TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State baseball will face its second ranked opponent of the 2021 season this weekend as the team concludes a seven-game swing at No. 20 Florida Atlantic. The series begins on Thursday and will conclude on Saturday to allow travel time for the Sycamores to return home.
 
First pitch on Thursday and Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. while the series finale with the Owls is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will be streamed on CUSA.tv. Fans can also follow along via live stats or at @IndStBaseball on Twitter.
 
NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY

» The series will mark the first games against FAU in program history.
 
» Indiana State secured its first weekend sweep of the 2021 season at Florida International last weekend. The sweep was the first for the Sycamores since taking three games from Elon during the shortened 2020 season. Since 2018, Indiana State has swept 10 weekend opponents.
 
» Indiana State sits at No. 9 in the current RPI ranking after winning its last four games, according to WarrenNolan.com. ISU has wins over Pittsburgh (#16), Tennessee (#34), Florida Gulf Coast (#17) as well as a sweep of FIU (#209). Florida Atlantic enters the weekend ranked No. 20 in the nation with an RPI of 31. Currently, Indiana State's nonconference strength of schedule ranks 15th nationally.
 
» With a weekend split at No. 16 Tennessee, Indiana State became the first team to defeat the Volunteers in February since 2018. Entering the weekend, UT was 26-0 against opponents during the month over the last three seasons. The weekend also marked the first ranked win for the Sycamores since knocking No. 25 Dallas Baptist out of the MVC Tournament in 2019; two of four ranked wins for the Trees in 2019 (Illinois, Michigan, DBU).
 
» Geremy Guerrero put together a performance that will live forever in the Sycamore record book during his Friday night start against Florida International. Guerrero was dominant on the mound, going a career-high eight innings while also retiring a career-high 15 batters on strikeouts. The left-hander allowed baserunners in just the fourth inning and retired at least nine-straight FIU batters on two separate occasions. Following the fourth inning, Guerrero sat down 11-straight batters en route to his second win of the season. The 15 strikeouts by the redshirt senior tied for the second-most in program history, just one shy of Dan Lazar's 16-strikeout outing in 1965. The last time a Sycamore fanned 15 batters was in 1984 by Blaise Ilsley.
 
» Indiana State's Max Wright put together an impressive weekend at the plate as he helped the Sycamores to a three-game sweep over Florida International. Wright, a redshirt senior, started all three games and finished with a .444 average (4-for-9) but reached base 12 times after drawing seven walks and being hit-by-pitch once for a .706 on-base percentage. The Toronto native tallied his team-best third home run of the season in the middle game of the series and finished the weekend with a double, three RBI, three runs scored and a .889 slugging percentage.
 
» Josue Urdaneta was perfect from the plate in six appearances in the series opener with FIU. He singled four times as well as doubled while drawing a walk and driving in two runs from the leadoff spot. The switch-hitter is third on the team with a .348 average (16-for-46) to go along with his .478 slugging percentage.
 
» Jordan Schaffer has started all 11 games for the Sycamores at shortstop in 2021. After leading the team in average in a shortened 2020 season, the redshirt junior is hitting .333 while leading ISU with 16 hits. Schaffer also leads the Sycamores in runs scored with 10. He began the season off to a blazing start as he hit a team-best .462 (6-for-13) on opening weekend with a three-game series with Pittsburgh.
 
» Sean Ross has seen his average climb nearly 100 points over the last two weeks. The outfielder is currently second on the squad with a .351 average (13-for-37). He has recorded hits in four-straight games and eight of the last nine, including a season high three base knocks in a win over FGCU.
 
» Left-hander Tristan Weaver made his return to the mound in the series opener against Tennessee after battling back from an offseason injury. Weaver went 4.1 innings and struck out four as the Vols sprayed six hits during the outing.
 
» Western Illinois transfer Javin Drake has made two starts for ISU in 2021. The right-hander has been strong early, allowing just two earned runs over 7.1 innings while striking out 11. He holds a 1.23 ERA and has held the opponents to a .214 average against.
 
» Tyler Grauer recorded two saves at Tennessee over three innings of work. The lefty struck out five batters and did not issue a walk. On the season, Grauer holds a 7.71 ERA in five appearances with an 11-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 
 
» Indiana State secured its 12th-straight winning season in 2020 while also finishing in the top-100 in RPI for eighth-straight year.
 
» Indiana State returns eight position starters and nine key pitchers from its 2020 team that finished 8-6 before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. Returning for the Sycamores after starting all 14 games and leading the team in average is infielder Jordan Schaffer (.339, 19 H, 6 RBI). Utility man Dominic Cusumano also returns for the Sycamores after hitting .318 with 14 base hits and a .400 on-base percentage.
 
 » The Sycamores return nearly all their arms on the mound from a year ago apart from 2019 MVC Newcomer of the Year Collin Liberatore. Tristan Weaver (LHP), Connor Cline (RHP) and Cam Edmonson (LHP) return after combining for nine starts last season. ISU's bullpen returns several key pieces including LHP Tyler Grauer, RHP Jake Ridgway and RHP Zach Frey.
 
» Redshirt senior Tyler Grauer has earned several preseason accolades coming into 2021, including being named to the Stopper of the Year Watch List by the NCBWA. He has been named a First Team Preseason All-American by the NCBWA and a Third Team Preseason All-American by D1Baseball.com. Grauer earned Preseason All-MVC accolades by a vote of league coaches and is rated the 6th-best reliever in college baseball and the 18th-best draft prospect in the MVC according to D1Baseball.com. Grauer, a Shawnee, Kan. native, appeared in seven games out of the bullpen during the 2020 season and recorded a team-best five saves. The lefty finished the year with a 1.59 ERA over 11.1 innings with an 0-1 record. One of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in the nation, Grauer sat down 23 batters on strikeouts while issuing just one walk on the year. He held the opposition to a .239 average against. In 2019, he had a 1.91 ERA with a 48-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 37.2 innings.
 
» Tyler Grauer sits at 17 career saves and is one shy of moving into second place. Craig Kozlowski holds the ISU career record with 26 saves from 1982-86. Austin Cross sits in second place with 20 career saves from 2014-17.
 
» Starting pitcher Tristan Weaver joined Grauer on the Preseason All-MVC squad. Weaver finished the abbreviated 2020 season with a 1-1 record on the mound and a 1.85 ERA in four starts. The left-hander struck out 34 batters and walked just eight while holding opponents to a .100 average against in 24.1 innings. Weaver is rated the 39th-best starting pitcher in the nation and the 10th-best draft prospect in the MVC according to D1Baseball.com.
 
 » Senior catcher Max Wright will be the lone Sycamore position starter back from the 2019 NCAA Tournament squad. Wright finished with a .296 batting average to go with eight doubles, four home runs and 36 RBI in 2019. Wright also caught 17 runners on the basepaths while fielding .988 behind the plate. Coming back from an early-season injury, Wright saw action in just four games in 2020.
 
» Three players that saw extended playing time in 2020 were freshmen catcher Grant Magill, infielder Diego Gines and left-hander Cam Edmonson. The three made immediate impacts on the field with Magill entering the starting lineup from the beginning of the year to finish with a .234 average on 11 hits to go with a .319 slugging percentage. Gines hit .262 in 12 starts for the Sycamores while hitting two home runs and driving in seven batters. Edmonson made five appearances on the mound, including two starts for the Sycamores. He finished the season with a 1.96 ERA and a 2-1 record. The lefty struck out 25 and walked just five while allowing only four earned runs. Magill is rated the third-best prospect in the MVC for the 2022 draft class; Edmonson checks in at six while Gines ranks as the ninth-best prospect in the class.
 
 » ISU head coach Mitch Hannahs is in his eighth season at the helm and has guided the Sycamores to a 216-143 overall record during his time in Terre Haute. 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.
 
» 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, which returns a host of key position players and pitchers from last year's brief season, has been tabbed as the league favorite in the annual coaches' preseason poll, receiving all eight first-place votes. The Patriots tallied 64 points and were named the favorite over second-place pick Illinois State (53 points). Missouri State (42 points) finished third, while Indiana State finished fourth with 37 points. Bradley was selected in fifth place with 31 points, followed by Southern Illinois (27 points) in the sixth slot, Evansville (21 points) in the seventh slot and Valparaiso eighth (9 points).
 
» Indiana State's Max Wright was recognized for his success on the field and in the classroom in 2019 as he earned Google Cloud Academic All-American honors -- becoming just the fourth player in program history to achieve the feat. Wright also 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.
 
» Indiana State is no stranger to the bus and early season trips, but 2021 Sycamores are set to endure 24-straight road games and two trips to the state of Florida before playing a home game.
 
Trip Logs (Miles/Bus Hours)
Terre Haute to Port Charlotte, Fla. to Terre Haute (2,108/31)
Terre Haute to Knoxville, Tenn. to Terre Haute (859/13)
Terre Haute to Miami to Fort Myers to Boca Raton to Terre Haute (2,608/38)
Total (5,575/82)
 
» Indiana State will continue its tour of Conference USA with a three-game series at UAB next weekend.
 
Full Game Notes ...
 
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