People surrounding the IU baseball program had one major concern entering the 2017 season, and it was an issue with the potential to cause some chaos atop the starting pitching rotation. Someone needed to step up and replace Kyle Hart.
As one of the final remaining pieces of the legacy that was the 2013 College World Series team, Hart brought high-level pitching to the field and charisma off of it as the ace of the pitching staff.
IU Coach Chris Lemonis said it was going to take a lot to replace a player and person like that, but the new ace didn’t need to be just like Hart.
Lemonis ultimately settled on sophomore Jonathan Stiever, a tall, quiet pitcher who had never before started a game for the Hoosiers. The new Friday starter faced No. 5 Oregon State in the first game of the season Feb. 17.
Stiever took the defeat in a 1-0 loss, but he surrendered just one earned run and three hits.
“He was really good, sharp,” Lemonis said. “He pitched like a veteran out there, just really hit a lot of spots. Their offense can do a lot of things, so it was nice to see him pitch and use his whole arsenal against them.”
Stiever’s first start lasted longer than any IU starting pitcher’s day through opening weekend, but it ended with an RBI double in the sixth inning — the deciding run.
After 5.2 innings, Stiever was replaced by sophomore pitcher Pauly Milto, who closed out the remaining 2.1 innings.
Though Stiever got the loss, the Hoosiers stranded nine runners on base, and the sophomore limited the Beavers to one run for the first time since they scored one run against UCLA on May 27, 2016.
The success he saw Friday was thanks in large part to his fastball, Stiever said. He said his main goal was attacking the strikezone with heat and using his other pitches to work around that.
“That’s something as a pitching staff we do pretty well,” Stiever said. “Being able to pitch off the fastball was something that was really effective in that game and will be effective throughout the year.”
One component to the success of the young starter that goes partially unnoticed was sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman. He caught nearly every inning of the 2016 season for the Hoosiers and caught for Hart in his final season.
Fineman led Stiever through all 5.2 innings and gunned down one of the five baserunners the sophomore allowed.
“Ryan helps a lot, probably more than anyone is able to notice from the stands,” Stiever said. “Just getting a pitcher to understand where you are mechanically. You can’t really put into perspective how valuable he is back there.”
As a whole, the IU starting rotation allowed five runs to Oregon State in two games. In Oregon State’s other two games against Duke, they combined for 17 runs.
Lemonis said he liked the way the pitching staff worked against a volatile Oregon State offense.
The coach scheduled difficult opponents at the beginning of the season to see how his team would handle tough offenses and strong pitching, he said. Stiever and the rotation passed the first test.
At the end of the weekend, Lemonis called his starters a bright spot.
“We talked about a young pitching staff but we knew they were young and talented,” Lemonis said. “They got out there and they showed that.”
