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(06/13/13 12:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>He doesn’t remember exactly what happened.When freshman pitcher Will Coursen-Carr took the ball in Sunday’s fifth inning of Game 2 of the super regional in Tallahassee, Fla., he entered with the bases loaded, one out and the Hoosiers clinging to a 5-3 lead. Then he hit his first batter. It’s 5-4.“There were crazy fans there,” Coursen-Carr said. “When I came in, I hit the first batter. I took a step back and I realized all these people are yelling at me and rooting against me and everything.”He managed to escape the inning by allowing one more run, which tied the game. He pitched four innings that day, allowing only two hits and one earned run. He earned the win — a win that clinched IU’s first appearance in the College World Series.In the past three games — the two super regional games and the regional championship, arguably the three most important in IU history — Coursen-Carr has recorded either a win or a save.In the Big Ten Tournament, he pitched in the championship game, going the full nine innings to secure the 4-3 victory.He’s experienced his fair share of high pressure moments.“I think that everybody looks at CC and knows that he’s going to lay it all out there and he’s got guts,” senior shortstop Michael Basil said.But he almost buckled in Sunday’s game. Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber could see it in his demeanor. That’s why he came out to talk to Coursen-Carr immediately after hitting his first batter.That’s the conversation Coursen-Carr said he doesn’t exactly remember.“I’ve been there before in that kind of spot being a freshman, you’re in a big situation,” Schwarber said. “Just going out there, I just give him a big smile and say, ‘Hey, it happens you know. I know you’re better than these guys. This kind of stuff is going to happen. They’re going to have an inning where they get maybe three runs, you know. It’s not a big deal because (we’ve) got confidence in you to throw strikes.’ I just wanted to go out there and calm him down and give him his confidence back.”On Saturday in Game 1 of the super regional, Coursen-Carr took the call from the bullpen in the ninth inning to relieve IU’s all-time saves leader, junior Ryan Halstead.In that game, the freshman entered with runners on first and second and no outs, with IU holding on to a 10-8 lead.He threw two wild pitches and allowed one run and one hit, but with the tying run on third and the winning run at second, he closed the door on Florida State’s cleanup hitter to give IU the win.“He has a lot of confidence in himself,” Basil said. “Coming into the year, I knew he was going to be an effective pitcher for us, but I wasn’t sure we were going to get out of him what we have. Here at the end of the season, he’s been huge for us. “He’s quite honestly probably been the best pitcher on our staff over the last few weeks the way he’s been throwing the baseball. It’s been awesome to have him doing what he’s doing.”For most of the season, Coursen-Carr served as the weekday starter for IU. He’s made 16 appearances this season, 10 of which were starts. Of the starting pitchers, including the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year, sophomore Aaron Slegers, Coursen-Carr has the best earned run average at 1.80, although he has only pitched 60 innings compared to Slegers’ 97.During the regular season, Coursen-Carr only made four relief appearances.It’s a role he said he’s comfortable with for the postseason if that’s what IU Coach Tracy Smith asks of him.“Pitching is pitching,” Coursen-Carr said. “It doesn’t matter if I start or if I relieve.”Coursen-Carr said coming into the season, he hoped to be the guy that the team trusted with the ball in high pressure situations, but admitted he didn’t think that would actually be a reality as a freshman.“It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “It’s awesome. I’m happy to have (Smith’s) confidence and happy the team is confident in me.”Schwarber said that after watching him struggle for a bit to start the season, it’s been rewarding to watch him succeed.“I feel like as the year has progressed on,” Schwarber said, “he’s been one of those guys we can go to. I feel like he’s got a totally different demeanor out there when he’s on the mound. “He’s just doing what he needs to do. I can’t be more happy for him. That’s what I expect out of him. He’s just pounding the strike zone and he’s got some good stuff to back it up with that.”
(06/13/13 12:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For most of the year, the sign inside the Scott Rolen Clubhouse read “Omaha.”Nothing more.That was objective number two of 10 for the IU baseball team this season. Now that objective has changed. The Hoosiers have checked that off and are heading to Omaha, Neb., Saturday for a matchup with Louisville in IU’s first College World Series appearance.“We had to readjust our ‘Omaha’ to ‘winning Omaha’ now,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “We weren’t too specific when we wrote down our goals, and we wrote down Omaha. But now we’re there, we’ve got to make it more specific. And I feel like that’s what this team is doing a good job of handling, that ‘Oh, we’re going to Omaha. This is Omaha.’ We’re focused on we’ve got more baseball to play.”The only two goals the team hasn’t been able to check off is a team fielding percentage of .970 or better, which currently sits at .965, and a team batting average of .310 or better currently at .306.At the beginning of the season, IU Coach Tracy Smith had the idea of putting a visible reminder of all the goals for the team inside the clubhouse so that everyone stayed focused on the task at hand. Then, it seemed like “Omaha” was all that was necessary.Now the goal is more than Omaha.“It’s everybody’s dream when you play college baseball to get to Omaha,” Smith said. “That’s a good thing and that’s a bad thing because you don’t really say, ‘Let’s go win a National Championship.’ Everybody says, ‘Let’s get to Omaha.’ Well now we’re at Omaha, so it’s like we’ve had to readjust our goals. Our goals are to win this thing.”Schwarber said the team doesn’t do anything when it achieves one of the goals, such as defeating Louisville two out of three times in the regular season. The players and coaches just check that objective off mentally.After defeating Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., Sunday to advance to Omaha, Schwarber said Smith immediately acknowledged that the board needed to be updated.“He came in the dugout,” Schwarber said. “And he’s like ‘Oh wow, our billboard says Omaha, it doesn’t say anything specific about Omaha.’”For senior shortstop Michael Basil, the thought of having Omaha listed as a reachable goal is something he didn’t think would happen when he committed to IU.Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth didn’t know if it was possible this year.“I didn’t really expect getting to Omaha to be honest,” he said. “After last year we played well down the stretch, we played well in the Big Ten Tournament, It kind of carried over to this year and it showed this year.”This year IU has won a Big Ten outright regular season title, a Big Ten Championship, hosted its first regional, and advanced to not only its first super regional but also its first College World Series.“It’s a surreal feeling,” Basil said. “When I committed here I don’t know if I honestly thought Omaha was a possibility. But coming into the season we made it a goal to go to Omaha because we knew we had the team.“It’s an amazing stride for the program. To be able to be along for that ride and get to end my career in Omaha, it’s the best possible way you could end a baseball career.”But for sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley, the mission is far from over. Despite having accomplished so many firsts this season, the team now has one more mental check to make to the big board inside the Scott Rolen Clubhouse.“You just look at the big picture,” Donley said. “You can’t think about anything like (what we’ve accomplished already). You play college baseball to try to get to the championship game and play under those lights. You can’t be satisfied with one win or winning the Big Ten or regionals and all that.”
(06/13/13 12:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s not who you beat, but when you beat them. When Indiana and Louisville play each other at 8 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., it will be the fourth meeting this season between the two teams and on the biggest stage yet. The Hoosiers took two of three from the Cardinals in the regular season, an error late in the third game costing them a sweep. To IU Coach Tracy Smith, though, the postseason is a new season, and regular season head-to-head results mean little. “I would say they’re playing really, really good baseball right now, better than they played earlier in the season,” he said. “So I’m not gonna put any stock into the fact that we beat them twice during the regular season.”Nonetheless, the matchup has developed into a Midwestern rivalry. The team accomplished one of its preseason goals by taking two games from the Cardinals, who had owned the Hoosiers in the recent seasons. Louisville had won 10 of the previous 11 games prior to 2013, outscoring IU 34-8 in two wins against IU in 2012. “We feel like we’re almost like their kid brother,” junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth said. “They beat us up pretty good last year and we kind of got back at them this year.”The significance of beating a regional college baseball powerhouse — the Cardinals have made the NCAA Tournament six of the last seven seasons and appeared in the College World Series in 2007 — was not lost on DeMuth, either. “We definitely have confidence against them beating them twice and playing them down to the wire at their place,” he said. “I don’t think it’s friendly. I don’t think they like us, we probably don’t like them, but they’re a good team. We respect them and have a lot of respect for their program.”The Hoosiers will send junior left-hander Joey DeNato (9-2, 2.76 ERA) to the mound. He struggled in his last start, lasting just three innings giving up two earned runs and walking four in IU’s 10-9 super-regional win against Florida State Saturday. As a unit, IU’s starters have struggled with their command in five postseason games, walking 12 in 23.1 innings. Only once has a starter lasted at least six innings in that span.Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber was not concerned with his starters. He said they were just going through a normal slump all pitchers experience. “Those guys have been solid for us all throughout the year,” he said. “I’m expecting Joey to come out and be Joey. He’s just gonna come out there and pound the strike zone.”DeNato and his teammates dealt with a hostile crowd in Tallahasee, Fla., something Schwarber said will help prepare the Hoosiers for the stage in Omaha. “There’s not gonna be a more hostile place in college baseball,” he said. “Playing in the super regional down at Florida State, those fans are brutal. That’s gonna help us calm ourselves down in the midst of all the people around us and the lights shining on us.”The Hoosiers will also have to play in yet another unfamiliar venue, and will move from a more hitter-friendly ballpark to a spacious one. While Florida State’s Dick Howser Stadium featured a short porch in right and a high wall that encourages doubles and triples, Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park features larger dimensions — 335 feet to left and right field, and 408 to dead center — than the average ballpark.For the Big Ten Tournament, IU played at the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field, which is even deeper in left and the left-center field gap, and the same distance to center.Smith said other coaches who have played at TD Ameritrade Park have suggested he tell his hitters to not to hit fly balls in batting practice to adjust to the dimensions. “That’s like telling the Pope not to pray,” he said. “We’re gonna be who we are. I’m not gonna try to change them in one week’s time.” He said the first seven or eight hitters in his lineup have gap-to-gap power, which plays well in this particular ballpark, he said. The Hoosiers have averaged 9.4 runs per game in the postseason, scoring in double digits in three of five games while clubbing six home runs. “We don’t think there’s a hole in our lineup,” DeMuth said. “You go one-through-nine and everyone can hit, everyone can bunt, can do the little things and we have a lot of confidence in our lineup. If pitching’s not there one game, we feel like we can swing our way out of it.”The Hoosiers are the only Big Ten team to make Omaha this year, and the first since Michigan in 1984. Smith said he received “nasty emails” from people in Tallahassee saying IU had no chance of winning.“It makes it that much sweeter when we’re able to defy the odds,” junior outfielder Will Nolden said. “They definitely doubted us heading down to Florida State. We felt it more than ever. I think what we were able to do down there sends a message to the rest of the country.”
(06/13/13 12:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you were paying even the least bit of attention to IU athletics during the 2011-12 season, you were aware of Hoosier basketball’s “resurrection.” However, something of even greater magnitude has transpired during the past week. The Hoosier baseball team has advanced to its first College World Series appearance in school history, which is even more astonishing in the proper context. The Hoosiers have become the first Big Ten Conference team to reach the College World Series since 1984 and did so by defeating Florida State twice during the super regional on the Seminoles’ diamond last weekend. Keep in mind that IU entered that series as the undeniable underdog, particularly against a team that had posted one of college baseball’s most gleaming home records at 35-3. The Seminoles also earned the No. 7 national seed from the NCAA.The combination of those conditions forecasted what was destined to be a bitter end to the Hoosiers’ dream season, but they continued to distort the concept of fate. Yet the one piece of information that is absolutely jaw-dropping — for lack of a more effective phrase — is the fact that prior to the current season, the Hoosiers had recorded one NCAA tournament victory through 118 seasons. Consider that figure. One victory in 118 seasons. IU Coach Tracy Smith and his team have defied not only the historical odds, but all types of odds imaginable within collegiate baseball. First and foremost, the Hoosiers have disproved the theory that teams located in the “cold” regions, specifically the Midwest, aren’t legitimate contenders once postseason play arrives. There is some truth to that statement, though. The Big Ten Conference is considered somewhat of a “mid-major” in baseball, meaning that it’s extremely rare to see one of its members advance deep into the NCAA Tournament. And considering the conference’s struggle to make any noise in the tournament lately, the trajectory of the Hoosiers’ season has an air of added significance. A cross section of the team reveals an unmistakable winning formula. It all begins with pitching. Of the Hoosiers’ four main starting pitchers — freshman Will Coursen-Carr, sophomore Aaron Slegers, junior Joey DeNato and sophomore Kyle Hart — not one has an earned run average higher than 3.01. The group’s combined ERA rests at a sparkling 2.43. The Hoosiers have also been equally as dominant at the dish, posting a team batting average of .306 that includes 197 extra base hits, 18 of which have arrived from sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber’s spectacular 18 home runs. Don’t believe that the success the Hoosiers have enjoyed is smoke and mirrors, either. Coursen-Carr, Slegers, DeNato and Hart each have eligibility remaining beyond the current season, although Slegers is likely to go to the MLB, where the Minnesota Twins drafted him in the fifth round. And of the Hoosiers’ primary batters, only two — senior shortstop Michael Basil and senior center fielder Justin Cureton — will see their eligibility clocks expire at the final out of the current season, with junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth also probably departing to join Slegers, as he was selected in the eighth round by the Twins. This may just be the beginning of a potential dynasty in Bloomington. — ckillore@indiana.edu
(06/12/13 3:03pm)
IU sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley, sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber, senior shortstop Michael Basil, freshman pitcher Will Coursen-Carr and junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth talk about the IU baseball team making its first appearance in Omaha, Neb. The position players all note that this is the best offensive lineup they have ever been apart of, and Basil and Schwarber talk about the development of Coursen-Carr.
(06/12/13 2:39pm)
IU Coach Tracy Smith talks to the media about the IU baseball team's first appearance in the College World Series and what it means to the program. He also talks about the matchup with Louisville and announces the starting pitcher for Game 1 to be Joey DeNato.
(06/11/13 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The NCAA released the official brackets for the double-elimination round of the College World Series Monday night. IU will play Louisville Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Hoosiers' first appearance in Omaha, Neb. The game will be televised on ESPN.The Hoosiers will stay in Omaha at least through Monday.The eight teams in the College World Series are divided into two, four-team brackets that play double-elimination to advance to the final championship series, a best of three series that matches up the winner of each bracket.If IU wins Saturday, it will play the winner of the Mississippi State vs. Oregon State game on Monday at 8 p.m.If the Hoosiers lose to Louisville Saturday, they will go to the loser's bracket in the double-elimination tournament. Then IU would play the loser of the Mississippi State vs. Oregon State game Monday at 3 p.m. and would have to win to stay alive. If IU loses to Louisville Saturday, but wins Monday afternoon, it will play on Wednesday, June 19 at 8 p.m.If IU wins Saturday, but loses Monday evening, it will play in the Wednesday game and will again have to win to stay alive.Should IU win the Wednesday game if it advances there, it will play Friday, June 21 at 3 p.m. for the chance to advance to the Championship Series, a best-of-three set with the winner from the other side of the bracket.If IU wins Saturday and Monday, the Hoosiers will advance directly to the Friday game, bypassing Wednesday.The Hoosiers took two of three game from Louisville during the regular season. The Cardinals finished 51-12 (20-4 in Big East) and won their conference.Mississippi State finished 46-18 (16-14 in the SEC), good for fifth in the SEC.Oregon State was the last team to join the four-team bracket, defeating Kansas State 4-3 Monday night in Game 3 of their super regional. The Beavers won the Pac-12 with a 49-11 (24-6 in Pac-12) record.Making up the opposite side of the bracket is No. 4 national seed LSU who will play UCLA, and NC State who will play the winner of Tuesday's North Carolina and South Carolina matchup.LSU finished second in the SEC with a record of 55-9 (23-7 in SEC). UCLA is 44-17 (21-9) and ended the season third in the Pac-12.Every game of the College World Series will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.
(06/09/13 8:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s storybook season is still being written, and the final chapter is on the way.After decades in obscurity, the Hoosiers are finally Omaha-bound.IU clinched its first appearance in the College World Series with an 11-6 win over Florida State Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.IU will play Louisville next weekend in Omaha, Neb. The Hoosiers took two of three games from the Cardinals during the regular season.It has been a season of “firsts” for the Hoosiers, but this first — a spot on college baseball’s biggest stage — is perhaps the most important. IU swept the mighty Seminoles, a perennial power from the ACC, in two games. Florida State was playing in its sixth straight super regional and 13th overall, but it was the first for IU.The Hoosiers had made it a point not to stage on-field team celebrations after several monumental wins — the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, and the Bloomington regional — having repeatedly said those accomplishments were just steps along the way to the ultimate goal.When Tim O’Conner caught DJ Stewart’s fly ball to left for the final out, they finally enjoyed a well-deserved dogpile.“I join the entire university community in congratulating the IU baseball team for continuing its historic season with its first-ever trip to the College World Series,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release. “But, as coach Tracy Smith would say, there’s more work to be done starting next weekend in Omaha. I, and IU fans everywhere, will be rooting on the Hoosiers as they swing for a national championship.”The Hoosiers (48-14) were unfazed by going up against one of college baseball’s Goliaths in its home ballpark. Florida State has been nothing short of dominant since the current super regional format began in 1999.The Seminoles’ six straight super regional appearances is the longest active streak in the nation. This was the 10th time they were hosting a super regional, the most all-time. They have only missed the super regionals twice in the 15 years the round has existed and have appeared in the College World Series 21 times. IU is the first Big Ten team to reach the College World Series since Michigan did so in 1984.The Hoosiers were also not fazed by Florida State pitching, which came into the series with nation’s 10th-best ERA. IU scored 21 runs over the two games. Perhaps most remarkably, 12 of those runs came off the Seminoles’ dominant starting pitching tandem of Luke Weaver and Scott Sitz (10-2). Weaver came in to the series with a 1.95 ERA and was tagged for five runs in six innings in IU’s 10-9 win in Game 1 Saturday. The offense picked up where it left off Sunday, knocking Sitz out of the game in the fifth inning. IU Coach Tracy Smith, the 2013 Big Ten Coach of the Year, inherited a last-place team when he took over in 2006. He labored through a 19-44 Big Ten record and 41-69 overall record his first two seasons, with IU finishing dead last both years.The Hoosiers have played .571 ball (201-151) since, and 87-64 (.576) in Big Ten play during that span. Two of IU’s three NCAA Tournament appearances have come in the last five years. In 2010, Smith was offered the head coaching position at Ohio State, a program that at the time had far more resources and a much better history than IU baseball. “It is fitting that the baseball team’s season for the ages would coincide with the opening of our superb new facility, Bart Kaufman Field, and we are all immensely proud of the team’s accomplishments this year and the positive attention it has brought to the university,” McRobbie said. IU jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a four-run first inning, adding a run in the third and two in the fifth. Sitz lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Ahead 8-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, IU blew the game open with a three-run inning.Dustin DeMuth hit a one-out double to left that kicked up chalk along the foul line and was brought home three batters later on senior center fielder Justin Cureton’s two-out, two-run triple to right that also scored Chad Clark, who reached on a fielder’s choice.Will Nolden made it 11-5 IU on an RBI double high off the extended wall in right.The insurance runs gave freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr (5-0) a comfortable margin to work with. He bailed out ineffective starter Aaron Slegers, tossing four innings of one-run ball before allowing a pair of base runners in the ninth and giving way to closer Ryan Halstead with one out.Halstead’s appearance didn’t come without some drama, though.He walked Giovanny Alfonzo to load the bases before hitting Casey Smit to force across a run, but he bounced back by striking out Josh Delph on a high fastball and inducing Stewart’s flyout.
(06/09/13 8:47pm)
The IU baseball team's storybook season is still being written, and the final chapter is on tap.
(06/08/13 8:33pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The tying run sat 90 feet away. The winning run stood 180 feet away. And the clean-up hitter Marcus Davis stepped in for Florida State against IU freshman pitcher Will Coursen-Carr.After already surrendering one run in the inning and the crowd in Tallahassee, Fla., on its feet begging for another, Coursen-Carr stood calmly and delivered, and induced a pop out to right field and IU took Game 1 of the super regional, defeating Florida State 10-9 Saturday afternoon.It was Coursen-Carr's first save of the season, as he has primarily been used as the weekday starter this season.With the win, IU can clinch a trip to the College World Series with a
win Sunday at 1:05 p.m. against Florida State in the best-of-three super
regional.In a game in which 19 runs were scored, it was two defensive errors in the seventh inning that helped IU to victory at Dick Howser Stadium.After a leadoff hit to start the seventh by sophomore second baseman Chad Clark, senior center fielder Justin Cureton reached on an error. Sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka then drew a walk to load the bases for sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber, who had homered earlier in the day.This time, Schwarber didn't homer, but he got a knock through the left side of the infield to score Clark and Cureton and put IU on top 7-6. IU would not trail after that.Sophomore first baseman Sam Travis ripped a shot through the left side to plate Sujka, putting the Hoosiers up 8-6.But it was a mistake by Florida State catcher Stephen McGee that scored Schwarber from third, adding the extra run that would come back to bite the Seminoles.McGee fired a strike down to third base in an attempt to pick off Schwarber, but the ball leaked into left field, allowing Schwarber to score and giving the Hoosiers a 9-6 lead.The error in the next inning ended up costing the Seminoles a chance at extra innings.Tim O'Conner came on to run for junior outfielder Casey Smith who was hit by a pitch to start the eighth. He stole second, then advanced to third on a fielder's choice.Then he scored on Florida State's third error of the game.Sujka hit a grounder to third baseman Jose Brizuela, but throw to first got away from him, allowing O'Conner to score, and giving the Hoosiers the one run that ended up being the difference in the game.Coursen-Carr did have a threat in the ninth. Coming in with runners on first and second in the ninth for IU's career saves leader Ryan Halstead, who had taken the ball with two outs in the seventh, he walked a batter and then allowed a hit to DJ Stewart that brought Florida State within one.A wild pitch allowed two runners to move into scoring position.But Coursen-Carr, who pitched a complete game to give the Hoosiers the Big Ten Tournament Championship and also started in IU's regional championship, shut the door on Davis, leaving those runners stranded.IU started the flurry of scoring in the fourth when Schwarber launched a two-run moon shot to right field. It would tack on two more runs in the inning, accumulating five hits.Florida State answered with four runs of its own in the fourth.The Seminoles would take the lead back at 5-4 in the fifth, but IU would tie it back up in the top of the sixth, only to see FSU reclaim a 6-5 lead in the bottom of that inning.Then IU's seventh inning busted the game open for the time being.IU starter Joey DeNato lasted just 3+ innings, as he failed to find the strike zone in the fourth inning after cruising to start the game. It caused IU to burn through five subsequent pitchers following DeNato's departure.Schwarber led the way offensively for IU, with two hits and four RBI. Leadoff hitter Will Nolden also reached base in all three of his plate appearances with a hit and two walks.
(06/07/13 9:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU pitching coach and top assistant Ty Neal was named the 27th head baseball coach at the University of Cincinnati Friday afternoon.The hiring comes less than 24 hours before IU's first appearance in the NCAA Super Regional in Tallahassee, Fla.Neal, a native of West Elkton, Ohio, served as an assistant for the Bearcats in 2004 before joining now IU Coach Tracy Smith at Miami (Ohio) in 2005 as the RedHawks' pitching coach. He then followed Smith to IU where he has been with the Hoosiers for eight seasons.At IU, Neal has served as pitching coach, top assistant, infield/third base coach, position player development and recruiting coordinator."Ty is a proven winner and is a perfect fit as the head baseball coach at the University of Cincinnati," Cincinnati Athletic Director Whit Babcock said in a release. "When we first started this search, we looked for candidates that met three criteria: a great recruiter, a track record of proven success in building a program and the right match for our institution and community. "We are confident that Coach Neal is the right coach to lead our program to national prominence."
(06/07/13 8:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Minnesota Twins drafted IU starting pitcher Aaron Slegers in the fifth round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft Friday, selecting him with pick No. 140.Three rounds later, they took junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth with pick No. 230. And in the 26th round, the Twins took the third Hoosier who was expected to be drafted, junior closer Ryan Halstead, using pick No. 770 on IU’s all-time saves leader.“Congrats to my roommate, teammate and future teammate @_doubled16 for being selected in the 8th round by the twins!” Slegers tweeted after DeMuth’s selection.All three players are roommates in Bloomington.It is the sixth consecutive season IU has had multiple players taken in the MLB Draft.Slegers, this year’s Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, will be eligible to go to the Twins after the season if he chooses, as he is a third-year sophomore.Slegers led the Big Ten with a 1.94 ERA and tied with junior teammate Joey DeNato for the most wins in the conference with nine.In 101 innings pitched during Slegers’ time at IU, he has allowed one home run and 101 hits, striking out 58 and walking 17, as of Saturday evening.This was Slegers’ first year as a starter for IU. In 2011, he pitched one inning before being sidelined with a forearm injury. He made five relief appearances last season. This year, he has started all 16 games he has appeared in, earning a 9-1 record.The Twins took pitchers in four of the five first rounds. Two of those are high school seniors, including the No. 4 overall pick, Kohl Stewart, who is also a Texas A&M quarterback prospect.DeMuth was the third position player to be drafted by the Twins in the first eight rounds.After earning Freshman All-American honors his freshman season in 2011 with a .360 average, DeMuth was named a Third Team All-American this year with a .396 average, second best in the Big Ten.The LaPorte, Ind., native also leads the conference in doubles, is second in hits and stands third in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and total bases.Halstead saved 11 games for the Hoosiers this season, a new IU record, and eclipsed the mark for most career saves, earning 22. The California native carries a 3.64 ERA in 70 career appearances for the Hoosiers as of Saturday evening. This year has been his most productive, as he tallied a 2.43 ERA and struck out 45 batters. In his first two years, he struck out a combined 46 hitters.
(06/05/13 11:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To college baseball traditionalists, the action this weekend in northern Florida features a David vs. Goliath matchup.For the IU baseball team, that means being an underdog for one of only a few times this season, and for the first time this postseason. Not that it bothers Indiana, who will take on host Florida State in a best-of-three super regional series starting noon Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla. “It’s gonna be fun,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “It’s gonna be a good atmosphere for us, and I feel like not many people are gonna expect what we have. If we just do what we need to do, I feel like we can raise some eyebrows down there.”It’s easy to see why Florida State, the No. 7 national seed, is considered a college baseball powerhouse. The Seminoles have been to six straight super regionals and 13 of the 15 all-time since the format changed. This is the 10th time they will host a super regional.The Seminoles (47-15) plowed through the competition in the Tallahassee Regional, outscoring Savannah State and Troy a combined 32-4 during the three-game sweep.The Hoosiers, meanwhile, are making their first-ever super regional appearance. “Finally, we get to be an underdog,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “I’ve been reading the stuff. I’ve been hearing the quotes out of Tallahassee. Nobody’s giving us a chance, so that’s okay. We’ll go down there and put our best foot forward and see what happens.”The Hoosiers (46-14) will be challenged by the Seminoles’ pitching staff, which ranks 10th in the nation with a 2.73 ERA. Two Florida State starters have a sub-2 ERA: senior right-hander Scott Sitz (10-1, 1.59 ERA) and sophomore righty Luke Weaver (7-2, 1.95). “They’re gonna be good arms,” Schwarber said. “We haven’t got to see them much. We’ll probably take a look at them today, maybe, and see how they approach kids. I kind of think it’s gonna be like a Florida matchup, power arms. “We’re gonna have to stick to our game plan and I feel like we’ll have success.”IU will counter with a strong pitching staff of its own. The Hoosiers’ 2.56 team ERA is sixth lowest in the country. IU will go with junior left-hander Joey DeNato (9-2, 2.65) in Game 1 followed by sophomore righty Aaron Slegers (9-1, 1.94) in Game 2. If the series goes to a decisive Game 3, Smith said either freshman Will Coursen-Carr or sophomore lefty Kyle Hart will start, depending on if either is used in long-relief in the first two games and which pitcher Smith believes will match up better against the Seminoles’ hitters.Slegers will take the bump in Game 2 in a position to either secure IU’s position in the College World Series or keep the season alive. He said pitching in front of a capacity crowd of 3,000-plus fans in Game 1 of the Bloomington Regional — in which he lasted just four innings — has prepared him to not get caught up in the moment and pitch in high-pressure situations. The situation will be even more pressure-packed at hostile Dick Howser Stadium, which seats 6,700 fans. “Always in those packed away venues, it’s always fun going against that away crowd,” Slegers said. “It gives you a little motivation to compete out there.”If Slegers’ sentiment is any indication, the team won’t be fazed by the atmosphere or stakes. Smith said his team’s series at Ohio State — when the team clinched the Big Ten regular season title — as well as the fact that five of IU’s players played in the Cape Cod championship game last summer, has the Hoosiers prepared for a series of such a high magnitude. “I think all of the stuff helps prepare you to get to the moment we’re in right now,” he said. “This team, I do not, for one bit, worry about them getting too riled up on that.” Besides the Seminoles, the Hoosiers will have to contend with another unfamiliar foe: extreme heat. Forecasts predict highs in the low 90s for each of the three days. Smith said the team practices in the early afternoon to prepare for such heat, and will get to Tallahassee early so it can practice in the heat. “Baseball guys in the Midwest, you just get yourself ready for all kinds of temperatures,” he said. “I bet you if you took a poll of the locker room, said ‘You can play at 92-95 or play in 30 and 19 degree wind chill,’ we’ll take the 95 any day of the week.” A final potential distraction are the several draft-eligible players on IU’s team that have been thoroughly scouted. Smith said that this is the latest his team has been playing in his tenure as coach, and that it coincides with the MLB First-Year Player Draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday. He mentioned Slegers, a redshirt sophomore, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and junior closer Ryan Halstead as the players he expects to be drafted. Nonetheless, the focus remains on beating the Seminoles.“I’d say in years past, definitely, definitely a distraction,” Smith said. “This group of draft-eligible guys has handled this whole scenario better than any group I’ve ever coached. “I can tell you their whole focus is Indiana University baseball and trying to advance beyond this weekend.”
(06/03/13 4:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three Hoosiers were named to Collegiate Baseball’s Louisville Slugger All-American teams Thursday. Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber was named a Second Team All-American. Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and sophomore pitcher Aaron Slegers were named Third Team All-Americans.IU baseball has now had 11 All-Americans, five of which were coached by IU Coach Tracy Smith. The other two from the Smith era were Alex Dickerson and Josh Phegley, who each won the award twice.It is the first time IU has had three players named All-Americans in one year. In 2009, IU had two players named All-Americans, the only other time multiple players have garnered the honor.Slegers is the second IU pitcher to receive the distinction, the other being Eric Arnett in 2009. Arnett and Slegers also each won Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.DeMuth is the second Hoosier third baseman to get the nod, and Schwarber is the third catcher.— Robby Howard
(06/03/13 4:17am)
The IU baseball team celebrates a victory over Austin Peay during the NCAA Regional Championship game on Sunday night at Kaufman Field.
(06/03/13 4:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s attempt to advance further in a historic season came down to the right arm of a closer having a record-setting season.Ryan Halstead came in a little earlier than usual, but got the job done Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.Halstead struck out Matt Wollenzin with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning to preserve the Hoosiers’ three-run lead in a 6-1 win over Austin Peay to capture the Bloomington regional championship and advance to a NCAA Super Regional against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.The team swept the Bloomington regional, 3-0. IU had won one game in the NCAA Tournament coming into the season.The Hoosiers (46-14) will take on the Seminoles in a best-of-three series next weekend for a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.This is IU’s first-ever regional championship in a season full of accomplishments, having won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships while setting a single-season record for wins. It is also the first time a Big Ten team has won a regional since Michigan did so in 2007.“It seems like every step we take we’re making history for Indiana baseball,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “It’s fun, that was certainly a memorable evening for us.”Halstead worked the final 3.1 innings, striking out two batters in the ninth before Dylan Riner ended the game with a foul-out down the left-field line that Dustin DeMuth tracked down and caught basket-style near the left field clubhouse.Halstead, typically reserved for the ninth inning, entered the game with the Hoosiers in a tight jam in the top of the sixth.The Governors (47-15) loaded the bases with one out on singles by Jordan Hankins and Harper and a walk by Cody Hudson, ending freshman starter Will Coursen-Carr’s outing.In came righty Luke Harrison, who forced in a run by walking Michael Davis, cutting IU’s lead to 4-1. Harrison then struck outTorress before Halstead came in to shut the door and leave the bases loaded.It was a huge play on defense in the top of the second that kept the Governors’ offense at bay and prevented them from tying the game.With one out and runners on first and second, P.J. Torres hit a ball to deep center field that senior center fielder Justin Cureton made a sensational catch on to rob Torres of a three-run homer. Cureton scaled the wall and brought the ball back from beyond the fence, and then got it back quickly into the infield.“I’ve already referred to it as ‘the catch,’” Smith said. “I don’t think people appreciate how tough of a defensive play that is.”The relay throw went to second, but Reed Harper, who walked with one out, got back in time. Second baseman Chad Clark then saw Cody Hudson straying too far off first and fired over to Sam Travis to complete the 8-4-3 double play and end the inning.“I had a bead on the ball,” Cureton said. “I just made the play. I let my athleticism take over.”IU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a solo shot to right by Kyle Schwarber and RBI singles by Michael Basil and Casey Smith.The Hoosiers added a run in the fifth on an RBI-double by DeMuth and two in the sixth on a two-run error by Harper at shortstop.Coursen-Carr fired 5.1 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks to earn the win. He gave up no extra base hits.IU’s Sam Travis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Bloomington regional. The first baseman had two hits including a double and a run scored in Sunday’s game.Five other Hoosiers were named to the Regional All-Tournament team in addition to Travis: Clark, Schwarber, Cureton, Smith and sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.IU is now scheduled to play Florida State in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.
(06/03/13 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s attempt to advance further in a historic season came down to the right arm of a closer having a record-setting season.Ryan Halstead came in a little earlier than usual, but got the job done Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.Halstead struck out Matt Wollenzin with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth to preserve the Hoosiers’ three-run lead in a 6-1 win over Austin Peay to capture the Bloomington regional championship and advance to a NCAA Super Regional against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.The team swept the Bloomington Regional, 3-0. Coming into this season, IU had won one game in the NCAA Tournament.The Hoosiers (46-14) will take on the Seminoles in a best-of-three series next weekend for a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.This is IU's first-ever regional championship in a season full of lofty accomplishments, having won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships while setting a single-season record for wins. It is also the first time a Big Ten team has won a regional since Michigan in 2007. Halstead worked the final 3.1 innings, striking out two in the ninth before Dylan Riner ended it with a foul-out down the left-field line that Dustin DeMuth tracked down and caught basket-style near the left-field clubhouse.Normally reserved for the ninth inning, Halstead entered the game with the Hoosiers in a tight jam in the top of the sixth. The Governors (47-15) loaded the bases with one out on singles by Jordan Hankins and Harper, and a walk by Cody Hudson, ending freshman starter Will Coursen-Carr's outing. In came righty Luke Harrison, who forced in a run by walking Michael Davis, cutting IU's lead to 4-1. Harrison then struck out Torress before Halstead came in to shut the door and leave the bases loaded.It was a huge play on defense in the top of the second that kept the Governors' offense at bay and prevented them from tying the game. With one out at runners on first and second, P.J. Torres hit a ball to deep center field that senior center fielder Justin Cureton made a sensational catch on to rob Torres of a 3-run homer. Cureton scaled the wall and brought the ball back from beyond the fence, and then got it back quickly into the infield."I've already referred to it as 'the catch,'" IU Coach Tracy Smith said. "I don't think people appreciate how tough of a defensive play that is." The relay throw went to second but Reed Harper, who walked with one out, got back in time. Second baseman Chad Clark then saw Cody Hudson straying too far off first and fired over to Sam Travis to complete the 8-4-3 double play and end the inning.IU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a solo shot to right by Kyle Schwarber, and RBI singles by Michael Basil and Casey Smith.The Hoosiers added a run in the fifth on an RBI-double by DeMuth and two in the sixth on a two-run error by Harper at short. Coursen-Carr fired 5.1 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks to earn the win. He gave up no extra base hits.IU's Sam Travis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Bloomington Regional. The first baseman had two hits, including a double, and a run scored in Sunday's game. Five other Hoosiers were also named to the Regional All-Tournament team: Clark, Schwarber, Cureton, Smith and sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.
(06/03/13 2:43am)
The IU baseball team's attempt to advance further in a historic season came down to the right arm of a closer having a record-setting season.
(06/02/13 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After falling behind early for the second straight game, the IU baseball team was determined to respond quickly this time around. The Hoosiers scored five runs in the second and four runs in both the fifth and sixth to demolish Austin Peay 15-6 Friday at Bart Kaufman Field, sending IU to the championship game of the Bloomington regional.IU will play the winner of Sunday’s elimination game between Austin Peay and Valparaiso at 7:05 p.m. and can capture the regional championship with a win. The team that fights off elimination in the afternoon game would have to beat the Hoosiers twice to win the regional championship. IU pounded out 14 hits against Austin Peay, but the Governors quieted the home crowd early on. Reed Harper rocked a 1-1 pitch from junior lefty Joey DeNato into the left-field bullpen for a quick 3-0 Governors lead. It was nearly 5-0 Austin Peay when P.J. Torress drove a DeNato fastball deep to left, but junior Casey Smith made the catch while leaning against the wall. Unlike its dramatic 5-4 walk-off win Friday night against Valparaiso, the Hoosiers got the bats working quickly to put the game out of reach by the sixth inning. Dustin DeMuth led off with a double to right-center and later scored on a passed ball that also advanced Chad Clark to second with Justin Cureton at the plate. After a Will Nolden flyout that advanced the runners to second and third, Kyle Schwarber laced a two-run single up the middle that tied the game at 3-3. Sam Travis then rocked a two-runner homer off the scoreboard in left-center on the first pitch he saw, scoring Schwarber and giving IU a 5-3 lead. The Governors got a run back in bottom half on an RBI-double by Jordan Hankins that scored Dylan Riner, who singled and reached second on a passed ball.That's when the fireworks really started for the Hoosiers (45-14).IU extended the lead to 7-4 in the fourth on a two-run single by Basil that drove in Nolden and Travis, who finished 2-for-3 with four runs, three RBI and three walks. In the fifth, the rout was officially on. The Hoosiers strung together four hits and a walk to score four times, the highlight a bases-clearing double to right-center by Donley that extended the Hoosiers' lead to 11-4. IU made it back-to-back four-run innings in the sixth, needing just two hits. The Hoosiers drew three straight walks off righty Dan Whitson, the latter two RBI-walks by Travis and Donley with the bases loaded. Basil added a two run single to left to extend the lead to 15-6. DeNato (9-2) was shaky through the first two innings, allowing four runs on six hits and Torres' near-home run, but settled down after that, not allowing hits over his final four innings of work. In total, he allowed four earned runs through six innings with nine strikeouts and two walks. Austin Peay starter Casey Delgado (9-3) did not make it out of the second inning, allowing five earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched for the Governors (46-14).
(06/01/13 2:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chad Clark committed a costly two-run error in the top of the 9th, and things looked bleak for the IU baseball team in the first round of the NCAA Bloomington regional.He more than atoned for his mistake in the bottom half of the inning.Clark ripped an 0-1 slider from Karch Kowalczyk into the left-field bullpen for a two-run, walk-off homer that propelled the Hoosiers to a 5-4 win against Valparaiso and completed a miraculous four-run ninth inning comeback Friday at Bart Kaufman Field. “I knew I was gonna smoke the ball right when it came out of his hand because he hung the slider, and I was sitting on the slider, too,” Clark said. “I knew it was coming. And then right when I hit it, I knew it too.”Perhaps most remarkable is that the walk-off was Clark’s first home run of his career, and it came off Kowalkczyk (1-1), who had allowed one run in 25 innings coming into the game. Clark’s clutch hitting gave the Hoosiers their first NCAA Tournament win since 1996, and only their second all-time. “I think we got a new life,” junior outfielder Casey Smith said. “I think that home run helped us just push that one aside, all the mistakes, forget about ‘em, keep moving on tomorrow.”Down 4-1, Michael Basil started the rally with a one-out infield single and scored on a Dustin DeMuth double. Smith followed with an RBI double down the left field line, setting up Clark’s heroics.Up 2-1, the Crusaders added two runs in the ninth on two defensive miscues by the Hoosiers.With one out and runners on first and second, Tanner Vavra hit a slow grounder to short off junior right-hander Ryan Halstead. Clark was playing a few feet into the outfield grass in right, and had a long run to the second base bag. Basil fired it to Clark anyway, who was unable to reach the bag in time, loading the bases. IU Coach Tracy Smith said Basil should have taken the out at first.On the next play, John Loeffler hit a slower roller to second with Clark once again playing deep in the hole.Clark charged on the play but let it slip under his mitt, allowing two runs to score before he redeemed himself at the plate.“That’s never happened to me in my life. I’ve never had a walk-off hit,” Clark said. “It feels good to help the team out again, kind of make up for my mistakes in the field.”Halstead (4-4) then got the final out, striking out Chris Manning with runners on the corners. On the mound, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers was out of sync, allowing eight base runners through the first two innings. In the first, singles by Andrew Bain, Tanner Vavra and John Loeffler loaded the bases with one out before Chris Manning grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Bain. After Billy Cribbs reached on fielder’s choice and moved to second on a passed ball, Bain singled to center to drive him in two batters later, extending Valparaiso’s lead to 2-0. Between an error by Basil to start the second, the passed ball and Slegers’ ineffectiveness, the Hoosiers (44-14) looked jittery in the early going in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 3,045. “I felt like we were more worried about playing well for our hometown people rather than just going out and playing baseball,” Tracy Smith said. “And that’s all I said to them after the game: ‘OK, are we ready now?’”Until the ninth, though, IU’s hitters looked lost at the plate against Valpo starter Cole Webb. The Hoosiers did not get a runner to third base until the third when Scott Donley sacrificed Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis to scoring position. Both were left on base. IU managed just three hits — all of them singles — the first six innings against Webb before cutting the Crusaders’ lead in half in the seventh. Tracy Smith said IU’s left-handed hitters had a hard time picking up Webb’s cutter, which moved in on their hands.A switch hitter, Casey Smith would normally hit from the left side against Webb, but decided to switch to the right side with one out in the seventh to get a better look at Webb’s release. The move paid off, as Smith rocked a double that one-hopped the wall in right center and scored on a Clark single to left that made it 2-1 Valparaiso.Slegers made it through just four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. Scott Effross came in and tossed 4.1 innings, allowing two unearned runs on Clark’s ninth-inning error.