TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State baseball returns to Bob Warn Field this week as the Sycamores begin a four-game homestand starting Tuesday night with a midweek contest against Indiana. First pitch against the Hoosiers is set for 4 p.m. ET and will be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
The Sycamores (7-9) start one of their longest home stretches of the 2025 season this week as Indiana State will be inside the friendly confines of The Bob for seven of their next eight games including this weekend's series against Pacific (Mar. 14-16), and next weekend's Missouri Valley opening series against Valparaiso (Mar. 21-23). Only next Tuesday's trip to Illinois (Mar. 18) separates the Sycamores' home series as Indiana State is truly off the road for the first time since the season started back on February 14.
 
Former Indiana State baseball head coach and recent Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame inductee Bob Warn is scheduled to throw out the first pitch as a part of the pregame festivities on Tuesday. Game day promotions also include $2 Tuesday Sodexo Specials at the concession stand.
 
Indiana State traveled approximately 3,440 total miles over the opening month of the season with trips to Gastonia, N.C., Fort Myers, Fla., Daytona Beach, Fla., Greenville, N.C., and Cape Girardeau, Mo. Fifteen of their first 16 games came on the road with the Sycamores sporting a 7-8 overall record with key wins over Southeast Missouri State (twice), Florida Gulf Coast, Northeastern, and Bethune-Cookman over the stretch.
 
Indiana State heads into the midweek contest against Indiana coming off a 2-2 mark this past weekend at Capaha Field and SEMO. The Sycamores took the first two games of the series behind strong pitching performances from Max McEwen and Colby Morse as well, while Carlos Pena, Keegan Garis, and Jackson Taylor provided key hits throughout the weekend series against the Redhawks.
 
Pena was a force at the plate for the Sycamores over the weekend as the senior designated hitter connected at a .467 clip with a trio of multi-hit games. The Bayside, N.Y. native led the team with seven hits, including three doubles and a home run, while driving in four RBIs. He added two stolen bases highlighting five steals by the Sycamores over the series.
 
Taylor saw his bat come to life over the weekend with a .385 batting average, including a double and a triple in the Sycamores' opening win over the Redhawks. Garis also posted a .385 average with a pair of home runs, while scoring a team-high four runs over the weekend.
 
The pitching staff was headlined by McEwen and Morse's efforts as the Sycamores combined to post a 2.91 team ERA against SEMO. McEwen went 6.1 innings in Friday's opener, shutting down the Redhawk offense allowing just two hits and an unearned run in Indiana State's 7-1 win. Morse went 7.1 innings in relief in Saturday's first game with the senior right-hander retiring the final 14 batters in a row to secure Indiana State's 3-0 win.
 
Zac Laird, Brady Banker, Carson Seeman, Breyllin Suriel, and Aaron Moss all recorded perfect 0.00 ERAs over the weekend as the Sycamore pitching staff limited the Redhawks to just a .242 batting average with seven extra-base hits over the four-game weekend series.
 
Pena's team-leading batting average rose to .364 following the weekend series as he took over the team lead with 20 hits, six doubles, three home runs, and 17 RBIs while hitting in the middle of the Indiana State lineup. Alex Nevils returned behind the plate and is hitting .333 on the year, while Garis (.308) remains above the .300 mark for the season while leading Indiana State with 16 runs scored. Thomas Emerich (.291) is tied with Pena for the team's doubles lead with six.
 
The Sycamores' pitching staff lowered the team's ERA to 5.81 following the series in Cape Girardeau with the Indiana State arms combining to go 136.1 innings on the year. Morse (1-0, 1.17 ERA) leads the team in ERA, while McEwen (1-1, 3.50 ERA) is the team's strikeout leader with 18 through 18.0 innings. Gavin Morris, Zac Laird, and Jacob Spencer have combined to lead the team with six appearances out of the bullpen as Indiana State has posted a .274 opponent batting average on the year.
 
Defensively, Indiana State has been adept at the double play ball on the season. The Sycamores sit eighth overall in the NCAA with 16 double plays on the year and 13th in double plays per game at 1.00. The team has posted a .970 fielding percentage on the year.
 
Scouting Indiana
Indiana enters the midweek contest with a 7-9 overall record and 1-2 mark in Big Ten Conference play. The Hoosiers are coming off a weekend series at Penn State with the Nittany Lions taking two of three from Indiana. IU took the middle game of the series with a 17-6 win on Friday afternoon in University Park, Pa.
 
IU entered the season coming off a 33-26-1 mark, including a 15-9 record in Big Ten play as the Hoosiers advanced to the 2024 NCAA Knoxville Regional. Last season's success parlayed into this season's preseason recognition as Indiana was selected third overall in the Big Ten's preseason baseball poll with junior outfielder Devin Taylor earning Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year honors.
 
Taylor has lived up to the billing early in the year hitting .382 from the plate with a team-high 12 extra-base hits, including six home runs, while adding 21 RBIs and 16 runs scored. Korbyn Dickerson has provided the power with Taylor, hitting .380 from the plate with a team-high eight home runs and 27 RBIs, while scoring 24 runs. Overall, Indiana has seven players in the regular lineup hitting above .300 as the Hoosiers are hitting .321 from the plate as a team with 24 home runs over the first 16 games.
 
Indiana has utilized 19 different pitchers over the first 16 games of the season in posting a team 6.44 ERA over 137.0 innings. The Hoosiers are allowing opponents to hit .264 from the plate with a 139:76 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Six different pitchers have made at least five appearances on the year led by Drew Buhr (0-1, 2.70 ERA) out of the bullpen, while seven different pitchers have started at least one game on the season.
 
Familiar to Indiana State fans, RHP Cole Gilley has been in the weekend rotation for the Hoosiers this year with a 1-1 record and 3.06 ERA over 17.2 innings. Gilley leads IU with 21 strikeouts and a .191 opponent batting average.
 
Series History
Indiana holds the all-time 68-48-1 record against Indiana State dating back to the opponents' first contest back on Mar. 26, 1898. The series has gone the way of the Hoosiers recently with Indiana taking seven of the last 10 contests after the teams split the series in 2024.
 
Indiana State's offense combined for five home runs and Cam Edmonson shut down the Indiana bats in an extended relief appearance as the Sycamores topped the visiting Hoosiers at Bob Warn Field, 15-7, on March 19. The Hoosiers returned the favor at Bart Kaufman Field on April 2 as Indiana rallied back from a 6-0 deficit by scoring a combined 12 runs in the fourth and sixth innings to take the 16-7 win.
 
Against the Big Ten Conference
Indiana State is 162-167-5 all-time against the current iteration of the Big Ten Conference according to current records on hand. The Sycamores' nine-game home winning streak against Big Ten teams dating back to the 2022 season ended this past week as Indiana State fell to Purdue, 14-4, at Bob Warn Field on March 4. Indiana State is scheduled to take on 2025 Big Ten opponents Purdue (47-32-2), Indiana (48-68-1), and Illinois (41-47-2) in home-and-home midweek contests this year.
 
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.