PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Indiana State University baseball team continues play at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida this weekend. The Sycamores face Omaha Thursday at 3 p.m., Dartmouth Friday at 3 p.m., Omaha Saturday at 1 p.m. before wrapping up a seven-game stretch with Chicago State Sunday at 1 p.m. All four games will be played at the North Charlotte Region Park and will be available via
FloSports, a subscription based streaming service. Live stats will be available via
GoSycamores.com.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WEEKEND OPPONENTS
It will mark the fourth and fifth meetings all-time with Omaha when the Sycamores square off with the Mavericks Thursday and Saturday. Indiana State holds a 2-1 advantage in the series after taking a weekend series in 2012 in Terre Haute. The Sycamores are 1-0 all-time against Dartmouth with the victory coming in 2016 at Bob Warn Field. ISU holds a 5-0 record against Chicago State. ISU's first meeting with the Cougars came in 1994 with the last meeting coming in 2016.
A GLANCE AT THE SYCAMORES
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's season ended in the NCAA Nashville Regional with a loss to eventual national champion Vanderbilt in the regional final.
A LONE RETURNER ON THE OFFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL
Senior catcher
Max Wright will be the lone Sycamore position player back from the 2019 squad. Wright finished with a .296 batting average to go with eight doubles, four home runs and 36 RBI. Wright also caught 17 runners on the base paths while fielding .988 behind the plate.
CUSUMANO OFF TO A GOOD START
Redshirt freshman
Dominic Cusumano led the Sycamores at the plate over the weekend at the Snowbird Classic. The utility man started all three games, playing both second base and the outfield. Cusumano hit .571, notching multiple base hits in each game played, including a 3-for-4 effort opening day against Pitt. Cusumano went for eight hits over the weekend with two doubles for a .714 slugging percentage.
WEAVER SOLID IN FIRST START OF 2020
Sycamore starting pitcher
Tristan Weaver went six innings in a no-decision effort against Kent State Saturday at the Snowbird Classic. The southpaw retired eight Kent State batters on strikeouts while holding the Golden Flashes to a .118 average against. Weaver allowed just one earned run and two base hits in the outing.
NOT AFRAID TO WEAR IT
It didn't take long for the Sycamores to crack the top-10 nationally in hit-by-pitch count after taking nine during opening weekend.
Sean Ross led the team with three HBP's while
Miguel Rivera was hit twice. In total, six different players earned a free base due to HBP's. Indiana State finished 2019 ranked 10th in the nation in hit-by-pitches, taking 94 HBP's overall.
TOUGH START FOR THE TREES
Indiana State in winless after opening weekend for the first time since 2012 after dropping the first three games of 2020 at the Snowbird Classic. The Sycamores fell to Pittsburgh, before dropping extra-inning affairs to both Kent State and No. 24 Ohio State.
INDIANA STATE HEAD COACH MITCH HANNAHS
ISU head coach
Mitch Hannahs enters his seventh season at the helm of the Sycamores. He holds a 201-136 overall record as is coming off a 43-win campaign in 2019. Hannahs, who is one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history, entered the Indiana State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010 and has been a part of six of the programs 10 trips to the NCAA Postseason Tournament as a player or coach ('86, '87, '89, '95, '14, '19). Since taking over the program in 2013, Hannahs has led the Sycamores to over 200 wins, a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and five top-3 finishes in the Missouri Valley Conference. He sits second all-time in career wins behind legendary head coach and ISU Hall of Famer Bob Warn who guided the program to 1,070 wins from 1976-2006.
GRAUER, LIBERATORE AND WRIGHT NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVC
Tyler Grauer,
Collin Liberatore and
Max Wright were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Team by a vote of the League's head coaches. Grauer returns for the Sycamores after appearing in 22 games out of the bullpen for the Trees. He was 2-3 with a 1.91 ERA over 37.2 innings. His nine saves placed him tied for seventh in program history in single season saves. Liberatore started 16 games and was 10-2 with a 2.96 ERA over 103.1 innings en route to MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades. Wright started in 57-of-59 games for the Sycamores behind the plate and went for a .296 average in 203 at bats. He tallied 60 base hits, eight doubles, four home runs and 36 RBIs at the plate while slugging .394 with a .380 on-base percentage.
SYCAMORES PICKED FOURTH IN MVC PRESEASON POLL
Indiana State baseball was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, as determined by a vote of the League's head coaches. Dallas Baptist 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).
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.
