TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball returns to action Friday when they travel to Normal, Illinois take on Illinois State in a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET from in Duffy Bass Field. Saturday's contest will begin at 3 p.m. ET while Sunday's finale is slated for a 2 p.m. ET start. Both Friday and Sunday's games will be available live on The Valley On ESPN3.
Fans can also listen to the action on Sycamore All-Access via
GoSycamores.com with Brian Fritz calling the action.
PITCHING PROBABLES
Game One
ISU - RHP
Tyler Ward (3-2, 3.30)
ILS - RHP Brady Huffman (3-3, 3.83)
Game Two
ISU - RHP
Will Kincanon (4-4, 4.68)
ILS - RHP Jeff Barton (0-2, 4.91)
Game Three
ISU - TBA (0-0, 0.00)
ILS - LHP Matt Walker (0-1, 9.35)
OUT OF THE BOX
LOOKING AT THE SYCAMORES
Tony Rosselli (.351, 7 2B, 7 HR, 32 RBI) and Tyler Friis (.344, 8 2B, 24 R, 16 BB, 9 SB) lead the Trees at the plate while Dane Tofteland and Brandt Nowaskie are hitting .358 and .346 in limited action, respectively. Dane Giesler is tops on the squad with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs. As a team, the Sycamores are hitting .273 and have hit for 69 doubles, 12 triples and 44 homers. ISU pitching has struck out 345 batters and hold a combined 4.67 ERA.
LOOKING AT THE REDBIRDS
Illinois State comes into play with a 12-31 overall record and a 1-11 mark in MVC play after dropping a pair of weekend games to Wichita State. The Redbirds got into the win column Tuesday night with an 8-7 walk-off win over Milwaukee. The team is led offensively by Owen Miller (.330, 15 2B, 39 RBI) and Noah Sadler (.301, 22 RBI, 43 H). As a club, the Redbirds are hitting at a clip of .257 while the pitching staff holds a 6.23 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY
The Sycamores lead the all-time series with Illinois State, 103-83. The two squads me in the season opener in Clarksville, Tennessee at the Austin Peay Invitational. The Redbirds came out victories, taking a 17-7 win. The Sycamores took two of three a year ago in Terre Haute.
GOING DEEP
In a scoreless game in the bottom of the third Friday against the Braves, the Sycamores did something they had not done in two years as Dane Tofteland, Dane Giesler and Tony Rosselli went for back-to-back-to-back home runs to get the Sycamores on the board. Showing their power as of late, the Sycamores have seen their team total for home runs climb to 44. Since April 14 the Trees have 20 home runs. In those 12 games, the Sycamores have had multiple homers in six games. Prior to then, the team had hit 24 homers in 29 games.
MULTI-HIT MAN
Sophomore Tyler Friis continues to impress at the plate for the Sycamores. The leadoff man finished the weekend with a .692 average after going 9-of-13 at the plate with a trio of doubles. He finished the series with a .923 slugging percentage while going 8-of-9 in the final two games. He has recorded 12 multi-hit games this season, including four four-hit contests to lead the squad.
HE'S ON FIRE
Dane Tofteland has been on fire over the last two weeks. Seeing limited action in the first half of the season due to injury, the Grande Prairie, Alberta native has six home runs in the last eight starts for the Trees. In that time span he has drove in 17 RBIs and has seen his batting average climb from .217 to .358.
STRONG ON ALL FRONTS
Senior Tony Rosselli has been one of the strongest contributors to the Sycamore offense this season, leading the team in batting average (.351), slugging percent (.634) and triples (5). Rosselli has 14 multiple hit contests, including one four-hit game and 10 multiple RBI games.
TOFTELAND SETS A HIGH MARK
Redshirt sophomore Dane Tofteland broke the Indiana State single-game RBI record after driving in 11 runs on a trio of home runs, including two grand slams as the Sycamores took down Northern Illinois, 17-8 April 18. The 11 RBI tied the MVC record (John Knott of MSU vs. UNI on May 2, 1992) and is also the highest single-game performance in all of NCAA Division I this season.
NO FREE PASSES
Sophomore Tyler Ward has put together a nice stat line so far this season. The right-hander boasts a 3-2 record with a 3.30 ERA in nine starts. The Santa Claus, Indiana native has struck out 37 batters while walking just seven. He ranks 51st nationally with a 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 12th nationally with 1.01 walks per nine innings.
STRONG IN THE NINTH
Indiana State is outscoring the opposition 27-12 in the ninth inning this season and the Trees are a perfect 20-0 when leading after eight innings.
STRIKE 'EM OUT
One thing the Sycamores have done well this season on the mound is record strikeouts. As a team, ISU has struck out 345 opposing batters, led by senior right-hander Jeremy McKinney who has 55 K's in 44.2 innings. The team ranks 33rd in the country with 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings while McKinney has struck out 11.08 per nine innings, good enough for 44th nationally.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
