The Indiana State Sycamores embark on their only weekend roadtrip of March when they travel to Dayton, Ohio, to take part in the Dayton Classic. ISU will go up against Dayton on Friday, play a doubleheader at Wright State on Saturday and play Oakland on Dayton's campus on Sunday. All four games can be heard live on 89.7 FM WISU with live stats on GoSycamores.com.

The Sycamores enter the weekend on a three-game win streak, after taking the final two games of the series with UT-Martin and winning 8-2 against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday. Each of the Sycamores' opponents this weekend currently sit under the .500 mark, with Dayton at 4-8, Wright State at 3-7 and Oakland at 1-8.

The Coaches

ISU - Rick Heller (Upper Iowa '86)

The Sycamores are 7-4 under first-year head coach Rick Heller, who was named the 28th head baseball coach in Indiana State history on August 14, 2009.  Heller comes to Indiana State after coaching the past 10 seasons at Northern Iowa, where he led the Panthers to a MVC title in 2001. Over his 22 years as a head coach at Upper Iowa, UNI and ISU, Heller has totaled a 568-476-4 record as the man in charge.

Heller also played at Upper Iowa from 1982-86, where he was a four-year starter at shortstop while also lettering in football and basketball. Heller is a member of the Upper Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dayton - Tony Vittorio (Hanover '88)

Career Record - 511-465 (17 Seasons) / 2009 Record - 38-19

Wright State - Rob Cooper (Miami (Fla.) '94)

Career Record - 157-135 (4 Seasons) / 2009 Record - 33-30

Oakland - John Musachio (Bradley '96)

Career Record - 37-64 (2 Seasons)  / 2009 Record - 22-34

A Little History

The Sycamores have only faced one out of their three opponents this weekend. ISU will be playing Dayton and Oakland for the first time in school history, but ISU has had success against Wright State in the past, winning seven of the eight games that the teams have played. ISU and WSU last met in 1997 in Terre Haute, with the Sycamores winning 14-7 and 16-9.

Plenty To Go Around

Indiana State enters Tuesday's game with 127 hits as a team, good for an average of 11.5 per game. ISU has only been held under 10 hits in a game three times this season, when they tallied eight and seven hits, respectively, in the first two games of the series with Texas - San Antonio and when they totaled eight in the first game last Saturday against Tennessee-Martin.

The Sycamores have supported a balanced attack at the plate this season, with five players (Kyle Burnam - 17, Tyler Graham - 16, Ryan Strausborger - 16, Luke Fieser - 16 and Phil Liniger -15) recording at least 15 hits in 2010.

More Than The Opponents

In eleven games this season, the Sycamores have been out-hit by the opponent just once, when UT-Martin out-hit the Sycamores by two, 12-10, in the second game of the doubleheader last Saturday. ISU would like to repeat their success from 2009 when outhitting an opponent, as Indiana State went 27-2 last season when recording more hits. ISU currently sits at 6-3 when outhitting the opposition this season.

Twice As Nice

For the second time this season, the Sycamores went perfect in the stolen base category over a weekend series. Indiana State started the 2010 season by going 9-9 on the bases against Texas Southern and matched that number against Tennessee-Martin this past weekend.

For the season, the Sycamores are 22-25 in the stolen base category. Senior Ryan Strausborger and freshman Jeremy Lucas lead ISU in stolen bases, both at a perfect 4-4. Senior Tyler Graham is second, at 3-4, and a total of four Sycamores have totaled a pair of steals in 2010, in senior Luke Fieser, senior Ben Ferrell, junior Levi Ferguson and freshman Jordan Pearson.

Close, But No Cigar

Three Sycamores have come one step away from completing the cycle in a single game this season. Both senior Luke Fieser (Feb. 19 vs. Texas Southern) and sophomore Kyle Burnam (March 6 vs. UT-Martin) fell just a home run short while junior Phil Liniger (March 7 vs. UT-Martin) went without a triple.

No Free Passes

Junior Jacob Petricka and senior Joe Rodriguez started the first two games of last weekend's series with UT-Martin and combined for 20 strikeouts over 14.2 innings on the mound without giving up a walk. As a staff, the Sycamores have surrendered 43 walks in 96 innings this season, or an average of just over four walks per game.

Signs Of Good Things To Come

For the second consecutive season, the Sycamores have started a campaign with a least three consecutive wins. This is the 19th time in ISU history that the Sycamores have started a season with at least a 3-0 record. During the previous 18 seasons, ISU has gone on the earn seven conference championships, one trip to the College World Series (1986) and one trip to the NAIA National Tournament (1958). The Sycamores have only finished with a losing record one time after starting a season with three consecutive wins, when they finished 3-4 in 1928. The best start in Indiana State history came in 1924 when the team came out of the gates with an 11-0 record, finishing with an Indiana Collegiate Championship and a 12-2 record.

Player and Team Notes

-- Junior reliever Brett Merkley recorded three outs while only coming to the plate one time against UT-Martin. Merkley entered the game and picked off a runner at second base before throwing a pitch. On Merkley's only pitch that inning, the Sycamores turned a 4-6-3 double play.

-- Senior Ryan Strausborger turned three double plays against Eastern Illinois on Tuesday and led the team with seven defensive assists.

-- The Sycamores have hit 13 sacrifice flies this season, while only allowing two. According to boydsworld.com, Indiana State ranks in a tie with Virginia for second most in the nation behind Mercer (17).

-- The influx of speed into the Sycamores' lineup has been seen in steals and triples. The Sycamores have hit eight triples and stolen 22 bases this season.