February 13, 2020

By Tim McCaughan

Indiana State Athletics

Sycamore Baseball Headed to Snowbird Classic for Opening Weekend

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State University baseball team begins its regular season at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida. The Sycamores face Pittsburgh on Friday at 12 p.m., Kent State on Saturday at 12 p.m., and No. 24 Ohio State on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. All three games will be played at the North Charlotte Region Park and will be available via FloSports, a subscription based streaming service.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE WEEKEND OPPONENTS

It will mark the first meeting all-time with Pittsburgh when Indiana State kicks off the 2020 season Friday. Right-hander Collin Liberatore will make the opening day start against the Panthers after playing his first two seasons with Pitt in 2016 & 2017 (Did not see action). The Sycamores are 0-1 all-time against Kent State with the lone meeting coming in 2007. ISU holds a 3-0 record against Ohio State. The Sycamores first two meetings with the Buckeyes came in 2014 at the Snowbird Classic in Florida. The last meeting came last season at the NCAA Nashville Regional when ISU ended Ohio State’s season with a 10-5 victory.

A GLANCE AT THE SYCAMORES

Indiana State returns one position starter and five key pitchers from its 2019 team that finished 43-18, earning the MVC tournament crown and most wins in a season for the Sycamores since 1990. ISU’s season ended in the NCAA Nashville Regional with a loss to eventual national champion Vanderbilt in the regional final.

A LONE RETURNER ON THE OFFENSIVE SIDE OF THE BALL

Senior catcher Max Wright (Toronto, Ont.) will be the lone Sycamore position player back from the 2019 squad. Wright finished with a .296 batting average to go with eight doubles, four home runs and 36 RBI. Wright also caught 17 runners on the base paths while fielding .988 behind the plate.

GRAUER, LIBERATORE AND WRIGHT NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVC

Tyler Grauer, Collin Liberatore and Max Wright were named to the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Team by a vote of the League’s head coaches. Grauer returns for the Sycamores after appearing in 22 games out of the bullpen for the Trees. He was 2-3 with a 1.91 ERA over 37.2 innings. His nine saves placed him tied for seventh in program history in single season saves. Liberatore started 16 games and was 10-2 with a 2.96 ERA over 103.1 innings en route to MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades. Wright started in 57-of-59 games for the Sycamores behind the plate and went for a .296 average in 203 at bats. He tallied 60 base hits, eight doubles, four home runs and 36 RBIs at the plate while slugging .394 with a .380 on-base percentage.

IN THE POLLS

The Sycamores entered the national ranking in three different polls last spring, coming in at No. 23 in both D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game and at No. 25 in the Baseball America poll. The last time the Sycamores were nationally ranked was at the conclusion of the 1989 season when ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball. ISU was also ranked in 1986 during the CWS run (7th by Collegiate Baseball and 15th by Baseball America). The Sycamores were also ranked during the 1979 (18th), 1983 (30th) and 1984 (30th) seasons.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT & ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN FOR WRIGHT

Indiana State junior Max Wright was recognized for his success on the field and in the classroom last spring as he earned Google Cloud Academic All-American honors -- becoming just the fourth player in program history to achieve the feat. Earlier in the spring Wright earned a spot on the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team. In the classroom, Wright held a 3.70 grade point average in criminology and criminal justice.