Ashley Dickerson
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Baseball (30-17, 9-6 MVC) is coming off of a weekend series win at Wichita State and a 16-8 power performance at Ball State on Wednesday. The last time the Sycamores took the series at Tyler Field in Wichita was during the 2009 season under head coach Lindsay Meggs.
At Ball State, junior Hunter Owen was a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate, something that has not been done since Demetrius Dowler in the 1992 season. Senior Kaden Moore crushed his first grand slam of the season against the Cardinals, tallying seven RBIs to make 48 total on the season for the Sycamore catcher. Junior Tony Rosselli enjoyed a multiple home run game as he hit two against Ball State, the most since teammate Hunter Owen hit two against Bradley last season.
The Sycamores head out to Peoria, Ill., for the last away weekend series of the season. The Braves are currently 23-17 overall and 7-7 in the MVC, as they head into the weekend conference series in fourth place.
Weekend Schedule
Friday: at Bradley - 7:00 p.m. ET.
Saturday: at Bradley - 3:00 p.m. ET
Sunday: at Bradley - 2:00 p.m. ET
Probable Pitchers
Friday: LHP Ryan Keaffaber
Saturday: RHP Tyler Ward
Sunday: LHP Weston Rivers
Series Wins
The Sycamores' series win over the Wichita State Shockers marked the fourth MVC series win of the season out of five total played thus far, including a sweep of ranked Missouri State. Indiana State has now won more games this season than in the 2015 season, as they are currently 29-17 overall, whereas the final record from last season was 28-26. The series win also secured the Sycamores' second place ranking in the Valley.
Back End Bullpen Boys
Sophomores Jeremy McKinney and Ethan Larrison have emerged from the back end of the bullpen to be two reliable guys on the mound. Over the past six games, McKinney has made four appearances, tallied two wins and two saves throughout nine innings pitched, and had only allowed three runs while striking out five. Throughout the last two series' Larrison has marked a .087 ERA throughout three appearances, is 1-0 with one save, has allowed only five hits, one run, and has struck out four in 10.1 innings pitched. Overall, McKinney has banked seven saves and owns the lowest ERA (2.55) of the pitching staff. Larrison is right under McKinney with a 3.65 ERA and one save on the season.
Weekend Warriors
Sophomore Tyler Friis led the Sycamores over the weekend series win over the Wichita State Shockers. Friis led the team in batting average with a .571, and hits, going 8-for-14. Friis reached home safely four times, notched four RBIs, and tripled in the series victory. Senior Andy DeJesus smashed his first home run of the season against the Shockers, making it a two-run bomb in game two of the series. DeJesus also picked up his sixth triple of the season, as he is now one triple behind the top spot in the MVC. Senior Hunter Owen also continued to be consistent as he was 7-for-15 throughout the weekend, knocking in his 40th RBI of the season.
Getting The Nod
Senior Andrew Gutierrez, who was a last-minute addition to the Sycamores' starting lineup at Wichita State this weekend, proved to be worthy of the starting nod. After Wichita State took the early 2-0 lead over the Sycamores in Friday night's contest, Gutierrez answered with a three-run bomb, his first of the season, to reclaim the Sycamore lead. Gutierrez led the Sycamores on Friday going 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored, three RBIs, and a walk. In Saturday's game one, Gutierrez finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. With his weekend performances, Gutierrez climbed his way up the Sycamores' offensive conference statistics, as he is now third on the team for MVC batting average with a .350. Gutierrez leads the team in MVC play for stolen bases with a perfect 2-for-2, and has added a total of five RBIs.
Rank And File
The Sycamores currently rank first in the MVC for team fielding with a .979 percentage, second among MVC opponents with a conference record of 9-6, and third in the MVC for team batting average with a .289. Individually, junior Hunter Owen is second in hits with 67, second in runs scored with 48, third in overall batting average with a .362, fourth in doubles with 17, and fifth in total bases with 101. Senior Andy Young is fourth in runs scored with 46, senior Kaden Moore is fifth with 41 RBIs, and senior Andy DeJesus is second in triples with seven.
Nationally, the Sycamores rank ninth in the fielding category, while they also rank 32nd in hit by pitches. Individually, Andy DeJesus ranks 10th overall in triples with six. Andy Young ranks 14th in hit by pitch, and Hunter Owen ranks 21st in hit by pitches and 31st in doubles for doubles. Freshman Tyler Ward ranks 45th in the nation in walks per nine innings.
A Little History
The Sycamores and Braves will play games 142-144 of the all-time series, as ISU owns the advantage with an 83-52 record. Last season, the Braves took the series, winning two of three.
Scouting The Competition
The Braves have won six of their last eight, including a two series wins over ranked Dallas Baptist and Illinois State. Junior Spencer Gaa is this week's MVC Player of the Week as he hit .647 (11-17) with nine runs batted in while leading the Braves to a 3-1 record for the week and posted multiple hits in all four games last week, including three games with at least three hits, and seven of his safeties went for extra bases, all adding up to a 1.353 slugging percentage. The Braves' pitching staff is currently top in the Valley with a 3.56 ERA. Friday's starter, Matt Dennis, is fifth in the Valley in the strikeouts category with 64 throughout 66.1 innings pitched.
All three of this weekend's games can be found on The Valley on ESPN3. Friday's match-up is set for a 7:00 p.m. ET start time, while Saturday and Sunday are set for 3:00 and 2:00 p.m. ET, respectively. Follow Sycamore Baseball on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest information.
