a team-high 47 RBI. Boggetto also has hit 19 doubles, which places him 15th in the nation.
On the mound, the Redhawks have earned a 4.32 team ERA. Joey Lucchesi has been the Friday night starter for SEMO, going 6-1 in nine starts, earning a 3.06 ERA. In 67.2 innings of work, Lucchesi has struck out 75 hitters, while holding opponents to a .196 average against. Travis Hayes worked the contest on Saturday in last weekend's series with Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech. Hayes has started 12 games, earning a 4.93 ERA with a 7-5 record. In 73.0 innings, Hayes has allowed 60 runs, only 40 being earned. Hayes has also struck out 62 hitters, while giving up 16 doubles, a triple and a team-high 10 home runs. Alex Winkelman started the series finale a week ago, throwing 5.2 innings in an 11-10 loss to Tennessee Tech. On the season, Winkelman has gone 3-2 in 12 starts, earning a 3-2 record. Of SEMO's nine saves, Matthew Wade has earned four. Wade has made 17 appearances out of the bullpen, going 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA while striking out 21 hitters.
Cardiac Trees
The Sycamores have had their fair share of close game victories over the last two weeks, including winning in their final at-bat against IU and walking off against Bradley. ISU's last five wins, three have been walk-offs at Bob Warn Field at Sycamore Stadium, against IU it was a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to tie it before a sacrifice fly scored the game-winning run in the 10th.
Tater Total
ISU has hit 25 home runs during the 2015 season, surpassing last season's total by 11 in nine less games. ISU had four different players go yard last week, with Hunter Owen leading the way with two. Landon Curry hit his second-career home run in the top of the ninth inning against IU to tie the game before ISU eventually won in the tenth. Andy Young and Kaden Moore also hit home runs as ISU hit at least one home run in every game last week.
Closing Conway
Austin Conway has emerged as the ISU closer this season. Conway has made the most appearances out of the ISU bullpen, working in 23 of the 44 contests this season. Conway has earned a team-high five saves and a 3-1 record in 39.0 innings. Conway is second on the team with 38 punch outs, and has held opponents to a .187 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 25 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 21wins, 10 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.
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 seven 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 .279 (46-for-165) 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 15 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 2.77 ERA while striking out 34 hitters in 61.2 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 80.2 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.
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 203 and played in 206 of the 208 games for the Sycamores since arriving in the 2012 season. Curry has a career .285 batting average and 61 stolen bases. Curry needs seven stolen bases to tie for sixth-place all-time at ISU. Curry has hit in the lead-off spot 187 times of his 203 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 53 hit-by-pitches.
Return to Action
The Sycamores are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:00 p.m. as they take on the Cougars of SIU Edwardsville for the final regular season game at Bob Warn Field.
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.
