Team takes to road for second consecutive weekend

The IU baseball team is taking its game on the road for the second consecutive weekend. This time, the Hoosiers will compete in the Winthrop Tournament in Rock Hill, S.C. IU will meet three teams, facing Eastern Kentucky and Wagner Friday and Winthrop Saturday. It will finish the weekend in the consolation or championship game Sunday.\nThe Hoosiers are coming off a 11-10 home win against Indiana Wesleyan. IU has given up 59 runs in four contests. The 49 runs the Hoosiers surrendered to Furman is a school record for a three-game series. \nThe Hoosiers will face teams that are NCAA tournament contenders and are looking for a little more help from their defense and pitching staff.\n"The main thing this weekend is how we play," coach Bob Morgan said. \nIU is the only team of the four that has not made the NCAA tournament appearance in the last three years, with Eastern Kentucky and Wagner advancing to the regionals last season. Winthrop earned a tournament bid in 1999. \nEKU is 3-1 and Winthrop is riding a seven-game winning streak. \nWagner's meeting with the Hoosiers Friday afternoon will be its first of the season.\n"We have a tough day on Friday. We play two NCAA regional teams right off the bat," Morgan said. "We may be playing better competition than what we played against Furman. Take nothing away from Furman, but these teams are very good. Hopefully, we play better than we did down at Furman."\nA doubleheader is not how Morgan wanted to start the weekend, but he said that's the luck of the draw. Because each team has to play every other team, it means each must play a doubleheader.\n"I would rather play a doubleheader either (Saturday) or Sunday," Morgan said. "There is a fine line when trying to get your kids ready and working them hard enough that they're ready, at the same time where they are not tired. If anybody could come up with the formula and write a book, they would make a heck of a lot of money. To play 18 innings back to back is going to be a mental test for our kids."\nThe Hoosiers' rotation will look similar to the one used in the Furman series, with a few changes. Senior Nick Otte will start on the mound after an impressive showing out of the bullpen in IU's only win at Furman. Otte tossed six innings and recorded eight strikeouts.\n"When kids do get a chance or opportunity, they can't be like a deer in the headlights; they got to go out an play well. You go out and play well, you get another chance," Morgan said. "Otte went down (to Furman), and he was our best pitcher, so he's going to get a start."\nSenior right-hander David Ferris will also be making a start and hopes for a better showing than the two-inning, five-earned-run outing against Furman. Although it has been a week since Ferris has pitched, he said he is looking forward to getting out on the mound again.\n"After you pitch, you take that next day off and you run hard, and the whole week, you work your way back up to re-start again," Ferris said. \nFerris said he will start against Eastern Kentucky, which has a pitching staff that boasts a team ERA under three, so it will be up to the IU pitchers to keep the run production low.\n"I believe in our offense," Ferris said. "We can put up some runs. They have an aggressive running team, and I welcome that. I don't think they can run on me."\nMorgan said he will look for upperclassmen to lead the offense. Seniors Dan Haegele, Blake St. Clair and junior Eric Blakeley are batting at or above .400 and have combined for four home runs and 16 RBIs.\n"(Against Indiana Wesleyan), we were pretty disciplined at the the beginning of the game, but as the game went on we lost it," Blakeley said. "We need to swing at good pitches, get in good counts and go from there"