NORMAL, Ill. -- The Indiana State baseball program opens the 2019 MVC Tournament at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday night against fourth-seeded Evansville at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Illinois. For more information, brackets and updated game times throughout the tournament visit the Championship Central page
HERE.
LOOKING AT INDIANA STATE
The Sycamores come into postseason play at 36-15 after a third-place finish (13-8) in the MVC. ISU is hitting .265 as a squad. Second baseman
Jarrod Watkins (.305, 9 2B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, .391 SLG) and catcher
Max Wright (.294, 8 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, .412 SLG) lead the team while three other Sycamores are hitting above .270 on the year. Indiana State boasts the 22nd-best team ERA in collegiate baseball and second-best in the MVC at 3.57. ISU's .980 fielding percentage ranks 25th nationally and tops in the MVC.
2019 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE POSTSEASON HONORS
Right-hander
Collin Liberatore was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year while third baseman
Jake Means was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year. Indiana State's three selections for First-Team All-MVC honors were second baseman
Jarrod Watkins, starting pitcher
Collin Liberatore and reliever
Tyler Grauer. ISU placed two players on the Valley's Second Team, with outfielder
Roby Enriquez and reliever
Tyler Ward. Senior starting pitcher
Triston Polley and
Jake Means picked up honorable mention recognition, while Means, Enriquez and Polley also took home an MVC All-Defensive Team honor as well.
TOP THREE FOR FOUR YEARS
With Indiana State's victory over Bradley Saturday, the Sycamores cemented a top-3 finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings in 2019 and each of the last three seasons. It marks just the second time in program history that the Sycamores have finished top-3 over a four-year span dating back to 1982-85.
A LOOK AT THE MVC TOURNAMENT
All-time in the MVC Tournament, ISU is 69-61 with a 5-3 mark against the Aces. With the remaining three squads ISU could face following Wednesday's opener, Indiana State is 12-4 against Southern Illinois, 8-2 against Bradley and 9-3 against Illinois State.
THE KEYS TO VICTORY
When Sycamore pitching holds opponents under five runs, ISU is 32-4, including 12 wins when holding the opposition between 3-5 runs. On the other side of the ball, ISU is 25-2 when scoring six or more runs.
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Indiana State junior
Max Wright was recognized for his success on the field and in the classroom on Thursday (May 9) as he was named to the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-District Team selected by CoSIDA. In the classroom, Wright holds a 3.70 grade point average in criminology and criminal justice. Wright becomes the first Sycamore to receive Academic All-District recognition since Koby Kraemer in 2011. Two other Missouri Valley Conference baseball players were named to the list, including Bradley's Luke Shadid and Valpo's Blake Billinger.
WINS OVER POWER FIVE
During the regular season, the MVC earned 27 wins over members of Power Five conferences (27-42 record). Seven of the eight MVC teams have earned wins against the Power Five. Indiana State leads the league with eight Power Five wins, including an 8-4 mark vs. the Big Ten. DBU has seven Power Five wins, while Evansville has four. Illinois State has three, while Missouri State and Bradley each have a pair. Southern Illinois has one win.
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.
