TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball plays host to Evansville in a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series at Bob Warn Field. The series opener is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Friday. Game two is slated for 2 p.m. while the finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. The series also marks the final three home games for Sycamore seniors
Dane Giesler,
Ethan Larrison and
Weston Rivers. The trio will be honored prior to Sunday's series finale.
Fans can watch the action on ESPN+ or listen to the call free-of-charge with
Brian Fritz via
GoSycamores.com/Watch. Fans can also follow the action via
@IndStBaseball on Twitter.
SYCAMORES AT A GLANCE
Dane Giesler (.303, 11 HR, 34 RBI) and
CJ Huntley (.303, 10 2B, 25 RBI) lead the Trees at the plate while
Jarrod Watkins (11 2B, 12 RBI) and
Luke Fegen (38 H, 24 RBI) are hitting .303, respectively. As a team, the Sycamores are hitting .267 and have hit for 71 doubles, 11 triples and 40 home runs. The Indiana State pitching staff has struck out 289 batters and holds a combined 4.19 ERA.
LOOKING AT EVANSVILLE
Evansville enters the weekend 9-33 overall and 1-14 in MVC action. UE is coming off a 10-6 midweek win over UT-Martin. The Aces are hitting .244 on the season led by Troy Beilsmith at .319 in 40 games. The UE pitching staff holds a 5.78 combined ERA.
ALL-TIME VS THE ACES
The Sycamores lead the all-time series with Evansville, 103-63. Indiana State took two of three games at Braun Stadium a year ago and knocked the Aces out of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship last season with a pair of wins. ISU has won six of the last eight meetings. UE last won a series in Terre haute in 2015 when the Aces took two of three games.
MOVING UP THE TOP-10 HOME RUN LIST
Sycamore cleanup man
Dane Giesler leads the Sycamores with 11 home runs this season and now has 29 in his career in blue and white. With a home run over the weekend at Southern Illinois, Giesler moved into a tie for sixth place in program history. The redshirt senior needs just one more home run to move into a tie for fifth and three to reach fourth place.
HE DOESN'T GO DOWN EASY
Jarrod Watkins holds a .303 batting average over 44 starts. Another area the junior sits atop the team is in his strikeout numbers or lack thereof. Watkins is the toughest batter to strikeout in the Missouri Valley Conference at a 10.5 at bats per strikeout rating. In 178 at bats, Watkins has struck out just 17 times. He ranks 75th nationally in the category.
WELCOME BACK TO THE LINEUP
After missing the last six weeks due to injury,
Romero Harris has been a welcome sight to the Sycamore lineup. The junior made his return at Butler where he singled, walked and scored a run. Harris went for two hits as well as a trio of RBIs in each of the Sycamores' wins in Carbondale. His .929 slugging percentage led the team at the plate. Harris also drove in six runs and scored four times for the Trees. Overall, Harris recorded six hits, including a pair of home runs in three start over the last week.
SWINGING IT WELL
Redshirt senior
Dane Giesler has been swinging the bat well as of late for the Sycamores. The first baseman leads the team with 11 home runs and RBI (34). His 11 home runs lead the MVC and rank 71st nationally.
HEATING UP
Indiana State infielder
Clay Dungan paced the Sycamores over the last week with a .647 batting average over four starts. The junior recorded 11 base hits, including two doubles in 17 at bats while reaching base twice on walks and once on a hit-by-pitch for a .700 on base-percentage. He tied a career high with five hits at Butler and went on to record his 13th multi-hit game in the series finale at SIU with four base hits. Dungan accounted for nine runs during the week, scoring four times while driving in five. He was also 4-for-5 on stolen-base attempts.
STILL GOING STRONG
Weston River put together another gem Sunday to help the Sycamores clinch the series at Southern Illinois. Rivers tossed seven and a third innings, allowing just one run on six hits to the Salukis. After returning from an injury midway through the year, the victory moved the redshirt senior to 3-0 on the season. Over his last three outings, Rivers has pitched 19.1 innings, allowed nine hits, two earned runs and struck out six.
LAST TIME OUT FOR POLLEY
Southpaw
Triston Polley (6-2) picked up his sixth win of the season after going six and two-third innings in an 8-2 win against SIU. The Avon, Indiana product struck out four Salukis and gave up just one earned run in 27 batters faced.
LARRISON BACK ON TRACK
After struggling the past three weeks on the mound, senior
Ethan Larrison returned to his normal self over the weekend at SIU. Larrison entered in the seventh inning of game two with the bases loaded and two outs but induced the groundout to third to end the Saluki threat before sitting down Southern in order in the eighth, including two strikeouts. In total, the right-hander went 5.2 innings over the last week and allowed no runs, no hits and struck out seven batters while issuing no walks.
FAST STARTS
Indiana State has been dominant to open games this season, outscoring the opposition 25-10. The Sycamores have outscored opponents in all but two innings this season including a 42-20 advantage in the ninth. ISU is also 21-1 when leading after the eighth inning.
WEAR IT
Sycamore outfielder
Roberto Enriquez has been hit-by-pitch 20 times this season -- to rank 4th in the nation in the category. With his 0.48 hit-by-pitches per game also ranks 5th.
Luke Fegen has been 10 times. As a team, ISU has been hit 75 times to lead the Missouri Valley and rank 19th 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
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