TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State continues the home stand on Friday afternoon as the Sycamores start a three-game series against Kansas University at Bob Warn Field over the March 18-20 weekend.
 
Friday's opener is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch, Saturday at 2 p.m., while Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. All three games are scheduled to be streamed live via ESPN+, while live stats for all three contests will be provided on GoSycamores.com.
 
SEMO Recap
Indiana State bounced back from a 1-2 weekend at Wright State this past weekend as the Sycamores opened the home portion of the 2022 schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday against Southeast Missouri State. Indiana State snapped SEMO's 11-game winning streak with a pair of wins at Bob Warn Field as the Sycamores improved to 9-6 overall following the two-game sweep of the Redhawks.
 
Diego Gines and Josue Urdaneta both homered in support of strong pitching performances by Jake Ridgway and Luke Patzner as Indiana State topped Southeast Missouri State in the Sycamores 2022 home opener on Tuesday afternoon, 10-1. Gines connected on his first grand slam of the season to stake ISU to the early 5-0 lead, while Urdaneta added a pair of two-run home runs late in the contest to highlight the Sycamores' offense in the game.
 
Jake Ridgway (1-0) went five one-hit innings in his third start of the season to shut down the high-powered SEMO offense, while Luke Patzner struck out seven Redhawks over the final four innings to pick up his first save of the year. Ridgway carried a perfect game into the fifth-inning while posting a season-high seven strikeouts.
 
Wednesday's final game of the two-game series featured an Urdaneta walk-off single as the redshirt sophomore saved his lone hit of the day for when it mattered. Indiana State took advantage of a pair of SEMO errors in the bottom of the ninth to put runners on the corners in the 4-4 ballgame. Jackson Taylor drew a pinch-hit walk to load the bases, before Urdaneta drilled a 2-1 pitch down the right field line scoring Daunte Majors and setting off an Indiana State celebration near second base following the 5-4 win.
 
Joey Hurt (2-1) picked up his second win of the season going 2.1 innings in relief. The sophomore retired all seven batters he faced while striking out three in the win. Jose Cabrera worked the first 3.2 innings in his first start on the mound, while Brennyn Cutts added five strikeouts in the relief effort.
 
Scouting Kansas
Kansas enters the weekend series with a 7-8 overall record as the Jayhawks continue nonconference play prior to next weekend's start in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks have been a road warrior with 14 games over their first 15 coming on the road, while losing in their lone home contest against Missouri State on March 2.
 
Kansas opened the year taking two of three from Illinois, but fell twice the following weekend against New Orleans. After falling in a midweek to Missouri State, the Jayhawks dropped contests against Michigan State and Minnesota at the Cambria College Classic, before taking the finale against Illinois. The Jayhawks righted the ship with a pair of midweek wins over Charleston Southern and added a win over Michigan State to their name. KU fell in their most recent midweek contest in a rematch at Missouri State, 16-1.
 
The Jayhawks were picked ninth overall in the Big 12 preseason poll as voted on by the conference's head coaches. Kansas received 10 votes overall back on the poll in late January. Highlighting the Jayhawks' returning roster includes preseason All-American right-handed pitcher Jonah Ulane, while senior catcher Nolan Metcalf recently was named to the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Watch List.
 
Sophomore infielder Maui Ahuna has been the team's hitting leader in the 2022 season as the Hilo, Hawaii native leads the Jayhawks' roster with a .483 batting average with 28 hits, including six doubles, three triples, and three home runs. Casey Burnham has also been among the team's hitting leaders with a .350 batting average, while Tavian Josenberger is also among the team's hitting leaders with 11 RBI on the year.
 
Among the weekend's projected starters on the Jayhawks lineup includes right-handers Cole Larsen and Ryan Vanderhei. Vanderhei (3-1) has been the team's primarily ace on the mound with a 4.03 ERA with a 26:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Larsen has also added four starts on the year with a 5.48 ERA over a team-high 23.0 innings' pitched. Sam Brady has also seen multiple starts on the season over 11.2 innings.
 
Kansas Top Player
Kansas' relief ace Jonah Ulane has been one of the best in the nation at ending a game as the redshirt senior was named a preseason Second Team All-American by the NCBWA. He posted 11 saves last season with a 1.44 ERA over 22 appearances in 2021. This season, he's been nearly perfect over four outings with a 0.00 ERA and three saves over four appearances. If the game gets close, expect Kansas to turn to their right-hander late in the contest.
 
Opponent History
Indiana State is 3-2 all-time against Kansas dating back to their first contest in the 1983 season. The Sycamores fell in the inaugural contest back on March 11, 1983, as ISU dropped the 6-2 decision in a weekend tournament at Oral Roberts. It took nearly three decades before the teams took the field again on March 15, 2012 with ISU topping the Jayhawks, 2-1, at the Irish Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The teams last took the field against each other in 2022 prior to the COVID-shutdown with the Sycamores topping the Jayhawks in two of the three games held in Lawrence over March 6-8.
 
Leading the Valley
Indiana State's offense continues to fire on all cylinders through the first 13 games of the season as the Sycamores entered the week as the Missouri Valley Conference's top offense in regards to batting average. ISU (.321) is only MVC team hitting at an above .300 clip on the year, while Indiana State's 178 hits put them on top of the conference leaderboard ahead of Southern Illinois (175). The Sycamores are 15th overall in the NCAA rankings in batting average on the year, while leading the MVC in on-base percentage (.411). The Sycamores have posted double-digit hits in 10 of their last 11 games, including a season-best 22 hits on February 26 against Minnesota. The Sycamores also have two games with at least nine hits, while posting an extra-base hit in all 15 contests on the year.
 
Dodging Baseballs
The Sycamores have been one of the worst teams in the NCAA to dodge a baseball in the 2022 season, but it has worked out to Indiana State's credit this year in providing 30 extra runners to the base paths. The Sycamores rank 20th in the NCAA in hit-by-pitches, while Jordan Schaffer (11) entered the weekend sitting tied for first nationally in the category. The Sycamores have had multiple batters get hit by a pitch in 10 of the 15 games on the season, including a season-best five on February 25 against Merrimack. Schaffer was plunked a career-high three times against Ohio State on February 19, to tie for the Indiana State single-game record. Five additionall players have also been hit by multiple pitches with Mike Sears (3), Josue Urdaneta (2), Randall Diaz (2), Parker Stinson (2), and Sean Ross (2) also hit by multiple pitches this season.
 
We Don't Give Up Free Bases
The Indiana State pitching staff has been one of the nation's best at not hurting themselves this year entering the weekend leading the Missouri Valley in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.67) and second in walks allowed per nine innings (3.49) through the first 15 games of the season. Right-hander Matt Jachec is individually ranked in both categories to pace the Sycamores on the season after surrendering his first walk of 2022 in the fourth inning against ECU. He currently leads the Sycamores in both categories with a 9.50 K:BB ratio (36th in NCAA) and a 0.69 walks allowed per nine innings (17th in NCAA) stretch. Overall, the Sycamores pitching staff has allowed three or fewer walks in nine different games, while posting double-digit strikeouts on five separate occasions.
 
Can't Be Caught
Indiana State's stolen base game saw its perfect stretch come to an end this past weekend against Wright State, but Josue Urdaneta put the Sycamores back on track with his third steal of the season in the first game against SEMO. The Sycamores remain one of the more elusive teams on the base paths in the Missouri Valley this season. ISU is 11-for-12 in stolen base attempts on the season paced by Tyler Nelson and Urdaneta's combined 6-for-6 efforts on the year. Jordan Schaffer also boasts multiple steals on the season, while Diego Gines, Sean Ross, and Jackson Taylor also have thefts to their name. Overall, the Sycamores boast the fifth-most steals in the Missouri Valley on the season.
 
Double-Digit Hitting Streak
Fifteen games into the season and Josue Urdaneta has showed few signs of slowing down as the redshirt sophomore switch-hitter continues to sit among the Missouri Valley's leading hitters in the 2022 season. Urdaneta (.418) and teammate Sean Ross (.417) are two of the five MVC hitters connecting at an above .400 clip on the year. The Maracaibo, Venezuela native is tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference with 28 hits coming into the weekend, while his .473 on-base percentage puts him firmly in the MVC top-10 on the year. Urdaneta homered twice against SEMO to keep his streak alive on Tuesday, while his walk-off RBI single in the Wednesday finale moved his season-best streak to 15 consecutive games. Urdaneta has been more active on the base paths with five runs over his last four games, while adding eight RBI. He leads the team with nine multi-hit games in the 2022 season.
 
On-Base Streak Hits 27
Indiana State's Jordan Schaffer has put together one of the longest on-base streaks in his collegiate career as the redshirt senior saw his streak reach 27 games through the midweek series against SEMO. Schaffer hit safely in his first seven games in the 2022 season to set a new personal-best with hits in 19 consecutive games, before seeing the hitting streak come to an end on at the LeClair Classic against East Carolina. However, a walk drawn in the seventh inning against the Pirates extended his on-base stretch and he's been on base in the seven games since to keep the streak alive. Schaffer continued his on-base streak this past week against SEMO as the redshirt senior shortstop reached base four times in the Tuesday opener and added a hit-by-pitch and a single in Wednesday's win. Schaffer has hit safely in 42 of his last 45 games and enters the weekend sitting third on the Sycamores with a .355 batting average at the top of the Sycamore lineup.
 
Ross Powering Up
Indiana State has found its power bat in the middle of the lineup as Sean Ross has started to heat up. The redshirt senior from San Diego, Calif. paces the Sycamores with a team-high eight extra-base hits, including leading the team in both doubles (5) and home runs (2). Ross enters the weekend on an eight-game hitting streak and is currently top-five in the Missouri Valley with a .417 batting average on the year. Ross has hit safely in 11 of the 13 games he's played on the season, including a four-hit contest with a triple back on February 26 against Minnesota. He has doubled in five of the last seven games and posted back-to-back multi-hit contests in three of his last four contests. Ross also boasts four games with multiple RBI and leads the Sycamores with 16 runs batted in on the year.
 
Hitting the Triple
The Sycamores are looking to add to their triple totals heading into the weekend as Indiana State picked up their third triple of the 2022 season this past weekend against Wright State. Josue Urdaneta joined Sean Ross and Luis Hernandez with three-baggers on the season with his triple in Friday's win over the Raiders. Overall, the Sycamores are tied for third in the Missouri Valley with three triples on the season trailing just Valparaiso (6) and Missouri State (5) on the year.
 
Leaving the Park as a Group
The Sycamores power numbers have been small in the 2022 season as Indiana State enters the weekend with 13 home runs through their first 15 games. However, every player in the Sycamore lineup possesses the ability to drive the ball out of the park with nine different players leaving the yard in the 2022 season. Josue Urdaneta (2), Sean Ross (2), Parker Stinson (2), and Mike Sears (2) have multiple home runs, while Luis Hernandez, Jordan Schaffer, Randall Diaz, Diego Gines and Miguel Rivera also driving the ball over the wall in 2022. Diego Gines added Indiana State's first grand slam of the 2022 season in SEMO's opener against the Redhawks. The Sycamores have connected on five home runs over the last three games and added a seven-game stretch with at least one home run from February 20 – March 5.
 
Doubling It Up
The balanced offensive approach has continued when it comes to doubles in the 2022 season with 12 different players recording at least one two-bagger. Additionally, seve players have multiple doubles through the first 15 games paced by Sean Ross' five on the season. Diego Gines is one back from the team lead, while Jordan Schaffer and Randall Diaz added three doubles on the year. Parker Stinson (2), Tyler Nelson (2), and Aaron Beck (2) have also posted multiple doubles on the season. The Sycamores have doubled in 13 of the 15 games in the 2022 season to sit middle of the pack in the MVC with 26 two-baggers on the year.
 
Jachec Leading the Way
Indiana State's rotation has found another ace as redshirt sophomore Matt Jachec currently sits among the Missouri Valley leaders through his first four starts of the 2022 season. The Hampshire, Ill. native is currently in the top-10 in multiple individual categories on the season including innings pitched (26.0), ERA (2.77), opponent batting average (.248), strikeouts looking (6), wins (3), and walks allowed (2). He went the first 16.2 innings before surrendering his first walk in the 2022 season, while going at least five innings in each of his four starts. Jachec has picked up wins over BYU, Minnesota, and Wright State on the year, while taking his lone loss against East Carolina.
 
The Strikeout King
Graduate transfer Jack Parisi possesses one of the most dangerous arsenals in the NCAA this season as he enters the weekend the active career NCAA Division I strikeout leader by 21 over Georgetown's Nolan McCarthy. Parisi has posted 298 career strikeouts, including 29 with the Sycamores over his four starts in the 2022 season. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native posted a season-best 13 whiffs against Merrimack on February 25, while 22 of his 29 strikeouts on the year have been in the swing-and-miss category. His 29 strikeouts leads the Sycamores pitching staff on the season and puts him second overall in the MVC trailing just Valparaiso's Colin Fields (33) through his first four starts.
 
Saving the Game
Redshirt junior Connor Fenlong remains one of the top relievers in the Missouri Valley this season as the Gouverneur, N.Y. native has made seven appearances, while posting three saves on the year. Named one of the top D1Baseball MLB Draft Prospects in the 2022 season, Fenlong has posted three saves on the year over his 10.2 innings and will be expected to lead the bullpen this weekend against the Jayhawks.
 
Bullpen Aces
Joey Hurth has seen an increased use out of the bullpen over the last two weekends as the sophomore right-hander has been on the mound in three of the last five games. Hurth has been strong allowing just two runs (one earned) while allowing three hits over the last 5.0 innings, while posting seven strikeouts. The Hopkins, Minn. native has posted multiple strikeouts in six of his seven games, including a season-high five against Minnesota back on February 27. He is currently tied with Jachec for second on the team with 19 strikeouts, while allowing opponents to hit just .188 from the plate.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Baseball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.