Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – With a four-game winning streak on the line, the Indiana State baseball program heads back on the road to face Kansas for a three-game series at Hoglund Park in Lawrence, Kan. First pitch with the Jayhawks is set for 4 p.m. Friday as Tristan Weaver is set to make his fourth start this season. Saturday's game will begin at 3 p.m. before the Sycamores wrap up the series Sunday at 2 p.m. All three games will air live on ESPN Plus.  
 
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game One – Friday, March 6 | ESPN Plus | Live Stats | Listen
ISU Tristan Weaver (LHP, 1-0, 0.46)
KU Ryan Cyr (RHP, 0-2, 5.06)
 
Game Two – Saturday, March 7 | ESPN Plus | Live Stats | Listen
ISU Collin Liberatore (RHP, 1-1, 5.54)
KU Everhett Hazelwood (RHP, 2-0, 3.31)
 
Game Three – Sunday, March 8 | ESPN Plus | Live Stats | Listen
ISU Cameron Edmonson (LHP, 1-1, 1.32)
KU Eli Davis (LHP, 2-1, 5.50)
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. KANSAS
Friday's series opener will mark the first meeting in eight years with the Jayhawks, and just the third all-time between the two baseball programs. Indiana State is 1-1 all-time against Kansas with the last meeting coming March 15, 2012 at the Irish Classic in San Antonio when the Sycamores came out victorious, 2-1. It was back in 1983 when the two programs first met on the diamond in a neutral site game on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. The Jayhawks won the game 6-2.
 
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. Wright made his first appearance of the season for the Sycamores against San Diego after nursing a wrist injury. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk.
 
WEAVER EARNS MVC PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONOR
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. The redshirt junior recorded a career high 12 strikeouts while tying a career long outing with seven innings pitched against the Phoenix. Weaver allowed just three base hits and walked only one batter while holding the Phoenix to a .115 average against. With the win, the lefty improved to 1-0 on the year and dropped his ERA to just 0.46 after three starts.
 
WEAVER ROLLING ON THE MOUND
Overall, Tristan Weaver has allowed just one earned run in 19.2 innings on the mound for the Sycamores. The left-hander is holding opponents to a .094 average against while retiring 31 batters on strikeouts and walking only five. His 31 strikeouts rank 11th nationally and tops in the MVC, just six strikeouts behind the nation's leader. He ranks 11th nationally allowing 2.75 hits per nine innings, 16th with a 0.56 WHIP and 47th in strikeouts per nine innings.
 
SYCAMORES CLAIM MIDWEEK WIN OVER TOP-25 RPI SAN DIEGO
Connor Cline went six complete innings and Indiana State powered out two home runs in a 5-1 victory over San Diego in its home opener Tuesday. The Toreros entered play at No. 23 in RPI and 9-2 on the season. Dominic Cusumano and Brian Fuentes led all Sycamores with two hits each while six other ISU hitters recorded base hits.
 
BATS STARTING TO WARM AFTER ELON SWEEP
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 the three games.
 
SCHAFFER RED HOT AGAINST PHOENIX
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.
 
GRAUER GREAT LATE
Reliever Tyler Grauer held down the Sycamore bullpen in 2019, appearing in 22 games and his nine saves tied for seventh best in program history in a single season. The southpaw finished the season with a team-best 1.91 ERA over 37.2 innings, allowing just eight earned runs. One of the best strikeout-to-walk arms in the MVC, he fanned 48 while issuing just eight free passes. So far in 2020, Grauer has pitched 10.1 innings over six appearances and has struck out 22 batters while not issuing a walk. His five saves are tied for the nations lead.
 
CUSUMANO OFF TO A GOOD START
Redshirt freshman Dominic Cusumano is second on the team with a .342 average over 10 starts. On the year, Cusumano has 13 hits, including two doubles. He also holds a .395 slugging percentage and a .419 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.
 
FUENTES HEATING UP FOR THE TREES
Junior infielder Brian Fuentes has raised his average to .267 on the season after a slow start to the year, recording 15 hits over the last eight games. The Crystal Lake, Illinois has driven in a team high 11 RBI on the year, including four in the series finale at Elon to help secure a sweep of the Phoenix. He also leads the Sycamores with a pair of home runs.
 
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. So far in 2020, Liberatore is 1-1 in three starts with a 5.54 ERA. He's holding opponents to a .186 average against over 13 innings.
 
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).
 
INDIANA STATE HEAD COACH MITCH HANNAHS
ISU head coach Mitch Hannahs enters his seventh season at the helm of the Sycamores. He holds a 207-138 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.
 
NEW FACES ALL OVER
After losing nearly its whole starting lineup a year ago, ISU will look to fill in the holes with 19 newcomers during the 2020 season. In total, ISU's roster has 12 freshman, six JUCO transfers and one player returning from injury in 2019. One area that Indiana State is not lacking is on the mound. The Sycamores return redshirt senior Collin Liberatore along with Connor Cline and Tristan Weaver - both of which missed 2019 with injuries. In the bullpen, ISU returns quality arms in Tyler Grauer, Jake Ridgway, Geremy Guerrero, Austin Cross, Zach Frey and Max Klein.
 
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT & ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN FOR WRIGHT
Indiana State junior Max Wright was recognized for his success on the field and in the classroom last spring as he earned Google Cloud Academic All-American honors -- becoming just the fourth player in program history to achieve the feat. Earlier in the spring Wright earned a spot on the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team. In the classroom, Wright held a 3.70 grade point average in criminology and criminal justice.
 
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.