TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas, a 2009 West Vigo High School graduate, was selected with the 383rd overall pick in the 12th round of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft by the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday.
ISU junior pitcher Dakota Bacus (ninth round, 289th overall) was drafted earlier Tuesday by the Oakland Athletics.
The MLB Draft, which contains 40 rounds, will continue through today.
“I didn’t expect to drop that low,” Lucas told the Tribune-Star. “Nonetheless, I’m given the chance to play professional baseball. I’m excited for the opportunity to prove myself.”
An Indians scout called Lucas late Tuesday afternoon to give him the news.
“It didn’t really matter to me where I went,” Lucas mentioned. “I was just hoping somebody would give me the opportunity.”
Lucas said he’s thinking about hiring an agent this week to negoatiate with the Indians. He’s on the 2012 Terre Haute Rex roster, but that would change if he signs with the Indians.
Lucas earned numerous awards following a standout junior campaign with ISU, earning the program’s first Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award this past season. He led the Sycamores in several offensive categories, including batting average (.345), hits (78), runs scored (53), home runs (nine), total bases (122), slugging percentage (.540) and on-base percentage (.443). He also was the only member of the team to start all 60 games as Indiana State ended its season 41-19 with its first postseason appearance since 1995.
Lucas was drafted before coming to Indiana State, as the Baltimore Orioles took Lucas in the 35th round back in 2009. He hit .336 in his first three seasons at ISU, totaling 194 hits in 155 games with 36 doubles, 13 home runs and a .422 on-base percentage, improving his selection by 23 rounds after his time with the Sycamores.
Meanwhile, Bacus was named the MVC’s Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-MVC selection this past season, going 7-4 with a 2.70 earned-run average. The ISU hurler set the school record for innings pitched in a single season, tossing 1162⁄3 innings with 89 strikeouts and a .240 batting average against.
The Moline, Ill., native and Southeastern Community College transfer led Indiana State to its first outright regular-season conference championship in 2012, tossing a complete game against Missouri State on May 17. Bacus threw three complete games over the season, including shutouts against Western Illinois (Feb. 24) and Evansville (March 23). Against the Purple Aces on March 23, Bacus struck out a season-high 13 batters.
In coach Rick Heller’s three seasons with Indiana State, Bacus and Lucas mark the fifth and sixth players selected in the draft. Jacob Petricka (second round, 63rd overall, Chicago White Sox) and Ryan Strausborger (16th round, 496th overall, Texas Rangers) were picked in 2010, with Colin Rea (12th round, 383rd overall, San Diego Padres) and Blake Drake (22nd round, 681st overall, White Sox) going last season.
Under the terms of Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement, professional clubs must sign a drafted player by July 13 or the rights to that player are lost and he may re-enter the draft in 2013.
Indiana State University
Bacus, Lucas 1st Sycamores drafted
- Indiana State University
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ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. -
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
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Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
Indiana State produced two champions during the opening day of action in the Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships Friday at Drake. Freshman John Mascari, a Terre Haute native, won the men’s 10,000-meter race and Nicole Hope won the women’s pole vault for the second time in three seasons.
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
Pole vault is track and field for the adrenaline junkie, Indiana State senior Nicole Hope proclaimed during a recent practice at Marks Field.
To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
Indiana State’s men’s basketball team is looking for a few good games.
Home games that is.
The Sycamores have filled in most of the blanks in their nonconference schedule, but as ever, ISU coach Greg Lansing would like to visit the friendly confines of Hulman Center a bit more often. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
ISU was in a five-game losing streak before its unintended vacation and the Sycamores made a move in the right direction Wednesday with a 7-0 win over DePauw at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. -
Metro roundup: ISU hands out spring awards
The Indiana State University athletic community, along with family, friends and fans, paused Tuesday night to honor the spring sports teams at the Terre Haute Savings Bank Spring Sports Banquet.
Most of the ISU teams are still in competition with the baseball team having 13 games left of its regular-season schedule before beginning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament May 21, the softball team with just three games left of the docket this coming weekend against Southern Illinois and the track and field program with just one more meet before beginning its postseason events.
The ISU women’s golf team is the team that has ended at this time, with the group recording a sixth-place finish at the MVC championships one week ago. -
Indiana State loses 2 in MVC softball
Indiana State aspired to upset Illinois State to get at least a doubleheader split in Missouri Valley Conference softball Thursday at Price Field as the Sycamores opened an eight-game season-ending homestand.
Paige Schreiner hit a two-run blast over the left-field fence in the fifth inning and junior Shelby Wilson delivered a sizzling RBI triple down the right-field line in the sixth as ISU ended the day playing well against the league’s highest-scoring offense.
The result was still a 5-3 loss to the Redbirds (26-18, 11-6 Missouri Valley Conference) as freshman Halle Humphrey gave up four runs in the first two innings. Humphrey, called upon to pitch the opener as well — she’s the only full-time pitcher remaining on the team — gave up six runs and eight hits as the Sycamores dropped a 6-1 game to start the day. -
ISU, MVFC brace for change at FCS football level
It seemed so far-fetched.
Internet rumors circulated that Indiana State had been approached by the Sun Belt Conference to bring the Sycamores’ football team into the Sun Belt’s fold.
The Sun Belt is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision. Bowl football. Big boy football … and all it entails.
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ISU football in good spirits after healthy Spring Game
Was Saturday afternoon’s weather an omen for Indiana State football as the Sycamores wrapped up spring practice with the annual Blue-White Game at Memorial Stadium? After several practices conducted in less-than-perfect conditions, they’d like to think so.
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Loyola ready to take big step
Loyola University and the Missouri Valley Conference took their first steps together Friday and the MVC is hoping the Ramblers don’t have to take too many baby steps before they become a competitive part of the conference.
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Sanford wraps up first spring with ISU
The final day of Indiana State football’s first Mike Sanford experience is upon the Sycamores.
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Lansing excited about Etherington's signing with Sycamores
The spring signing period for men’s basketball is usually a time to use available scholarships to load up on junior college additions and transfers.
To find a diamond-in-the-rough at the high school level who can give you four years? That’s harder to come by. -
Creighton sweep puts ISU in thick of things
In a difficult early-season Missouri Valley Conference schedule, Indiana State took its lumps. Unenviable back-to-back trips to contenders Missouri State and Wichita State had ISU reeling with five straight MVC losses eight days ago.
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Second City in the Valley: Loyola joins the MVC
For the first time in its history, the Missouri Valley Conference will have a home in the Second City.
The Chicago Tribune confirmed Saturday via a Loyola University source that the Ramblers will replace Creighton as the MVC’s 10th team. Loyola — a member of the Horizon League — will join the MVC effective July 1.
Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman — who was part of the MVC search committee that scouted potential replacements for Creighton — confirmed Sunday that the Ramblers were in the MVC loop. -
Sycamore baseball holds off Creighton rally
By his own estimation, Indiana State baseball coach Rick Heller has been involved in close to 2,000 baseball games. If anyone has seen it all on the field, he’d be as good a candidate as any.
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Devin Moore pitches gem in 6-1 victory over Creighton
A hip injury suffered by Indiana State ace starting pitcher Sean Manaea shuffled the Sycamores’ starting rotation for the second weekend running as it opened a Missouri Valley Conference home series against Creighton on Friday.
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Sanford gets 2nd look at Sycamores
In the immediate aftermath of a practice, game, or in Friday’s case for Indiana State, a scrimmage, most football coaches defer to the film to paint a true picture of what was and wasn’t done. ISU coach Mike Sanford is no different. With the flurry of activity on both sides of the ball, it’s hard to get a true evaluation of anything watching it live.
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ISU center FN Lutz glad to be back in the middle of things
For someone who missed an entire season due to a knee injury, Indiana State center FN Lutz has certainly kept himself visible since then.
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METRO ROUNDUP: ISU's Brandon Pounds the top collegian in Sea Ray relays
Indiana State senior Brandon Pounds was the top collegian in the men’s hammer throw and fellow senior Felisha Johnson opened up the Sycamores’ three-day competition at the University of Tennessee’s Sea Ray relays with a second-place finish in the women’s hammer throw.
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Stealing records: ISU softball’s offense gaining momentum
The Indiana State softball offense is no juggernaut, but the fog may be clearing on a program that has had a long history of struggles with few signs of consistent winning.
Explosive, dedicated athletes like Morgan Allee and Megan Stone are two reasons to believe this group of Sycamores can spark a turnaround.
The Sycamores are scoring an average of 3.1 runs per game while also ranking in the middle of the Missouri Valley Conference pack in hits and batting average. But the Sycamores are on pace to break the school record for on-base percentage as they lead the MVC in walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifice bunts and stolen bases.
Allee, with 17 regular-season games to go, broke the school record for stolen bases in a season Tuesday against IUPUI and is among the 10 best in the NCAA. Her total of 30 makes up almost half of ISU’s 74.
“I’m so big [that] they think I won’t go. It works out well,” the stocky shortstop said. -
ISU’s QB battle
Quarterback battles come in all shapes and sizes, but one could forgive Indiana State’s Mike Perish, Robert Tonyan Jr. and Trent Lancaster if they feel a bit more beleaguered than your average signal-caller.
Not only is the trio fighting for the right to be named ISU’s starter by the Sycamores’ football opener Aug. 29 at Indiana University, but all three also are trying to learn a new offense, they’re acclimating themselves to new coach Mike Sanford’s different way of running things, and they’re trying to maintain harmony amongst each other, so whoever the ultimate winner is can effectively lead the team without angst.
All of it is playing out during ISU’s spring practice, and so far, none of the quarterback candidates have separated themselves from the pack. -
Sycamores wrap up season sweep of Purdue in baseball
Jordan Pearson went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and all nine position starters for the Indiana State baseball team recorded at least one hit, leading the Sycamores to a 10-5 victory and a season sweep of Purdue in front of 679 fans Tuesday at Bob Warn Field.
ISU claimed its second consecutive game and improved to 14-13 overall, while Purdue dropped to 11-19. The Sycamores are 4-1 against the Big Ten Conference this season after sweeping their two-game series with the Boilermakers and winning two out of three at Minnesota in mid-March.
ISU and Purdue combined for nine runs over the first three innings as the Sycamores took a 5-4 lead. Pearson (single), Mike Fitzgerald (single), Tyler Wampler (one-run single), Landon Curry (single) and Cody Zimmerman (two-run single) tallied five consecutive hits with one out in the bottom of the second inning as ISU scored four runs in the frame. -
Metro roundup: ISU’s Allee breaks steals record in twinbill split
Junior Morgan Allee broke the ISU single-season stolen bases record as the Indiana State softball team split a doubleheader with the Jaguars of IUPUI Tuesday at Price Field.
ISU defeated IUPUI 7-0 in the opener and fell 17-6 in the nightcap.
“It's nice to be able to get records but it's really not that important to me,” Allee said about breaking the record. “I would rather us win every game than for me to personally break any records.”
Allee led off the bottom of the first inning of the first game with a walk and promptly stole second base to break the ISU single-season record. - More Indiana State University Headlines
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