TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State is back home this week as the Sycamores prepare to start an eight-game home stand with a Tuesday night matchup against Indiana University. First pitch at Bob Warn Field is set for 4 p.m. ET with the game to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Game Day Promotion
The first 50 students who attend Tuesday night's game will receive a MVC Championship T-Shirt (courtesy of University Village). It's also Two for Tuesdays with fans able to purchase two hot dogs for $5 at the concession stand.
 
On the Call
Brendan King (Voice of the South Bend Cubs) and Jeremy Lucas will be on the ESPN+ call for Tuesday night's game, while John Sherman is back on air with the Sycamores on 105.5 The Legend.
 
The Sycamores enter the week with a 14-4 record following their season-opening stretch that featured 17 of their first 18 games away from Bob Warn Field. Indiana State made the opening week trek down to Florida to play a trio of games against Louisville, UConn, and South Florida, a midweek against Florida Gulf Coast, the Snowbird Baseball Classic against Michigan State and Marshall (twice), midweek against Vanderbilt, a weekend series at Southern Miss, a weekend series at Florida A&M, and a weekend series at Xavier over the opening stretch.
 
Overall, the Sycamore travels encompassed 11 states and nearly 5,500 total miles over the first month of the season with Indiana State adding a home game against Illinois on March 12 to the mix. Indiana State went 8-4 in true road games, 5-0 in neutral site contests, and 1-0 at home over the first 18 contests continuing to prove their mantra of anyone, anytime, anywhere.
 
Indiana State took on another 2023 NCAA Regional qualifier this past weekend as the Sycamores traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio to play the reigning Big East tournament champion Xavier Musketeers. It marked the fourth 2023 NCAA postseason team the Sycamores have played to date this season including Southern Miss (Hattiesburg Super Regional), Xavier (Nashville Regional), Florida A&M (Gainesville Regional), and UConn (Gainesville Regional). Indiana will be the fifth 2023 NCAA Regional team the Sycamores will face this season with the Hoosiers playing in the Lexington Regional last year.
 
The Sycamores took two of the three this weekend at Hayden Field against the Musketeers winning the opening game of the series, 16-5, in an eight-inning shortened game. Indiana State followed up with an eight-run fifth inning in Saturday's series clinching 10-7 win. Xavier took the finale in a pitcher's duel winning 4-2 on Sunday.
Josue Urdaneta's bat came to life over the weekend posting a team-high .556 batting average while scoring a team-high five runs. Randal Diaz (.500) and Luis Hernandez (.500) provided the pop in the lineup combining for three home runs and 12 RBIs, while posting seven hits apiece in the series against Xaiver. Mike Sears and Parker Stinson also homered as ISU hit .292 from the plate over the three-game series.
 
Jared Spencer and Cam Edmonson both earned wins out the bullpen over the series as the Sycamores utilized 10 pitchers against Xavier. ISU posted a 4.32 ERA and limited the Musketeers' offense to just 12 earned runs while putting together a 23:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Luke Hayden added a season-high seven strikeouts over a 5.0-inning start on Sunday.
 
Hernandez (.368) and Diaz (.357) have been at the forefront of the Indiana State offense this season with the duo leading the Sycamores in hits, doubles, runs, and sitting top-three in RBI through the first 18 games of the season. Hernandez boasts a 17-game hitting streak and paces ISU in hits (28) and runs (17), while sitting second in RBI (19) out of the three-spot in the lineup. Diaz is second in hits (25), leads in doubles (6), and is third in RBI (17), while also boasting 10 walks out of the leadoff position in the order.
 
Dominic Listi continues to get on base in the 2024 season as the grad transfer has posted a .339/.513/.411 slash line through his first 18 games. The Crystal Lake, Ill. native leads the Sycamores with 12 walks drawn and has been hit by 10 pitches, while adding four sacrifice hits in the lineup.
 
Mike Sears (7) and Parker Stinson (5) have been the power bats to date in the lineup with the duo combining for 12 home runs and 36 RBIs. Sears went through a stretch homering in six of eight games already this season, while Stinson has come through with key home runs throughout the season including a grand slam at Southern Miss and solo shot in the opener against Xavier.
 
Indiana State has utilized 15 different pitchers in the 2024 season with nearly every single player posting multiple appearances this year. Simon Gregersen and Zach Davidson lead the way with eight stints on the mound apiece on the year, while Luke Hayden, Brennyn Cutts, Cameron Holycross, Jacob Pruitt, Adam Berghorst, and Cam Edmonson have all started games on the year.
 
Overall, ISU has posted a team 4.18 ERA over 153.0 innings with a 178:59 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Opponents are only hitting .253 from the plate against the Sycamores with only one team scoring more than seven runs against the ISU staff this season. The Sycamores have also limited opponents to under 10 hits 12 different times this year, including a six-game stretch to open the 2024 season.
 
Scouting Indiana
Indiana enters the week with an 11-9 overall record on the season after taking two of three at home against Belmont in Bloomington. IU fell in the opener to the Bruins, 9-3, before taking the final two games of the series by scores of 15-10 and 15-7 to move two games ahead of .500.
 
IU spent several weeks ranked in the major Division I polls after playing an early challenging schedule featuring ranked contests against Duke, Coastal Carolina, Alabama, and Dallas Baptist over the first month. The Hoosiers picked up early wins over Coastal Carolina, a weekend sweep over Baylor, and Dallas Baptist, in addition to wins over Northern Kentucky and Troy.
 
Indiana is scheduled to take on several Missouri Valley teams in the 2024 season having already competed against Illinois State and Belmont. The Hoosiers fell to Illinois State, 16-6, this past Wednesday, before taking two of three against the Bruins. Indiana State makes the return trip to Bloomington on April 2, while Evansville travels to IU on April 16.
 
Devin Taylor (.385) and Brock Tibbitts (.375) remain Indiana's top hitters in the 2024 season sitting among the team leaders with 30 hits apiece, while Taylor has added four home runs and 17 RBIs on the lineup. Tyler Cerny (.368) is the team hits leader with 32 hits and nine doubles, while Carter Mathison is the team's power threat with five home runs on the year.
 
Twenty different IU arms have seen time on the mound this season as the Hoosiers have posted a 6.96 ERA over 172.0 innings on the season. Indiana has posted a 192:98 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season while allowing opponents to hit .266 from the plate.
 
Series History
Indiana leads the all-time series 67-47-1 dating back to the inaugural contest back in 1895. The Sycamores snapped IU's six-game winning streak in the series back on April 4, 2023, as ISU topped Indiana 4-0 at Bob Warn Field. The Sycamores moved to 28-26 all-time in Terre Haute in the series with the win.
 
Cameron Holycross turned in a dominant relief outing, while Luis Hernandez and Randal Diaz both homered as the Sycamores shutout the visiting Indiana Hoosiers in the 4-0 win. Cam Edmonson went the first 1.1 innings in the start before turning the ball over to Holycross in the top of the second. The ISU redshirt junior was masterful over the next 4.2 innings utilizing 72 pitches and limiting the Hoosiers to three hits while striking out four in keeping the shutout intact.
 
The Sycamore defense turned double plays in both the eighth and ninth innings in support of reliever Jared Spencer. Adam Pottinger robbed an IU home run at the left field wall in the eighth and Spencer retired the final out on strikes to complete ISU's fourth shutout of the Hoosiers in the all-time series between the two teams.
 
Hernandez connected on his second home run of the season in the bottom of the third inning to provide the Sycamores all the run support they would need, while Randal Diaz added his third home run in the last four games to power the Sycamores to the win. Josue Urdaneta and Pottinger both added RBI singles as ISU snapped a six-game home losing streak to the Hoosiers dating back to 2015.

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.