Conference baseball tournaments are blanketing the country this week with Northwest Indiana athletes popping up in such exotic locations as Hoover, Ala.; Avon, Ohio; Durham, N.C.; and Minneapolis.
Georgia Tech, temporary haven of former Andrean star pitcher Zac Ryan, plays Virginia on Tuesday in the opening game of the ACC Tournament at Durham.
Ryan has piggybacked the Engineers to a 33-22 record with nine victories and seven saves in 28 relief appearances. The sophomore right-hander from Valparaiso has struck out 40 with a 3.59 ERA in 47.2 innings.
Virginia is 33-19.
*Hobart’s Brandon Murray, who recently bagged his second save, brings a 5-0 record into Hoover where South Carolina faces Missouri in the SEC Tournament. The sophomore right-hander recently collected his second save with 2.2 innings of relief against Texas A&M.
“Brandon has the right makeup to pitch in big situations,” Gamecocks coach Chad Holbrook said after the 8-7 victory.
Murray has pitched 32 innings in 19 appearances and has a 4.22 ERA.
*Ball State (30-23) faces Toledo on Wednesday in Avon in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Former Crown Point pitcher Zach Plesac has a 4-4 record.
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Plesac leads BSU with 14 starts, five complete games and 68 strikeouts in 94.1 innings. Toledo (24-31) beat the Cardinals 2-out-of-3 in an early weekend series in Muncie.
*On Thursday, streaking Indiana (32-20) challenges Michigan at the home of the Minnesota Twins. The Hoosiers seem to be peaking for the Big Ten Tournament at the right time, sweeping Ohio State over the weekend.
Craig Dedelow (Munster) leads the Hoosiers with six home runs, including a two-run shot against the Buckeyes. He is batting .317 with 32 RBIs. Teammate Scott Donley (Crown Point) carries a team-leading .333 average and has driven in 33 runs.
* Michigan State’s 33-21 record includes two victories over Indiana last month. Center fielder Tony Cheky (Portage) continues to struggle with back issues and only played one of three-games at Minnesota over the weekend. The ailing senior is batting .321.
*The LaPorte duo of Jake Eaton and Jake Craft led Anderson to a program high of 32 victories and the NCAA regional.
Eaton limited Wartburg to one run in the first eight innings in the regional opener to claim his sixth victory. He led the Ravens in innings with 72 in 11 starts. He chalked up a 2.88 ERA before Wisconsin Stevens-Point ousted them.
Craft drove in 49 runs in 45 games and boosted his slugging average to .571 with seven homers. He batted .339.
*Manchester’s Jason Nieman (Michigan City) was named the Heartland Conference MVP. He led the league with a .412 average, 14 homers and a .500 on-base percentage.
The senior third baseman also won two games and picked up two saves in eight relief appearances. He struck out 11 in 9.2 innings.
Chad Schultz (Fair Oaks) started 17 games for the Spartans and batted .246.
*DePauw’s John Gbur (Schererville/Lake Central) batted .273. The freshman infielder knocked in six runs and scored eight. He started 12 games.
*Rose-Hulman’s Kody Alayon (Hammond/Noll) finished with a .300 average. The smooth shortstop led the Engineers in runs and with 16 stolen bases.
Track and field
Indiana State’s Taylor Austin (Griffith) was clocked in 10:37.65 to place third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Missouri Valley Conference Meet. She also finished seventh in the 1,500 run.
*LSU’s Tori Bliss (Portage) finished a disappointing second in the SEC shot put with a heave of 55-11 3/4. It was only the record-setting national star’s second defeat in 12 meets.
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