TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State returns to Bob Warn Field this weekend for a key Missouri Valley Conference baseball series against Southern Illinois. The weekend series will run through April 11-13 with the series opener set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday night. All three games are scheduled to be carried live on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
The weekend promotional schedule features the third set of the 2025 Indiana State Baseball Card series to be given away on Friday, as well as serving as the annual Forest Game. Saturday is Autism Awareness Day with a ceremonial first pitch prior to the game. Sunday's weekend finale features Youth Baseball Day with any youth in a baseball or softball uniform will be admitted free, and any accompanying parents or guardians can receive a $5 General Admission ticket. State Dance Marathon will also be on hand at Sunday's game raising money for Riley Children's Hospital.
 
The Sycamores (16-16, 5-4) are coming off an eight-game road trip which featured a series win at UIC, as well as midweek wins at SIUE and Purdue, while dropping the series at Belmont this past weekend. SIU (23-9, 6-3) dropped their weekend series against Missouri State, before rallying back to claim the Tuesday midweek win over Southeast Missouri State in Carbondale, Ill., 7-3.
 
Recapping the Midweek
Indiana State split the season series with Purdue after claiming the 9-8 extra inning win on Tuesday afternoon in West Lafayette. The Sycamore win avenged a 14-4 (8) loss to the Boilermakers at Bob Warn Field back on March 4, and gave Indiana State its 10th consecutive road win against Purdue dating back to the 2013 season.
 
The Sycamores trailed 7-3 after the fifth inning, but utilized a four-run eighth inning, highlighted by two-run doubles from Carter Beck and Nomar Garcia on their way to rallying back and taking the 8-7 lead.
 
Purdue evened the score again in the bottom of the frame on Avery Moore's pinch-hit sacrifice fly. Neither team was able to push across the go-ahead in the ninth inning as Indiana State's Ty Brooks and Purdue's Isaac Milburn worked scoreless frames to send the game into extra innings.
 
Mason Roell sparked the Indiana State offense with a leadoff single in the top of the 10th. Pinch-runner Jordan Austin moved into scoring position after Beck was hit by a pitch, before Garcia's grounder to third sparked chaos on the base paths. The Purdue relay to second base went into right field allowing Austin to cross the plate for the go-ahead run.
 
Brooks made short work of the Purdue offense in the bottom of the 10th inning on his way with a 1-2-3 frame including striking out Ty Gill to close out the contest.
 
Garcia and Roell both recorded three-hit games as Indiana State connected on 13 hits overall as a team against the Purdue pitching staff. Beck, Pena, and Martinez added multi-hit games on the afternoon in the win with Garcia and Pena both homering.
 
Brooks picked up the win in his first relief outing of the 2025 season retiring all six batters he faced over 2.0 innings of work. He capped an effort by nine Indiana State pitchers on the mound including Jacob Spencer, Emil Estrella, Carson Seeman, Brady Banker, Aaron Moss, Colby Morse, Zac Laird, and Gavin Morris.
 
Season Overall
Carlos Pena (.369) continues to pace the Indiana State offense as the senior outfielder enters the weekend on a 26-game on-base streak. He leads the Sycamores in hits (45), doubles (10), RBI (34), and slugging percentage (.680), while sitting among the team leaders in home runs (8), runs (25), and on-base percentage (.455).
 
Nomar Garcia (.357) has been on fire from the plate with hits in eight of his last nine games and has posted six doubles, 14 runs, and six stolen bases since returning to the field from injury. He added his first home run of the year in the first inning of Tuesday's game at Purdue.
 
Keegan Garis (.308) and Jackson Taylor (.308) are also hitting above the .300 mark on the season as Indiana State is connecting at a .267 clip from the plate as a team. Garis paces Indiana State with nine home runs, while Taylor has added six doubles and 20 runs scored. Carter Beck is also among the team's leaders with eight home runs, 31 runs, and 32 RBIs while sitting atop the Indiana State lineup.
 
The Indiana State pitching staff has combined to post a team 5.58 ERA on the season over 274.1 innings played. Seventeen different arms have taken the mound combining for a 227:147 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .263 opponent batting average.
 
Max McEwen (3-2, 4.82 ERA) and Ty Brooks (3-2, 4.42 ERA) have been among the team's mainstays in the weekend rotation with both coming off strong starts this past weekend at Belmont. McEwen went a career-best 7.0 innings with 11 strikeouts in the Sycamores' Friday win over Belmont, while Brooks worked 6.1 innings of three-hit baseball with six strikeouts on Saturday afternoon.
 
Jack Armstrong (2-0, 3.66 ERA) has been among the team leaders on the mound this season, while Aaron Moss (1-0, 6.75 ERA), Carson Seeman (0-0, 5.03 ERA), Colby Morse (2-2, 5.08 ERA), and Gavin Morris (4-3, 4.60 ERA) have all made multiple appearances and could be in play on the mound over the weekend.
 
Valley Play
The Sycamores have seen marked success at the plate in Missouri Valley Conference play paced by Carlos Pena's .417 batting average. The senior outfielder connected on a pair of home runs this past weekend in Nashville and leads Indiana State in hits (15), while sitting among the leaders in home runs (3) and RBIs (8).
 
Jackson Taylor (.367), Jeremy Martinez (.360), Nomar Garcia (.345), and Keegan Garis (.313) have all connected above the .300 mark in conference play as the Sycamores are hitting .282 over the first nine games in the Missouri Valley. Taylor and Garcia lead Indiana State with 10 runs apiece, while Garcia is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Keegan Garis (four HR, 12 RBIs) and Eli Gipson (12 RBIs) have also been adept at driving in runs in Valley play.
 
Nine different Sycamores have taken the mound in Missouri Valley competition this season over series against Valparaiso, UIC and Belmont. The Indiana State pitching staff has combined for a 4.32 ERA over 77.0 innings in conference competition while allowing opponents to hit just .249 from the plate.
 
Max McEwen (1-1, 6.46 ERA) and Ty Brooks (1-0, 2.12 ERA) have taken the mound first in all three weekend series and combined for a 37:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 32.1 innings. Breyllin Suriel (0-1, 3.46 ERA) and Colby Morse (0-1, 7.94 ERA) have also drawn starts in weekend competition.
 
Bullpen mainstays Gavin Morris (2-1, 0.79 ERA) and Carson Seeman (0-0, 0.00 ERA) both sit among the conference statistical leaders in Valley play. Jack Armstrong (1-0, 4.76 ERA) has also picked up a win while allowing opponents to hit .190 from the plate in conference competition.
 
Scouting Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois heads into the midweek series with a 23-9 mark on the season, 6-3 record in Missouri Valley play. The Salukis are coming off their first weekend series loss after dropping the first two games in the weekend series in Carbondale to Missouri State. SIU rallied back to claim the series finale and have added series wins over Bradley and UIC on the season.
 
The Salukis were recognized as one of the Missouri Valley Conference's top teams in the coaches' annual preseason poll. SIU received 86 total points and four first-place votes on their way to finishing second in the poll behind Missouri State (90, five first-place). Jaxon Holder (SS) and Alec Nigut (SP) were both honored on the MVC Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
Matt Schark (.354) and Tim Simay (.352) are both hitting above the .350 mark on the season to pace an SIU offense that is connecting at a .299 clip from the plate on the year. Schark leads the team with 12 home runs, while adding 46 hits and 36 runs scored. Simay leads the team with nine stolen bases. Holder (.333) and Jordan Bach (.331) are also hitting above the .300 mark on the season with Bach pacing the Salukis with 15 doubles and 23 walks drawn. Holder has added 26 RBIs.
 
Southern Illinois has posted a team 5.41 ERA over the season led by Alec Nigut (5-1, 2.75 ERA). Tyler Timmerman (5-1, 2.81 ERA) and Meade Johnson (0-2, 4.85 ERA) have been among SIU's primary weekend starters throughout the season with the Salukis' staff combining for a 274:138 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .264 batting average.
 
Series History
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series with a 106-97 mark against Indiana State according to current records on hand. The Sycamores took two of three games from Southern Illinois last season in Carbondale with Indiana State rallying back after falling in the opening game, before rallying back to take the final two in the series.
 
The two teams would go on to play each other twice at the MVC Championships in Evansville in the postseason. SIU took the opening contest, 10-9, in 11 innings on May 22 with a five-run rally in the top of the 11th inning to send the Sycamores into the elimination bracket.
 
Indiana State returned the favor and eliminated the Salukis from the playoffs three days later in the consolation bracket championship game with a 7-3 win. The Sycamores sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning with Adam Pottinger (RBI single), Mike Sears (two-run double), and Grant Magill (RBI single) driving in runs to secure the win.
 
Follow the Sycamores
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