TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State baseball will play host to the Bradley Braves in the regular season finale starting Thursday at Bob Warn Field. Both Thursday and Friday's games will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Sycamores will honor its 15 senior prior to Saturday's finale at approximately 1:30 p.m. in front of the 2 p.m. start.
For ticket information, call (812) 237-3737 or order tickets online
HERE. All three games will air live on ESPN Plus while fans can listen to the radio call with
Luke Martin and
Brian Fritz on GoSycamores.com/Watch.
LOOKING AT INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores come into play at 34-14 on the season and 11-7 in MVC play. ISU is hitting .265 as a squad. Second baseman
Jarrod Watkins (.314, 9 2B, 2 HR, 25 RBI, .405 SLG) and catcher
Max Wright (.302, 7 2B, 4 HR, 32 RBI, .421 SLG) lead the team while three other Sycamores are hitting above .270 on the year. Indiana State boasts the 14th-best team ERA in collegiate baseball at 3.39. ISU's .979 fielding percentage ranks 20th nationally and tops in the MVC.
PITCHING STRONG FOR THE SYCAMORES
The Indiana State pitching staff has been outstanding this season, combining for a 3.39 team ERA which is 14th-best nationally. As a team, ISU also ranks ninth nationally with a 1.20 WHIP, 21st in hits per nine innings (7.68) and 16th with five shutouts. ISU pitching has combined to hit just 17 batters which is second-fewest in the country. Indiana State's MVC ERA sits at 3.33 in 18 games. The next best team is Evansville at 3.69.
LOOKING AT THE BRAVES
Bradley enters play at 30-16 after a weekend series loss to Illinois State, 2-1. The Braves are led by Luke Shadid at the plate with a .339 batting average in 46 games. Dan Bolt (.329) and Connor O'Brien (.298) also provide strong bats in an order that is hitting .279 as a team. Mitch Janssen leads the Braves with a 1.46 ERA in 13 starts. As a team, BU holds a 3.05 ERA and a .977 fielding percent.
ALL-TIME VS BRADLEY
The Sycamores lead the all-time series that dates back to 1906, 90-63. Indiana State swept the weekend series two years ago at Bob Warn Field, outscoring BU 15-9 over the series but dropped last year's series in Peoria, 2-1.
JUMPING ON TOP AND CLOSING THEM OUT
Indiana State has put up runs consistently this season, averaging six runs a game while outscoring opponents, 285-178. The Sycamores have outscored opponents 55-18 in the first inning of action and 31-11 in the fourth. ISU puts up more runs than opponents in all but one inning this season (25-18 in the seventh), including a 45-20 mark in the eighth and ninth innings combined.
THE WEEKEND ROTATION
#28
Triston Polley / Sr. / LHP
6-1, 2.70 ERA, 86.2 IP, 62 H, 26 ER, 69 K, 37 BB
Last Outing: 6.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 4 K vs Dallas Baptist
#32
Collin Liberatore / Jr. / RHP
9-1, 2.19 ERA, 86.1 IP, 58 H, 21 ER, 64 K, 24 BB
Last Outing: 6.1 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 7 K vs Dallas Baptist
#26
Tyler Whitbread / Sr. / RHP
6-2, 3.47 ERA, 62.1 IP, 56 H, 24 ER, 43 K, 10 BB
Last Outing: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 K vs Dallas Baptist
GRAUER TOUGH OUT OF THE BULLPEN
Junior
Tyler Grauer leads the Sycamores with seven saves on the season. The left-hander has seen action in 17 games, pitching 26.2 innings and allowing just six earned runs for a 2.03 ERA. In total, Grauer has walked just two batters while striking out 37.
WATKINS RISING
Second baseman
Jarrod Watkins has seen his average climb from .280 to .314 over the course of the last three weekends. The senior has scored nine runs, drove in seven and picked up two walks for a .444 on-base percentage during that span. He recorded eight extra-base hits including a home run for a .667 slugging percentage. Watkins also has three of the six Sycamore four-hit games this season.
NOT AFRAID TO WEAR IT
Indiana State ranks 20th in the nation in hit-by-pitches, taking 74 HBP's so far this season.
Jake Means has been hit a team-high 14 times.
Roby Enriquez has been hit 13 times and
Max Wright has been beaned on 11 occasions. Ten different batters have been hit-by-pitch more than once this season.
SEVEN WEEKEND SWEEPS IN 2019
Indiana State has recorded seven weekend sweeps during the 2019 season, including four sweeps away from home (at Jacksonville, at UNCW Tournament, at Mercer and against Rutgers in Fort Myers). ISU has swept The Citadel, Valparaiso and most recently Southern Illinois at home. The 2018 Sycamores recorded just two road sweeps (at The Citadel and Valparaiso). The Sycamores took both games from Austin Peay earlier this season, but the finale was canceled due to weather.
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
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Instagram.
