TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball continues a 24-games road swing to begin the season with a three-game series against Conference USA opponent UAB. First pitch on Friday is set for 4 p.m. while the Saturday and Sunday games with the Blazers are scheduled for 2 p.m. 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 meetings between the two programs.
 
» Indiana State sits at No. 3 in the current RPI ranking after winning its last four games, according to WarrenNolan.com. ISU has wins over Pittsburgh (#6), Tennessee (#11), Florida Gulf Coast (#9) as well as a sweep of FIU (#160). ISU also took two of three games at nationally ranked FAU (#45). Currently, Indiana State's nonconference strength of schedule ranks sixth nationally.
 
» ISU wrapped up its second trip to the Sunshine State this season, going 6-1 during the swing with a sweep of FIU, FGCU and a series victory over #20 FAU. The team will travel to UAB, Saint Louis and Illinois State before playing at home for the first time against Valpo April 16.
 
 » 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).
 
» Indiana State secured its first weekend sweep of the 2021 season at Florida International. 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.
 
» ISU's Geremy Guerrero put together another impressive performance during a series-clinching victory at #20 Florida Atlantic. After striking out an ISU record 15 batters against FIU, Guerrero went for 13 punch outs against the Owls in 7.1 innings of work. He allowed just one run and issued one walk while holding FAU to a .185 average against during the win. The left-hander sat down FAU in order in three separate innings during the start and allowed only one hit from the fourth to the seventh inning.
 
» Josue Urdaneta helped the Sycamores to a 3-1 record over the last week, leading the team in batting average at .471 (8-for-17) during the span. Urdaneta also led the Sycamores with aa .529 slugging percentage, .500 on-base percentage and tied for the team lead with three RBIs from the leadoff position. In the midst of a 12-game hitting streak, Urdaneta recorded three hits in a win over FGCU, including a double while going for two hits in ISU's two wins over #20 Florida Atlantic.
 
» 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 5.40 ERA in six appearances with a 12-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 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.
 
 » ISU head coach Mitch Hannahs is in his eighth season at the helm and has guided the Sycamores to a 218-144 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 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)
Terre Haute to Birmingham to Terre Haute (902/14)
Total (6,477/96)
 
Full Game Notes ...
 
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