D1Baseball – Indiana State starting pitchers Luke Hayden and Brennyn Cutts were named among the top players at their position by D1Baseball as the organization continued to announce their Week 12 Positional Rankings.
 
Hayden came in as the No. 69-ranked starting pitcher, while Cutts clocked in at No. 112 marking the sixth and seventh Sycamores to be ranked by the organization his week. The duo joins Randal Diaz (No. 15 shortstop), Luis Hernandez (No. 20 first base), Mike Sears (No. 21 third base), and Grant Magill (No. 38 catcher) to be honored this week.
 
Hayden enters the weekend with a 6-1 overall record with a 2.92 ERA over 61.2 innings pitched over his first season at Indiana State. The Bloomington, Ind. native has posted a team-high 70 strikeouts while allowing opponents to hit .241 from the plate on the season.
 
He's gone at least 5.0 innings in eight of his 12 starts to date in the 2024 season with two 7.0-plus inning stints over his last three outings. Hayden went the distance on April 21 with a complete-game effort while striking out 11 in a win over Illinois State. He followed up going 7.1 innings allowing two runs while striking out six in the series clinching win at Southern Illinois.
 
Hayden leads the Valley in ERA while sitting third in strikeouts and second in strikeouts looking on the year.
 
Cutts enters the weekend with a 6-1 record and a 2.94 ERA over a team-best 64.1 innings pitched. He's second on the team with 63 strikeouts while leading the conference's starting pitchers allowing a .197 opponent batting average at the plate.
 
The junior right-hander posted a stretch of four consecutive quality starts over the month of April where he allowed just three runs and nine hits while striking out 25 over 28.0 innings. Highlighting the stretch included a complete-game two-hitter where he struck out six against Bradley on April 13.
 
Cutts trails only Hayden in ERA on the season, while leading the Valley in opponent batting average. He's also in the top-10 in innings pitched, strikeouts, and strikeouts looking.
 
Indiana State closes out their six-game home stand this weekend as the Sycamores welcome Evansville to Bob Warn Field for a three-game series over May 10-12. First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU and 105.5 The Legend.

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