TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – No. 1 Indiana State looks to defend their home field this week as the Sycamores host the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship this week at Bob Warn Field.
 
The eight-team, double-elimination tournament runs from May 23-27 and starts on Tuesday afternoon with the first-round games. Courtesy of their top overall seed, the Sycamores will have a first day bye and will start competition on Wednesday afternoon against either No. 6 UIC, No. 7 Belmont, or No. 8 Valparaiso pending on how the first day games play out.
 
Tickets for the MVC Baseball Championships are on sale now by clicking the link here. Commemorative ISU Baseball t-shirts recognizing the regular season championship are also on sale by clicking the link here.
 
The Sycamores earned the top overall seed in the tournament courtesy of their 24-3 mark in Missouri Valley play during the regular season. Indiana State won all nine conference series weekends for the first time in program history, while their 24 MVC wins equaled the most in Valley play since 2004. ISU's six-game margin over Missouri State to win the MVC regular season title was also the largest margin in the conference since Wichita State won the regular season crown back in 1998 by eight games.
 
The host institutions have a habit of winning the MVC Tournament and the Sycamores are hoping that history repeats itself this week. Since 1981, the home team has won the tournament 15 times, including Missouri State claiming the title last year at Hammons Field. Additionally, the No. 1 overall seed has won the MVC Tournament 19 times dating back to the 1981 season with the last being Dallas Baptist in 2021.
 
The Sycamores have a lifetime mark of 78-66 at the MVC Baseball Championships dating back to their first appearance in 1977. Indiana State has won at least one tournament game since 2014 and had won at least two MVC tournament contests since 2017 before the streak was snapped last year in Springfield, Mo.
 
The Sycamores have won seven MVC Tournaments over program history with the last coming back in 2019 as ISU won five of six games including taking two over Dallas Baptist on championship day to win the title and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Indiana State has a winning postseason record against the current tournament field against nearly every team in the field with the exception of newcomers UIC, Murray State, and Belmont, as well as Missouri State (6-8). ISU is 6-4 in the tournament against Evansville, 15-5 against Southern Illinois, and 1-0 against Valparaiso with the win coming last year in Springfield.
 
The 2023 season marks the third time Indiana State has hosted the MVC Championships. ISU previously hosted the tournament field in both the 2014 and the 2016 seasons. The Sycamores fell in both their games in the 2014 season and went 1-2 in 2016 with a win over Wichita State.
 
Indiana State will look to make sure history is not repeated as the Sycamores boast one of the hottest teams in the NCAA entering the postseason following this past weekend's sweep over Missouri State. ISU has won 30 of their last 33 contests dating back to the start of Missouri Valley play on March 25 and includes midweek wins over Indiana, Purdue (twice), Illinois, Vanderbilt, and Ball State.
 
The Sycamores remain in the national postseason conversation heading into the final week of the regular season. ISU continues to be in the regional hosting discussion and sits among the top teams in the country in four of the six major Division I baseball polls. ISU clocked in at No. 9 in Collegiate Baseball, No. 18 on Perfect Game, No. 25 in Baseball America and No. 28 in the NCBWA poll. The Sycamores were dropped from the USA Today Top 25 down to receiving votes despite posting a 3-0 weekend to sweep Missouri State and win the MVC outright regular season title.
 
ISU also boasts one of the nation's top RPI sitting in the top-10 for the fifth consecutive week as the Sycamores clocked in at No. 10 according to WarrenNolan.com and the NCAA. The Sycamores have been in the top-35 in the rankings over the last two months and remains the MVC leader in RPI. Missouri State (76) and Evansville (86) are also among the top-100 in the rankings heading into the weekend.
 
The Sycamores strength of schedule has been their calling card this season with ISU continuing to adopt the mantra of any time, anywhere, any place. Despite having a late season game canceled on them, ISU remains third in the non-conference strength of schedule rankings and 41st overall in Division I. Indiana State's non-conference scheduling sits behind Liberty (1) and Coastal Carolina (2), while remaining ahead of Florida A&M (4) and Florida State (5).
 
ISU has played against top-50 RPI opponents in Kentucky (2), Vanderbilt (8), Miami (18), Indiana (27), Northeastern (31), and Iowa (32). Additional top 100 schools on the schedule include the above mentioned MVC schools, as well as Michigan State (66), Florida Gulf Coast (68), Illinois (87).
 
The Sycamores boast a 38-14 overall record on the season and are closing in on the program's 12th 40-win season in program history. Indiana State last hit the 40-win mark in the 2019 season when the Sycamores posted a 43-18 overall record on their way to winning the MVC Championships and advancing to the Nashville Regional.
 
Indiana State put together strong numbers in Missouri Valley play this year with the Sycamore hitters sitting among the MVC leaders in multiple offensive categories in the conference season. ISU finished the year first overall in team batting average (.297), second in slugging percentage (.484), first in hits (281), third in home runs (40) and fourth in doubles (54).
 
Individually, the Sycamores had a multitude of players ranked among the tops in the conference offensively. Adam Pottinger is top five in batting average (.368, 5th) and on-base percentage (.486, 1st), while Keegan Watson finished ninth in average (.361), third in slugging percentage (.681), fourth in on-base percentage (.471), and first in doubles (11). Josue Urdaneta finished fourth in MVC play in hits (37), while Mike Sears finished third in home runs (10) and sixth in RBIs (29).
 
The Indiana State pitching staff dominated the MVC in conference play this season. The Sycamores posted a team ERA of 2.91 sitting nearly two full runs below second-ranked Missouri State (4.68). ISU also recorded five of the conference's nine complete games and four of the 10 shutouts in Valley play this season. The Sycamores posted a 198:63 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allowed opponents to hit just .223 from the plate this year.
 
The pitching prowess started at the top with the entire ISU weekend rotation sitting among the conference's top 15 in ERA, opponent batting average, innings pitched, and wins. Connor Fenlong was brilliant in conference play with a trio of complete game shutouts on his way to finishing second in ERA (2.26), fourth in opponent batting average (.210), first in innings (63.2) and first in wins (8). Matt Jachec led the Valley in strikeouts on the year with 58 and posted a 3.64 ERA and a 5-1 mark in conference competition. Lane Miller went 5-0 in Valley play with a 2.78 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .212.
 
The Sycamore bullpen was equally effective in relief in Valley play with a 2.90 ERA paced by six pitchers posting a sub-4.00 ERA on the year. Zach Davidson did not allow a run over five appearances, while Cam Edmonson (1.29), Simon Gregersen (1.50), Jared Spencer (1.54), Kyle Cortner (1.80), and Cameron Holycross (3.60) all were dominant in conference play.
 
Overall, Watson has been Indiana State's top hitter over the last few weeks of the season. The redshirt senior has posted a .322 batting average at the plate while sitting tied for the team lead with 14 doubles on the year. Adam Pottinger (.301) is also among the top hitters on the year and enters the tournament on a 28-game on-base streak dating back to April 2 at UIC.
 
Seth Gergely (.298), Luis Hernandez (.290), and Josue Urdaneta (.288) are also among Indiana State's hitting leaders on the year. Gergely is tied for the team lead with 27 walks and 10 stolen bases, while Hernandez has come on strong with 14 doubles and 53 hits on the year. Urdaneta leads the Sycamores with 60 hits and tied with Gergely with 10 stolen bases on the year.
 
Mike Sears is the team's primary power threat with 18 home runs on the season, including a trio of two-homer games in 2023. He's added five home runs over the last seven games heading into the tournament.
 
Sixteen different Indiana State pitchers have seen time on the mound this year with the Sycamores boasting a team 3.94 ERA and a 445:169 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Connor Fenlong became the first Sycamore to nine wins on the mound, while Lane Miller and Matt Jachec both have six in 2023. Cameron Holycross (2.02 ERA) continues to be a name to watch out of the bullpen on the year while Jachec finished among the Valley leaders in strikeouts with 86.
 
The Sycamores finished the regular season boasting the second-best defense in the NCAA Division I with a .984 fielding percentage. Two players boast perfect 1.000 percentages with at least 75 chances, while four more players are fielding at a .990 clip or better on the year.

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