TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Sycamore baseball heads to Tennessee this weekend for road games at Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee and Belmont beginning Friday. The contests are part of the SAF Dirt Classic and the Mule Mix Classic.
Weekend Schedule
Friday - at Lipscomb - Nashville, Tenn. - 5 p.m. ET
Saturday - at Middle Tennessee - Murfreesboro, Tenn. - 3 p.m. ET
Sunday - at Belmont - Nashville, Tenn. - 2 p.m. ET
There will be no live video for the matchups, but Sycamore fans can follow live stats via GoSycamores.com and the Indiana State baseball Twitter (@IndStBaseball) feed for live updates throughout the weekend.
NEWCOMERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Several newcomers for the Sycamores have made immediate impacts for the club on the offensive side of the ball. Juniors
Romero Harris and
Roberto Enriquez hold steady at the top of the team in batting average through four games. Enriquez is hitting .375 (6-for-16) over the stretch and has four RBIs. The Carolina, Puerto Rico product finished 3-for-5 in an 8-2 win over Loyola Marymount and 2-for-4 with a home run and a triple against Oregon. Harris has played in three games this season and is batting .385 with five hits, four RBIs and five runs scored. The duo are the lone Sycamores to record multi-hit games.
SOLID OPENING WEEKEND STARTS
Southpaw
Tristan Weaver threw 6.1 innings and allowed just two runs during his Indiana State debut Friday night against Las Vegas. After a slow start for the junior, he settled down and struck out three batters over the course of the outing.
The Sycamores could not have asked for a better start from junior
Triston Polley. The lefty went six complete innings, striking out five while allowing just three base hits and an unearned run in an 8-2 win over Loyola Marymount. Polley showed his dominance as the game went on, going nearly three innings before allowing his second base hit in the fifth.
Tyler Ward made his season debut for the Sycamores Sunday against UNLV, tossing six innings and allowing just one run. The junior right-hander allowed back-to-singles to open the game, but settled in to retire 12-straight Rebel batters. In total, Ward faced 24 batters, striking out three, walking one and allowing just one extra-base hit.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Newcomer
Romero Harris crushed his first home run in Sycamore Blue during his very first plate appearance Saturday against LMU. The Navarre, Ohio native finished the game 2-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs. He is one of just two Sycamores to have recorded multiple RBIs in a game this season.
LOOKING AT THE SYCAMORES
Through opening weekend, Indiana State is hitting .253 as a squad with seven extra-base hits, including four doubles. The Indiana State pitching staff has put together a 3.72 ERA and has struck out 23 batters in 36.1 innings.
CAREER DAY IN VEGAS
Chris Ayers opened the 2018 season tying a career high in base hits with three against UNLV. It marked the third time in his career that he has recorded three hits with the last time coming in 2017 at Utah Valley when he did it twice during a doubleheader.
PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Redshirt senior
Dane Giesler was tabbed Preseason All-MVC following a breakout season a year ago. The Jasper, Indiana native led the way for the Trees in several offensive categories. He finished with a team high 17 home runs which was fourth-best in the conference. Giesler was also fifth in the league with a .593 slugging percentage and seventh in RBIs with 49.
WHAT COMES BACK
Indiana State returns six position starters and three key pitchers from last season's 29-26 team. Infielder
Clay Dungan returns for ISU after starting in 55 games last season hitting .275 with 60 base hits and nine home runs. The Sycamores will also welcome back
Dane Tofteland and
Chris Ayers to the batting order. The duo combined for 57 base hits and 45 runs a year ago.
Indiana State will look to fill a void in the starting rotation this season after its top arm was taken in the 11th round of the MLB Draft. Junior RHP
Tyler Ward will look to fill the spot after a solid year on the mound. Ward finished at 4-5 with a 4.16 ERA in 84.1 innings.
Two bullpen arms in right-hander
Ethan Larrison and southpaw
Triston Polley return for the Sycamores this season as well. Larrison appeared in 19 games last season and struck out 32 batters while walking only 13. Polley struck out 35 batters and walked 14 in 26.2 innings.
GOOD GLOVES
As a team, the Sycamores fielded .978 percent IN 2017, which was tops in the Missouri Valley and 27th nationally. Ten Sycamores put together perfect fielding percentages while three more had percentages above .970. In the MVC, the Sycamores have 13 fewer miscues than the next best squad.
SYCAMORES PICKED THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL
Indiana State was picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll. Dallas Baptist tallied 63 points and were named the favorites over second-place pick Missouri State (57). The Sycamores collected 42 votes overall followed by Southern Illinois (35), Illinois State (31), Bradley (30), Evansville (18) and MVC newcomer Valparaiso (12).
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.
