TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – No. 23 Indiana State continues its 24-games road swing with a three-game series against Saint Louis. The series opener with the Billikens is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Friday's action will begin at 4 p.m. while the series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The lone streamed game will be the series opener on Thursday which will air on ESPN+. Fans can also follow along via live stats or at @IndStBaseball on Twitter.
 
NEWS & NOTEWORTHY
 
» Thursday's game with SLU will mark the 43rd game all-time between the two programs and the first weekend series. Indiana State leads the series with the Billikens 33-9 with the last meeting coming during the 2010 season in a 14-9 midweek victory. ISU has won the last two games in the series.
 
» Indiana State sits at No. 25 in this week's Baseball America Top 25 poll. The Sycamores came in at No. 23 in this week's Perfect Game Top 25 poll. It marks the second-straight week ISU has been nationally ranked.
 
» Indiana State sits at No. 5 in the current RPI ranking, according to WarrenNolan.com (March 31). ISU has wins over Pittsburgh (#18), Tennessee (#9), Florida Gulf Coast (#50) as well as a sweep of FIU (#76). ISU also took two of three games at nationally ranked FAU (#78). Currently, Indiana State's nonconference strength of schedule ranks 16th nationally.
 
» 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.
 
» Tyler Grauer recorded two saves at Tennessee over three innings of work. The lefty struck out five batters and did not issue a walk. Grauer sits at 19 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.
 
» 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.
 
» 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.
 
» 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.
 
» ISU head coach Mitch Hannahs is in his eighth season at the helm and has guided the Sycamores to a 220-145 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. DBU tallied 64 points and were named the favorite over second-place pick ILS and third place MSU. BU was picked in fifth, followed by SIU, UE and Valpo.
 
For the latest information on Sycamore Baseball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.