Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Sycamore Baseball (32-18, 11-7 MVC) is coming off of its fifth series win out of seven played against MVC teams. The Sycamores took both Saturday and Sunday's games at Bradley, after dropping the series opener to the Braves. Saturday's match-up featured a two-run home run from the hands of senior Andy DeJesus in the top of the ninth to give the Sycamores the go-ahead two runs. In Sunday's win, junior Damon Olds closed the game out with a career-high seven strikeouts, earning his second save of the season in the 6-2 win.
Weekend Schedule
Thursday - 5/19 - vs. Evansville - 6:30 p.m.
Friday - 5/20 - vs. Evansville - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday - 5/21 - vs. Evansville - 2:00 p.m.
Probable Pitchers
Thursday: LHP Ryan Keaffaber
Friday: RHP Tyler Ward
Saturday: LHP Weston Rivers
Senior Weekend
This weekend marks the last games of regular season play for the 2016 season. Indiana State will honor their seven seniors on Saturday before the conclusion of the weekend series.
Seeding On The Line
Indiana State Baseball has a shot at being the No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament next week, hosted at Bob Warn Field in Terre Haute. If the Sycamores sweep Evansville, and Dallas Baptist drops all three to Wichita State, the Sycamores will get the top seed. The Sycamores have the ability to finish at high as No. 1, and no lower than the No. 5 seed.
Owen Earns MVC Player Of The Week - May 16
Owen led the way for the Sycamores with another phenomenal performance at the plate this week. On Wednesday at Ball State, the junior Evansville, Ind., native was a flawless 6-for-6 at the plate, something that hadn't been done by a Sycamore since the 1992 season. Owen collected a hit in each game of the weekend at Bradley, including a 3-for-5 game where he knocked his sixth homer of the season well over the wall at Dozer Park. Overall, Owen went 11-for-19, was 2-for-2 stealing bases, notched three doubles, and posted a .895 slugging percentage for the week. The junior raised himself to top in the Valley with a .382 overall average, as well as hoisting himself to the number one spot with 78 hits.
Rank And File
The Sycamores remain 9th in the nation, and 1st in the MVC, in overall fielding with a .979 percentage. Indiana State ranks in the top-25 in hit by pitches, top -50 in in hits allowed per nine innings, and top-30 in triples and triples per game. Individually, junior Hunter Owen ranks 17th in doubles with 20, 23 in hits with 78, 38th in hit by pitches with 15, 41st in runs scored with 52, 53rd in total bases with 118, and 56th in batting average with .382. Senior Andy DeJesus ranks 15th in triples with six, and 21st in triples per game. Freshman Tyler Ward ranks 38th in the NCAA in walks per nine innings with 11 out of 71 innings pitched. For the Aces, the team ranks top-30 in home runs and home runs per game as they have hit 47 total. Individually for Evansville, junior Trey Hair is also 17th in the nation with 20 doubles.
RPI And The Valley
The MVC currently has two teams in the top-65 RPI rankings as Dallas Baptist is 35th and Indiana State is 65th.
Series Wins
The Sycamores' series win over the Bradley Braves marked the fifth MVC series win of the season out of six total played thus far, including a sweep of ranked Missouri State. Indiana State has now won four more games than where they ended last season.
Out Of The Bullpen
Junior right-hander, Damon Olds, came out of the bullpen this week to post his best performances of the year. Most notably, Olds entered Sunday's game against Bradley to provide four shutout innings for the Sycamores. The Terre Haute, Ind., native dished out a career-high seven strikeouts throughout the four innings pitched at Bradley, shutting down the Braves in the 6-2 series finale win. Overall this week, Olds made three appearances, collected his second save of the season in Sunday's win, tossed a total of six innings, gave up only one hit, and struck out a total of nine.
Hot Streak
Sophomore Tyler Friis is currently on a 10-game hitting streak, on pace to break his longest of the season which is 12.
A Little History
The Sycamores own the 97-61 advantage over Evansville, as Evansville took the series in last years' meeting, winning two of three.
Scouting The Competition
The Purple Aces are currently 5th in MVC standings with an 8-10 record in Valley play and a 26-23 overall record. Evansville's defense is second in the Valley behind the Sycamores with a .974 fielding percentage. Junior Trey Hair is 4th in the MVC in individual batting with a .351 average, while senior Boomer Synek ranks 5th with a .346. Boomer is currently on a 10-game hit streak. Thursday's starter, Patrick Schnieders, owns a 4-5 record and a 4.56 ERA, while Friday's starter, Alex Weigand, is 3-3 with a 5.08 ERA.
Join the Sycamores this weekend as they conclude the regular season with a three-game home series against Evansville. Game one will begin on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. ET, while game two is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Senior Day honors will begin at approximately 1:40, prior to the 2:00 p.m. start time for Saturday's final game of the series. For more information, visit GoSycamores.com, or follow Indiana State Baseball on Facebook and Twitter.
