ST. LOUIS – Indiana State baseball has been picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, the conference office announced Tuesday. The poll is determined by a vote from each head coach in the League. Seniors
Tyler Grauer (LHP),
Collin Liberatore (RHP) and
Max Wright (C) were each tabbed to the Preseason All-MVC Team.
Dallas Baptist, which returns a host of key position players and pitchers from last year's MVC Regular Season title team, has been tabbed as the league favorite in the annual coaches' preseason poll, receiving five of eight first-place votes.
The Patriots tallied 61 points and were named the favorite over second-place pick Missouri State (51 points), as the Bears tallied one first-place vote. Illinois State (49 points) finished third, while the Sycamores finished fourth with 40 points and one first place vote.
Bradley was selected in fifth place with 38 points and one first place vote, followed by Evansville (21 points) in the sixth slot, Southern Illinois (18 points) in the seventh slot and Valparaiso eighth (10 points).
The Valley has a depth of talent and experience returning to the league this season despite losing 18 players to the MLB Draft, bringing back 22 players from the 2019 All-MVC teams. The coaches have voted 13 players representing five teams to the 2020 preseason All-MVC baseball squad.
Indiana State returns one position starter and five key pitchers from its 2019 team that finished 43-18, earning the MVC tournament crown and most wins in a season for the Sycamores since 1990. ISU ended the 2019 season in the NCAA Regional with a loss to eventual national champion Vanderbilt in the regional final.
Grauer 2019 Synopsis
Led the Sycamores with nine saves and a 1.91 ERA ... Recorded a record of 2-3 with one combined shutout in 22 games out of the bullpen ... Struck out 48 while issuing just eight walks over 37.2 innings ... Allowed 40 hits while holding opponents to a .274 average against ... Recorded three consecutive saves against Power Five opponents from April 3-9 with saves coming against Purdue, Michigan State and No. 24 Michigan ... Picked up two postseason saves with the first coming against No. 25 Dallas Baptist during the Missouri Valley Conference Championship and another in the opening game of the NCAA Nashville Regional against McNeese ... Picked up wins against Rutgers March 22 and Evansville April 21 ... Went a season long four innings and struck out five batters against McNeese May 31.
Liberatore 2019 Synopsis
Named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year ... Named First Team All-MVC ... Earned First Team Scholar-Athlete honors from the MVC ... Made 16 starts for the Sycamores, compiling a 10-2 record with a 2.96 ERA ... Struck out 80 batters and held opponents to a .208 average against over 103.1 innings on the mound ... Consistent throughout the season, Liberatore went at least five innings in 15 of his 16 starts ... In four starts, he allowed just four runs in 32.2 innings for a 1.10 ERA during the month of April ... Struck out 19 and walked just seven while allowing just 16 hits and holding opponents to a .147 average against during the stretch ... Went a season high nine innings en route to a shutout victory against Valparaiso Apr. 13 ... Retired a season best 10 batters in a 7-2 win over Southern Illinois Apr. 27.
Wright 2019 Synopsis
Became just the fourth player in program history to earn Google Cloud Academic All-American status ... Was the seventh player in program history to earn Academic All-District honors ... Earned First Team Scholar-Athlete honors from the MVC ... An iron man behind the plate for the Sycamores, starting 57 games including 30-straight games to close out the season ... Played in 59 games in 2019, finishing with a .296 batting average, a .394 slugging percentage and a .380 on-base percentage ... Finished the year with 60 base hits (8 2B, 4 HR) to go along with 36 RBIs and 38 runs scored ... Reached base on walks 17 times while being hit-by-pitch 13 times to earn a free pass ... Recorded 16 multi-hit games, including three three-hit games, including a three-hit game against McNeese in the NCAA Tournament ... Fielded at a .988 clip and threw out 17 runners stealing bases.
Indiana State opens play February 14 in Port Charlotte, Florida at the Snowbird Classic with Pittsburgh.
Season tickets are available for purchase for as little as $65 by calling 877-ISU-TIXS, visiting the Hulman Center Ticket Office or by clicking
HERE.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
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