Indiana State University Athletics

ST. LOUIS - Indiana State baseball has been picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, the conference announced Tuesday. The poll is determined by a vote from each head coach in the conference. Seniors Triston Polley (LHP) and Jarrod Watkins (2B) were each tabbed to the Preseason All-MVC Team.
 
Missouri State tallied 59 points and were narrowly named the favorite over second-place pick Dallas Baptist (58 points), as the Patriots tallied two first-place votes. Indiana State (49 points) finished third with the final first place vote, while Bradley finished fourth with 39 points.

Southern Illinois was selected in fifth place with 31 points, followed by Illinois State (28 points) in the sixth slot, Valparaiso (13 points) in the seventh slot and Evansville eighth (11 points). 

 

Polley 2018 Synopsis
Started a team-high 15 games for the Sycamores on the mound ... Finished with a 7-2 record and a 3.53 ERA ... Pitched a team high 94.1 innings and allowed just 37 earned runs ... Held opponents to a .233 average against and just 17 extra-base hits ... Held an ERA under 3.00 through the first nine games of the season ... Allowed fewer than three earned runs in 12 of his 15 starts ... Struck out 55 batters while walking 43 ... Struck out five or more batters in six games with a season high seven strikeouts coming at Middle Tennessee Feb. 24 ... Went a season long seven and one-third innings against Illinois State on Apr. 14. 
 
Watkins 2018 Synopsis
Named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive Team at second base ... Started all 55 games for the Sycamores his first year on campus ... An immediate impact player in the middle infield ... Second on the team with a .305 batting average ... Went for 69 hits in 226 at bats ... Doubles 12 times to go along with two triples ... Drove in 18 RBI and scored 35 runs ... Went for a .376 slugging percentage and a .380 on-base percentage ... Drew 26 walks and was hit-by-pitch three times ... Was one of the toughest hitters in the country to strikeout after leading the MVC and finishing top-5 nationally with a 12.55 at bats per strikeout ... Was 7-of-8 on stolen base attempts ... Fielded at a .978 clip with just seven errors while turning a team-best 40 double plays ... Closed out the season with 21 multi-hit games, including six three-hit contests ... Reached base 22-straight games while also hitting in 14-straight games to open the season.
 
Indiana State opens the 2019 campaign in just over two weeks in Jacksonville, Florida with a three-game series with Jacksonville University beginning Feb. 15.

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