IU will have a much different lineup than last season
IU senior Scott Donley sprinted back, leapt over the left field wall and made the catch.
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IU senior Scott Donley sprinted back, leapt over the left field wall and made the catch.
Last season for IU ended in heartbreak.
It was a trip Chris Lemonis had made plenty of times ?before.
From IDS reports
IU Coach Chris Lemonis has a problem — he has too many good pitchers and not enough starting roles.
Last season Louisville stole 133 bases. IU stole 68.
It’s not easy replacing a legend.
New IU baseball Coach Chris Lemonis added another member to his coaching staff Wednesday with the hiring of Shawn Roof.
Eight months after falling to Stanford in the NCAA Regional final, IU baseball will open its 2015 season with a trip to Palo Alto, Calif., for a rematch.
After pitching some of the best baseball in his career and winning back-to-back Big Ten pitcher of the week awards last March, Kyle Hart suffered a major setback in his baseball career.
From IDS reports
When Marissa, 18, and Kenzie Lemonis, 13, came back from summer camp, their father, Chris Lemonis, had a surprise for them.
IU announced the addition of Kyle Bunn as the team’s new pitching coach on July 11.
Was the 2014 IU baseball season a success? Also, did Noah Vonleh make the right decision to come out early?
Casey Smith was lying in his bed, trying to ignore the excruciating pain. He just wanted to go to sleep.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>LOWELL, Mass. — Six days after being drafted by the Boston Red Sox, IU first baseman Sam Travis took his first steps on the Green Monster. Peering up at 13 American League Pennants, past Pesky Pole and out into the grand stands, Travis got his first taste of the “show,” and the road it would take to get there. On Friday night, he began paving that road, making his home debut with the Red Sox Class A affiliate — the Lowell Spinners.It was a rough night for the former Hoosier standout, going 0-for-4 at the plate.“There’s so much history behind this ballpark,” he said of Fenway Park. “I’m just glad to be a part of it.”A second-round draft pick, 67th pick overall, in the MLB draft, Travis said he has embraced his new role in Bean Town with relative ease. The 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year made his departure from Bloomington official this past Monday, signing a contract that is reportedly worth $846,000. “It took some getting used to, but now that I finally signed and I’m settling in, I’m starting to get the swing of things,” he said. “I’m making the adjustment pretty well I think.”No stranger to the state of Massachusetts, Travis participated in the Cape Cod Baseball League after earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors at IU.The team he was recruited to play for also went by the Red Sox moniker, the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.“It’s good to be back,” Travis said of the Massachusetts area. “I guess it was meant to be.”Setting aside the familiar, Travis said the biggest adjustment is simply resisting the urge to hit the snooze button.“You have to come to the ballpark a lot earlier here than you do in college, but that’s about it,” he said. “It’s just playing baseball and having fun, and that’s how you have to approach the game.”One thing is certain: the move to the pros has done little to deter Travis’ resolve. Now more than ever, he said he feels there is something to prove.“I definitely always have a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I’m not really the tallest, ideal first baseman. I’m a right-handed hitter and guys usually like lefties. “But I’ve been proving people wrong my whole life.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Now, IU baseball is experiencing the downside of becoming a national title contender.Star recruit Josh Ockimey was selected in the fifth round of the MLB draft this past weekend by the Boston Red Sox. The first baseman had the option of honoring his commitment of coming to IU, or play for the Red Sox Farm system immediately.Ockimey announced via his Twitter account Wednesday night he would begin his professional career, and he would not be coming to Bloomington."Made my decision to start my professional career with the Red Sox," he tweeted. "I want to thank @HoosierBaseball for the recruiting and best wishes."@HoosierBaseball is the Twitter handle of IU Coach Tracy Smith. Smith had called the 6-foot-4, 220 pound slugger "the next Schwarber," referencing IU catcher Kyle Schwarber, who went No. 4 overall to the Chicago Cubs in the draft.Ockimey could have been the team's heir to first base, after first baseman Sam Travis was drafted in the second round by the Red Sox this past weekend.Coming off of the back-to-back best seasons in IU baseball history, the program's profile has risen and they are attracting more heralded recruits. But the more heralded recruits go higher in the draft, and the higher they go, the more likely they will sign professionally.Ockimey was not the only Hoosier recruit to be drafted. Three other signees were drafted. A pair of outfielders in Logan Sowers and Larry Chrisler went in the 31st and 36th round, respectively. Pitching recruit Hunter Hart went in the 37th round. Sowers has tweeted he is coming to Bloomington to play for IU. Chrisler and Hart have yet to make an announcement via social media, but being drafted in the lower rounds, they are expected to enroll at IU.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the past two years, junior catcher Kyle Schwarber and junior first baseman Sam Travis smacked pitches over the walls of Bart Kaufman Field at an alarming rate.If the IU "Bash Brothers" eventually make it to the big leagues, they’ll be hitting pitches over the ivy walls of Wrigley Field and the green monster of Fenway Park, respectively.Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber was drafted No. 4 overall by the Chicago Cubs and junior first baseman Sam Travis was drafted No. 67 by the Boston Red Sox in the 2014 MLB draft Thursday. Schwarber becomes the highest draft pick in IU history with the selection at No. 4. The Middletown, Ohio, native is a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, an honor given to the nation’s top Division I catcher. Schwarber hit .358 this season with 14 home runs and 48 RBI. “Thank you to the Cubs for drafting me today and helping me come closer to my ultimate dream! #blessed,” Schwarber tweeted.Travis was also drafted on day one of the draft, in the second round to the Red Sox. The Orland Park, Ill., native was the Big Ten Player of the Year after hitting .347 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI.“BOSTON STRONG,” Travis tweeted after the selection. Senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth was also drafted.DeMuth was drafted last year in the ninth round by the Minnesota Twins, but he was selected in the fifth round by the Milwaukee Brewers this year.DeMuth was the No. 146 overall pick.Days two and three of the MLB draft will continue Friday and Saturday. Evan Hoopfer
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Good Lord, sports are cruel.When Scott Effross’ pitch came off Tommy Edman’s bat in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off home run and IU’s season ended, the air out of Bart Kaufman Field left just as fast as Edman’s hit left the park.IU lost to Stanford, 5-4, in the regional championship Monday. The Hoosiers’ historic season is finished.No super regionals.No return trip to Omaha, Neb.No national championship.The Hoosiers lost in one of the most agonizing ways possible. They were two outs — two outs — away from moving on to play Vanderbilt in the super regionals. The night before, they were just four outs away from victory before Stanford came roaring back and continued to write its own Cinderella story.You can play the what-if game until you’re blue in the face.What if Ryan Halstead, the all-time saves leader in IU history, hadn’t torn his ACL on a freak play back in March? Would he have been able to close out those games?What if IU Coach Tracy Smith had brought in ace Joey DeNato a batter earlier to face Edman?What if Brad Hartong hadn’t lacerated his spleen against Youngstown State on Friday? IU fans asked themselves those questions the past couple days.But there’s one more question that needs to be asked.Was this IU’s best shot to win a national championship?IU had astounding success these past two seasons under Smith, there’s no denying that.But sometimes, a moment that seems like promise for the future can turn into a peak, in hindsight.So, was a a trip to the College World Series last season the peak of Hoosier baseball?Or, is this just the start of a reign of terror Smith and his program will inflict on the Big Ten, and IU will become a baseball blue blood program for years to come?It’s a legitimate question to ask, whether this is the peak or not. This team was absolutely jacked with talent. Of the 13 first team All-Big Ten selections, the Hoosiers had eight.They also had four All-Americans: Kyle Schwarber, Sam Travis, Joey DeNato and Dustin DeMuth.Those four served as the cornerstones for this program. Smith and the younger players often spoke of their leadership and the way they carried themselves.But DeNato and DeMuth graduated.In all likelihood, Schwarber and Travis will forgo their senior years and enter the MLB after being drafted in the early rounds.Schwarber is a top 20 prospect, and Travis is top 60.Smith can build programs. That’s apparent. He built Miami (Ohio) into a mid-major force and IU into a national force.But sustaining success is a different animal all together.It could have been that this gob of great baseball players came together in a perfect storm for IU baseball, and this was the program’s one chance to be crowned king in Omaha, Neb.Personally, I don’t think Smith and IU are done. The Hoosiers have a state-of-the-art stadium in Bart Kaufman Field, and Smith will continue to find hidden gems like DeNato and Schwarber.There will always be more prospects. More chances. More opportunities for a hallowed return to Omaha.But there will never be another 2014 IU baseball team.It was a special one both from a talent standpoint and a personality standpoint.It was a joy to cover the diverse personalities that were so different from the typical robotic cadences athletes usually talk in.Hearing Smith talk about what Netflix shows he’s watching. Seeing what antics Casey Smith would get into in his weekly videos, which were genuinely hilarious.It’s a shame most of those players will leave. But so goes the song of college athletics.IU should roll back into prominence in the coming years. As long as Smith stays, this 2014 team will be looked back on as the first of many great Hoosier baseball teams.But, man.It’s impossible to not think about this season and say, what if?
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After hitting 14 home runs and boasting a .358 average this season, junior catcher Kyle Schwarber was named a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, an honor given to the nation’s top Division I catcher.Schwarber is one of three finalists nationwide. The others include Mississippi’s Will Allen and Kennesaw State’s Max Pentecost. The winner will be announced June 26 during the Greater Wichita Banquet, to which Schwarber will be invited to attend.Schwarber was the No. 2 hole hitter this year for the Hoosiers and was one of the nation’s best hitters.During the regular season, he led the Big Ten in home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, walks, runs scored and triples and was second in hits and third in batting average. The Middletown, Ohio, native is the No. 17 ranked draft prospect, according to Baseball America.Schwarber has a year of eligibility left but could opt to leave early for the MLB if he chooses.The 2014 MLB draft will take place today through Saturday, and Schwarber’s name is expected to be one of the first 20 called.Evan Hoopfer