TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – No. 19 Indiana State baseball will open a four-game series with Dallas Baptist on Friday at Horner Ballpark in Dallas. The Sycamores open the series Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET before playing a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 3:30 p.m. with game three following soon after. The teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at 2 p.m.
  
All four games will be available on the Patriot Broadcast Network free-of-charge. The series will also be available on GoSycamores.com/Listen worldwide with Luke Martin on the radio call Fans can also listen on WIBQ 1230 AM in the Wabash Valley. Fans can also follow along on the go via the Indiana State Athletics, live stats, at @IndStBaseball on Twitter and on the March On App.
 
THE SYCAMORE WEEKEND ROTATION

Game One - LHP Geremy Guerrero (7-0, 1.11 ERA, 57.0 IP, 67 K, 9 BB)        
Game Two - RHP Connor Cline (4-0, 2.94 ERA, 33.2 IP, 32 K, 13 BB)
Game Three - LHP Tristan Weaver (2-2, 6.15 ERA, 26.1 IP, 25 K, 12 BB)
Game Four - TBA
 
NEWS & NOTEWORTHY
 
» The Sycamores come into play at 20-8 overall and 7-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play. ISU is hitting .273 as a squad led by Max Wright (.310, 7 2B, 8 HR, 20 RBI, .620 SLG) and Josue Urdaneta (.308, 5 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 18 R, .392 SLG) while five other ISU batters are hitting above .270 on the year. Indiana State boasts the top team ERA in the MVC at 3.64. ISU's .977 fielding percentage ranks 32nd nationally and best in the MVC.
 
» Indiana State has been ranked for the last five weeks, and this week moved up to No. 21 in the D1Baseball.com poll while moving up to No. 19 in the Perfect Game USA poll. The Sycamores moved up one spot to No. 24 in the Baseball America poll and entered the USA Today Coaches Top 25 at No. 24 this week. Indiana State also moved up to No. 27 in this week's NCBWA Top 30 poll.
 
» Indiana State sits at No. 26 in the current RPI ranking after winning eight of its last 10 games, according to WarrenNolan.com. ISU has wins over Pittsburgh (#19), Tennessee (#3), Florida Gulf Coast (#62) as well as a sweep of FIU (#114). ISU also took two of three games at nationally ranked FAU (#84). Currently, Indiana State's nonconference strength of schedule ranks 54th nationally.
 
» Dallas Baptist enters the play at 19-9 overall and 4-0 in MVC play. The Patriots are coming off a 1-2 series loss to Air Force. DBU is led by River Town at the plate with a .374 batting average in 28 starts. Jackson Glenn (.355) and Jace Grady (.349) also provide strong bats in the order. Dominic Hamel is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA in eight starts on the mound. As a team, Dallas Baptist holds a 4.03 ERA and a .973 fielding percent.
 
» Indiana State trails in the all-time series with the Patriots, 9-21. The last time the two squads met was in 2019 at the MVC Championship when the Sycamores took two games from nationally ranked DBU to win the tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to the tournament in 2019, ISU was swept by DBU in Dallas. The last win over DBU on the road came during the 2015 season.

» Aaron Beck put up video game numbers last weekend during a sweep of Valpo. The outfielder earned MVC Player of the Week and NCBWA National Player of the Week honors. In four starts, Beck went 12-for-14, recording three or more hits in three games while going 2-for-2 with a walk in the finale. The left-handed hitter finished a home run short of the cycle during a 5-0 series-opening win. An Evansville, Ind. Native, Beck finished the weekend with an .857 batting average, 1.214 slugging percentage and an .875 on-base percentage. He drove in nine runs, including three RBIs in each of the first two games of the series while scoring three times. In total, Beck recorded a trio of doubles, a triple and 17 total bases. The redshirt junior drew two walks, including an intentional walk in the series.
 
» Indiana State put on an offensive clinic during its first home series of the season, outhitting Valpo 44-12 over four games. The Sycamores tallied 12 doubles, four triples, three home runs and a .579 slugging percentage during the weekend sweep. Overall, ISU outscored Valpo 34-5 while hitting .349 as a team.
 
» The Indiana State pitching staff has been strong this season, combining for a 3.64 team ERA which ranks 31st-best nationally and tops in the MVC. As a team, ISU also ranks 11th with 2.79 walks allowed per nine innings; 16th with a 3.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 17th nationally with a 1.21 WHIP. Four Sycamores who have pitched at least an inning have ERA's under 4.00 through 28 games led by Connor Fenlong who holds a 0.51 ERA in 17.2 innings. Starting pitcher Geremy Guerrero has a 1.11 ERA in eight starts and 57 innings while Connor Cline has a 2.94 ERA in over seven appearances.
 
» Geremy Guerrero has earned a pair of MVC Pitcher of the Week honors this season. He improved to 7-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.11 after his second complete-game shutout of the season against Valpo. On the year, the southpaw has pitched 57 innings and struck out 67 while issuing only nine walks and holding opponents to a .154 average against. Overall, Guerrero ranks first in the MVC and eighth nationally in ERA (1.11) as well as tops in the MVC in wins, complete games, strikeout-to-walk ratio, hits per nine and walks per nine. He ranks second in the League in strikeouts.
 
» Geremy Guerrero was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball on April 14. Guerrero tied for second-most strikeouts in a single game during the series opener at FIU on March 5. The 15-strikeout performance was one shy of Dan Lazar's 16-strikeout game in 1965 while tying Blaise Ilsley's mark in 1984. The last Sycamores to be named to the watch list was left-hander Sean Manaea during the 2013 season.
 
» Tyler Grauer sits at 19 career saves and is one shy of moving into a tie for second place. Craig Kozlowski holds the ISU career record with 26 saves from 1982-86. Austin Conway sits in second place with 20 career saves from 2014-17.
 
Full Game Notes ...
 
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