IU baseball’s 2017 opening weekend is a busy one, as the Hoosiers will head out to Surprise, Arizona, to play four games in three days starting Friday.
The Hoosiers will see a variety of competition from around the country and will take on Gonzaga and Oregon State twice each.
IU Coach Chris Lemonis said it will be nice for his team to face actual opponents rather than playing intrasquad games.
“Obviously we’re tired of playing each other,” Lemonis said. “We’re excited to get out to Arizona. We’ve set up our schedule to play some of the nation’s best and to really test us so our first couple weeks will be a good test of our ball club.”
After a convincing 14-4 victory against Middle Tennessee in last year’s season opener, IU dropped six consecutive games to dig itself into an early hole.
To avoid a repeat of 2016’s early season woes, IU’s coaching staff has implemented a new team motto — “start to finish.” Junior outfielder Logan Sowers said the team will have to focus on not getting too high or low based on individual game results.
“You always want to start off the season well and get your confidence up,” Sowers said. “Last year our first game we played really well, and then after that I don’t know if we got a false sense of confidence because we won by so much in that first game.”
The winter weather has been uncharacteristically kind to the Hoosiers, as they have been able to practice outside more often than usual rather than being contained to the John Mellencamp Pavilion for offseason practices.
Senior outfielder Craig Dedelow sees the extra outside practice time has given IU a huge advantage.
“This is my fourth year here, and it’s the most we’ve been outside in spring leading up to the season,” Dedelow said. “Especially for Logan and I and the rest of the outfield, being able to get reads off bats and it not being in Mellencamp and hitting the ceiling and it only being able to go so far, it has been a big part for us.”
The Big Ten announced the results of its annual preseason poll Wednesday, as voted on by the conference’s coaches. IU is slated to finish fourth in the Big Ten on the heels of its 15-9 conference record last season.
Maryland is projected to finish atop the 13 Big Ten baseball teams, followed by Michigan and Nebraska. Last season’s Big Ten Champion, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, tied for sixth place with Iowa in the 2017 poll.
Lemonis selected Dedelow, Sowers and sophomore infielder Luke Miller as the three Hoosier representatives on the Big Ten Baseball Preseason Honors List.
The third-year head coach believes his team’s strength and conditioning training will factor into its success, both in Arizona and for the rest of the season.
“When you come out to see us play we’ve got some physicality, we’ve got some athleticism and we have a lot of experience, too,” Lemonis said. “We are going to be able to put out a lineup with good depth and be able to do some different things together.”
