IPFW Welcomes South Dakota State For Three-Game Weekend Series

Saturday, April 2

Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo Municipal Stadium)

1 P.M.

Purdue Fort Wayne

South Dakota State

IPFW Welcomes South Dakota State For Three-Game Weekend Series

3/31/2016 3:18:00 PM | Baseball

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- IPFW will play its first three-game Summit League baseball series at home this season against South Dakota State University this weekend, April 1-3, at Mastodon Field in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons of eighth-year head coach Bobby Pierce enter the league series with a record of 12-13 overall, 1-5 in the Summit League, while the visiting Jackrabbits are 5-18 overall, 2-4 in the Summit League. UPDATE: IPFW and SDSU are now scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Fort Wayne.

SERIES INFORMATION
Kokomo Municipal Stadium, Kokomo, Ind.
Saturday, April 2, Game 1, 1 p.m. / Live Stats --- Game 2, 4 p.m. / Live Stats
Mastodon Field, Fort Wayne, Ind.
Sunday, April 3, 1 p.m. / Live Stats

PITCHING
Projected Rotation: Evan Miller (So., RHP), Trevor Storie (Sr., RHP), To Be Determined

IPFW is expected to continue with a starting pitching rotation of Miller and Storie in games one and two of the series, before determining the game three starter on Sunday. Miller is 3-1 with a 5.01 ERA and 34 strikeouts (9.46) through six appearances/starts and 32.1 innings pitched. Storie is 2-4 with a 5.51 ERA and 26 strikeouts (7.16) through six appearances/starts and 32.2 innings. Miller leads the staff in wins and strikeouts, while Storie leads in innings pitched.

Bullpen: Brandon Phelps (R-So., RHP), Jordan Martin (Jr., RHP), Jake Weber (R-Jr., RHP), Tanner McAninch (Jr., RHP), Damian Helm (So., LHP), Mitchell Ley (Jr., LHP), Kyle Orwig (Sr., RHP), Brandon Pease (Sr., LHP), Adam Neal (Fr., RHP), Dru Sebastian (R-Jr., RHP)

The Mastodons have used Phelps (12 appearances, 1-0, 9.95 ERA, 11K, 12.2 IP), Martin (11 appearances, 1-0, 1.96 ERA, 16K, 1 Save, 18.1 IP), Weber (9 appearances, 2-1, 1.98 ERA, 11K, 4 Saves, 13.2 IP) and McAninch (9 appearances, 0-0, 1.69 ERA, 6K, 10.2 IP) most frequently this season, while Ley (7 appearances, 1-2, 6.21 ERA, 16K, 29.0 IP) has made six starts. Weber leads the staff in saves, while Martin leads in earned run average.

HITTING
Projected Lineup: CF: Brandon Soat (Sr.), LF: Evan VanSumeren (Sr.), SS: Greg Kaiser (R-Sr.), RF: Shane Trevino (R-Sr.), 1B: Kendall Whitman (Sr.), DH: Brock Logan (R-So.), 3B: Shannon Baker (R-So.), C: Jonathan Valenzuela-Reece (Sr.), 2B: Jackson Boyce (Jr.)

IPFW is expected to open the series with a probable lineup that features Soat in center field, VanSumeren in left field, Kaiser at shortstop, Trevino in right field, Whitman at first base, Logan as the designated hitter, Baker at third base, Valenzuela-Reece at catcher and Boyce at second base. Whitman is hitting .315 with one home run, one triple, three doubles, 13 runs and 13 RBIs, followed by VanSumeren (.307, 2 HRs, 4 2Bs, 16 Runs, 15 RBIs), Trevino (.281, 7 HRs, 5 2Bs, 21 Runs, 20 RBIs), Boyce (.271, 2 HRs, 2 3B, 3 2Bs, 14 Runs, 6 RBIs), Soat (.269, 1 HR, 2 3B, 6 2Bs, 24 Runs, 13 RBIs), Logan (.235, 2 HRs, 2 2B, 5 Runs, 11 RBIs), Baker (.224, 3 2Bs, 10 Runs, 11 RBIs), Valenzuela-Reece (.218, 2 2Bs, 4 Runs, 10 RBIs) and Kaiser (.211, 2 HRs, 1 3B, 6 2Bs, 10 Runs, 10 RBIs). Whitman leads the squad in batting average and on base percentage (.436), Trevino leads in home runs, RBIs, total bases (53) and slugging percentage (.552), VanSumeren leads in hits (31), Soat leads in runs, at bats (104) and total plate appearances (121), while Kaiser leads in stolen bases (7).

Depth: Grant Wilson (Sr., DH), Zak Kellogg (So. C), Alec Reuille (R-Fr., C), Brandon Yoho (Fr., IF), Sean Herberger (Sr., C), Isaiah White (R-So., OF)

Kellogg (30), Yoho (21), Wilson (14) and Herberger (11) have seen the most at-bats among the reserves for the Mastodons this season.