TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball is set for its Home Opener Tuesday afternoon as San Diego comes to town for a midweek matchup. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. ET at Bob Warn Field. Sycamores fans can catch the action on ESPN Plus with
Luke Martin and Mason West calling the action. Live audio will simulcast through GoSycamores.com free-of-charge.
MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND TICKETS
General admission tickets are also available for purchase on game day at Bob Warn Field. For ticket information call 812-237-3737, visit the Hulman Center Ticket Office during normal business hours or click
HERE.
Fans will be able to pick up the teams' 2020 Schedule Poster at the stadium free-of-charge.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN DIEGO
Tuesday will mark the first meeting between Indiana State and San Diego.
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 is 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.
SYCAMORES GLAD TO HAVE WEAVER BACK
Redshirt junior
Tristan Weaver spent the 2019 season recovering from an injury and has immediately made his mark in the weekend rotation during his first three starts. He's put together two strong no-decision efforts while working a combined shutout of Elon in his last outing. Overall, Weaver has allowed just one earned run in 19.2 innings. The left-hander is holding opponents to a .094 average against while retiring 31 batters on strikeouts and walking only five.
BATS BACK FOR THE TREES AFTER SLOW START
Indiana State entered its weekend series with Elon with 44 combined hits through seven games. After a weekend sweep in which the Sycamores finished with 33 base hits (11 per game), that number jumped to 77. Five Sycamores recorded four or more hits during the series sweep led by
Jordan Schaffer who was 8-for-12.
Brian Fuentes went for five hits including two doubles while
Grant Magill, Miguel Rivera and
Diego Gines tallied four hits each. Seventeen of Indiana State's base hits against Elon where extra-base hits (13 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR) as ISU raised its team batting average from .203 to .236 over three games.
SCHAFFER RED HOT AGAINST ELON
Redshirt junior
Jordan Schaffer put on a hitting clinic during the Sycamores' series sweep of Elon. The shortstop collected a career high three hits in the opener before breaking the record a day later with a 4-for-5 performance to help ISU clinch the series. A Terre Haute, Indiana native, Schaffer was perfect in the leadoff spot in the series and finished 8-for-12 for a .667 batting percentage to go along with a .688 on-base percentage. He scored six of ISU's 18 runs on the weekend, worked three walks, drove in in a pair of runs and stole one base.
CUSUMANO OFF TO A GOOD START
Redshirt freshman
Dominic Cusumano is second on the team with a .324 average over nine starts. On the year, Cusumano is hitting .324 with 11 hits, including two doubles. He also holds a .382 slugging percentage and a .410 on-base percentage as well as five walks earned.
EDMONSON FILTHY FOR THE TREES
Freshman
Cameron Edmonson has made his mark in four appearance on the mound this season. The left-hander is coming off his first career start in which he went six and two-third innings in the weekend finale to sweep Elon. On the year, Edmonson holds a 1.32 ERA over 13.2 innings. He has struck out 21 and issued just four walks while holding the opposition to a .146 average against.
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.
LIBERATORE LOOKING TO BUILD ON 2019 SUCCESS
Collin Liberatore, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and a 2020 Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, returns for the Sycamores after a superb redshirt junior season in 2019. The Greensburg, Pennsylvania native made 16 starts for the Sycamores last season and compiled a 10-2 record with a 2.96 ERA. The right-hander 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. Liberatore dominated the month of April on the mound for Indiana State. In four starts, he allowed just four runs in 32.2 innings for a 1.10 ERA. The righty struck out 19 and walked just seven while allowing just 16 hits and holding opponents to a .147 average against during the stretch.
INDIANA STATE HEAD COACH MITCH HANNAHS
ISU head coach
Mitch Hannahs enters his seventh season at the helm of the Sycamores. He holds a 206-138 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.
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).
Full Game Notes
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, be sure to visit
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