TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State baseball opens a three-game neutral site series with BIG 10 opponent Rutgers at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Florida Friday evening at 7 p.m. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. while the finale will begin at noon on Sunday. Fans can listen to the action all weekend on GoSycamores.com with
Luke Martin on the call or follow along on live stats or on Twitter (
@IndStBaseball).
SYCAMORES OFF TO BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Sixth year head coach
Mitch Hannahs has his squad off to the best start in program history at 16-2. The Sycamores opened the season with seven-straight victories. ISU went on to win nine-straight contest before the streak came to an end Tuesday in a 15-14 loss to Indiana at Bob Warn Field. In 1990, the Sycamores opened the season 13-1.
SCOUTING INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores have seen their team average slowly climb this season, now hitting .293 as a squad.
Max Wright leads the Sycamores with a.407 average while six other ISU batters are hitting above .300 on the year. Indiana State has the 28th-best team ERA in collegiate baseball at 3.17 through the first third of the season. Sophomore
Jake Ridgway holds the best ERA on the team at 1.37 after 10 appearances out of the bullpen. All three Indiana State weekend starters have ERA's under 2.25.
LOOKING AT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers enters the play at 5-12 on the year after dropping a midweek contest to Harvard Wednesday and a weekend series to Florida Gulf Coast, 2-1. The Scarlet Knights are led by Tim Dezzi at the plate with a .317 batting average in 17 starts. Peter Serruto (.306) and Mike Nyisztor (.301) also hold averages over .300. Harry Rutkowski leads all Rutgers starters with a 3.10 ERA in five. Brito Serafino leads the team with three wins in nine appearances on the year with eight of them coming in relief. As a team, Rutgers holds a 6.13 ERA.
ALL-TIME VS RUTGERS
Indiana State and Rutgers have met just one time with that meeting coming during the 2015 season in Terre Haute. The Sycamores came out on top in that meeting, 14-4. Tyler Friis finished four-for-five at the plate, with three RBI and two runs scored.
FOUR WEEKEND SWEEPS IN 2019
Indiana State has recorded four weekend sweeps, including three road sweeps (at Jacksonville, at UNCW Tournament, at Mercer and The Citadel) in 2019. The 2018 Sycamores recorded just two road sweeps (at The Citadel and Valparaiso). The Sycamores did take two games from Austin Peay to open the home slate in 2019, but the finale was canceled due to weather.
PITCHING STRONG FOR THE SYCAMORES
The pitching staff for the Sycamores has been outstanding through the first 18 games this season, earning three shutouts. The team 3.17 ERA ranks 28th nationally. Five different Sycamores have ERA's lower than 3.00 entering the weekend. Starting pitcher
Tyler Whitbread has a 1.82 ERA in four starts and 24.2 innings while right-handed reliever
Jake Ridgway has a 1.37 ERA in 10 appearances.
JUMPING ON TOP AND CLOSING THEM OUT
Indiana State has put up runs consistently this season, averaging 7.44 runs a game and has outscored opponents, 134-64. ISU has outscored opponents 18-4 in the first inning and 23-11 in the second. The Sycamores put up more than opponents in all but one inning this season, including a 47-25 mark in the final four innings of games.
WHEN IT'S WRIGHT, IT'S WRIGHT
Junior
Max Wright has hit the ball exceptionally well to open the 2019 season for Indiana State. The catcher leads the team and the Missouri Valley Conference with a .407 average. He has recorded 24 base hits -- including five doubles and three of home runs while his .644 slugging percentage and .478 on-base percentage also lead the team. Wright has eight multi-hit games in 16 starts.
THE 300 CLUB
Seven Indiana State everyday batters currently hold averages above .300 over 18 games this season led by junior
Max Wright at .407.
Roby Enriquez (.377),
Romero Harris (.326),
Hunter Lewis (.321),
Jake Means (.309),
Luke Fegen (.305) and
Clay Dungan (.304) sit above the mark. All five have also driven in eight or more RBIs.
THE WEEKEND ROTATION
#28 Triston Polley / Sr. / LHP
4-0, 2.23 ERA, 32.1 IP, 18 H, 8 ER, 28 K, 14 BB
Last Outing: 9.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 10 K vs The Citadel
#32 Collin Liberatore / Jr. / RHP
4-0, 2.17 ERA, 29.0 IP, 20 H, 7 ER, 21 K, 7 BB
Last Outing: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K vs The Citadel
#26 Tyler Whitbread / Sr. / RHP
3-0, 1.82 ERA, 24.2 IP, 17 H, 5 ER, 15 K, 5 BB
Last Outing: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 7 K vs The Citadel
YOU CAN RUN -- BUT I WOULDN'T
Sycamore catcher
Max Wright is one of the best behind the plate in the MVC. As a sophomore, just 22 opponents look to swipe a base with 12 of those runners being thrown out in 2018. He was the top defensive catcher in the MVC with the next best starting catcher being challenged is Matt Duce of DBU with 31 steal attempts against. This season, opponents are 9-of-18 stealing on Wright.
More…
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.
