TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State opens up Missouri Valley Baseball play this weekend with a tough task as the Sycamores welcome the Missouri State Bears to Bob Warn Field for a three-game series running from March 22-24. All three games are scheduled to be on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
Game times for the weekend feature a 3 p.m. ET first pitch on Friday, a 2 p.m. ET first pitch on Saturday, while Sunday's series finale will be a 1 p.m. ET first pitch at The Bob as the Sycamores take on the Bears in a battle between the two teams voted in the top two positions in the Valley's preseason poll this season.

Indiana State Baseball Weekend Promotions

• March 22 - Trading card giveaway, set 1 of 5, sponsored by Refreshment Services Pepsi for the First 100 Fans
• March 23 - Can Koozie Giveaway, sponsored by Zink/Bud Light (First 100 Fans 21+)
• March 24 - 70's night (anyone with a valid ID with a birthday in the 1970's can get a $5 GA ticket)

The Sycamores (15-4) received 95 total points and eight of the 10 first-place votes to claim the conference's preseason recognition following a standout MVC campaign last season. Indiana State claimed all nine conference weekend series for the first time in program history and won the league's regular season championship by six games – the largest margin in the Valley since 1998.
 
Missouri State (9-10) received 89 total points and one of the two remaining first-place votes in finishing second in the preseason poll. The Bears return one of the most talented teams in the MVC this season featuring preseason All-Conference selections Taeg Gollert (3B), Zack Stewart (OF), Brandt Thompson (SP), and Garrett Ferguson (RP).
 
Indiana State opened up the season with a pair of seven-game winning streaks and enters the weekend looking to start another one after taking the 15-7 midweek win over Indiana this past Tuesday in Terre Haute. The ISU offense combined for five home runs and Cam Edmonson shut down the Indiana bats in an extended relief appearance as the Sycamores picked up their second consecutive win over the Hoosiers.
 
Randal Diaz, Luis Hernandez, Parker Stinson, Mike Sears, and Adam Pottinger all homered on Tuesday as the Sycamores improved to 2-0 inside the friendly confines of The Bob in their final tune-up before the start of Missouri Valley play. Sears added a three-run double on his way to a six-RBI contest in powering ISU to the win. The Sycamores overcame an early 6-0 deficit scoring three runs in the third and fifth innings, before erupting for a seven-run sixth inning to take the contest.
 
The run support benefitted Edmonson as the redshirt senior left-hander quelled the IU bats during the middle part of the game. Edmonson entered the game with two on, none out in the top of the third inning and gave up Stadler's two-run single before retiring the next three batters to escape the early jam. He retired six of seven batters at one point and ended his 4.0-inning stint on the mound retiring the final three IU hitters he faced before turning the ball over the Zach Davidson in the seventh. Davidson faced the minimum nine batters the rest of the way in three shutout innings to secure his second save of the year.
 
The Sycamore bats have come to life over the last 10 games highlighted by Hernandez's team-high .463 batting average from the plate. The junior first baseman is currently on an 18-game hitting streak with four multi-hit games over the last six contests, including a 4-for-4 day against Florida A&M, and a 5-for-5 stretch with two home runs and five RBIs against Xavier.
 
Dominic Listi has hit .371 from the plate over the last 10 games, while Randal Diaz has posted a .366 average with 15 hits, including six doubles and two home runs over the stretch. Mike Sears (.333) has also come to life with seven home runs and 23 RBI, while Josue Urdaneta has added a .310 batting average with 10 runs scored.
 
The numbers have increased the Sycamore season averages across the board with Indiana State increasing their team batting average to .275 on the year, while adding 18 of their 26 home runs across the same stretch. Indiana State has scored double-digit runs in four of their last six games, including a 16-5 eight-inning win over Xavier, while adding a 15-0 win over Florida A&M in the series finale.
 
Hernandez is the team's hitting leader in the 2024 season connecting at a .380 clip for the year. He boasts a team-high 30 hits and 20 runs scored, while sitting third in home runs (5) and second in RBIs (21). Listi is second on the team hitting .344 with a team-high .506 on-base percentage, while Diaz is hitting .342 from the plate with 26 hits and slugging .579 from the leadoff position in the batting order.
 
Sears is the team's primary power threat with eight home runs and 27 RBIs while leading the team with 11 extra-base hits. Parker Stinson has added six home runs and 16 RBIs, while slugging .585 from the plate on the year.
 
The pitching staff continues to be dominant leading the Missouri Valley in ERA (4.28), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.97), and strikeouts per nine innings (10.4). Headlining the staff continues to be another strong weekend rotation for the Sycamores led by Brennyn Cutts and Luke Hayden, while Cameron Holycross continues to hold the line on Fridays for Indiana State
 
Cutts (2-1) has taken on the Saturday starter role for ISU sitting with a 4.58 ERA over six appearances while posting a 22:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Hayden has posted at least five strikeouts in all five of his 2024 starts on his way to pitching a team-leading 24.0 innings with a 28:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Holycross made his first two starts of 2024 over the last two weekends and has posted a 2.87 ERA on the year with a 16:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio while limiting opponents to a .254 batting average.
 
Jacob Pruitt could be back in the mix this weekend with the sophomore right-hander boasting a Valley-leading 1.06 ERA with 31 strikeouts over 17.0 innings following his Friday night start at Southern Miss. He's posted back-to-back 11-strikeout games and still currently sits second in the Valley in the category.
 
Fifteen different pitchers have recorded time on the mound in the 2024 season highlighted by Zach Davidson, Simon Gregersen, and Jared Spencer's multiple appearances out the bullpen, while Edmonson opened the season starting on Friday nights and is coming off one of his best performances of the season against IU.
 
Scouting Missouri State
Missouri State opens conference play after playing one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the season featuring games against Louisiana Monroe, Oral Roberts, Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State among others over the first month of the season. The Bears on a bit of a skid falling in their last five games after sweeping Central Arkansas in Conway over the March 9-10 weekend.
 
Reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Zack Stewart continues to hit at a high level as the Lebanon, Mo. native leads the Bears with a .354 batting average, while adding 23 hits, 18 runs, and eight home runs. He's hit safely in 15 of the 17 games he's played, including a two-homer game on March 3 against Arkansas State.
 
Dylan Leach (.324) and Logan Chambers (.303) are also among the team's hitting leaders on the year with Leach connecting on five home runs and 17 RBI, while Chambers is one of five Bears with 20 hits on the year to go with 14 runs scored. Overall, Missouri State is hitting .259 from the plate with 27 home runs while posting a .367 on-base percentage.
 
The Missouri State pitching staff has combined to post a 5.80 ERA on the season over 163.0 innings pitched. The Bears have posted a 147:105 strikeout-to-walk ratio allowing opponents to hit .257 from the plate on the season.
 
Highlighting the Missouri State pitching staff includes All-Conference right-hander Brandt Thompson who paces the Bears with a 2-0 record and 3.00 ERA over six starts. He's posted a 23:4 strikeout-to-walk over 21.0 innings of work. Tyler Charlton (0-1, 4.57 ERA) is one of the top weekend arms for the Bears, while Jason Schaaf is also expected to draw a start this weekend with six appearances and a 3.45 ERA over 15.2 innings.
 
Series History
Missouri State leads the all-time series history against the Sycamores, 78-53. The Bears lead 29-21 in Terre Haute, while holding the 40-25 edge in Springfield. Indiana State has won each of the last four contests between the two programs dating back to taking the series finale in Terre Haute on May 1, 2022.
 
The Sycamores have faced Missouri State in their conference opener twice in the Mitch Hannahs coaching era coming in the 2015 and the 2019 seasons with both occurring on the road in Springfield. ISU fell in two of the three in the 2015 season over March 20-22 with the Sycamores taking the middle game in the three-game series. ISU took the series finale against the Bears in the 2019 season capping the March 29-31 weekend.
 
Last season's sweep over the Bears marked ISU's first since the 2016 season when the Sycamores took all three contests at Bob Warn Field.

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.