Hoosiers travel to West Lafayette for 4-game series

When it comes to hitting, IU coach Tracy Smith knows his team can do better.\n“It better,” Smith said in regards to his team’s need to pick up its offensive play. “The guys know they’re better than what they’re performing. It’s just a matter going out and taking a deep breath, go out and do what you do.”\nThe Hoosiers, who have been a riding a roller coaster of .500 baseball so far this season, will travel to West Lafayette this weekend to play a four-game set against Purdue. \nMost recently, the Hoosiers have come off an 8-1 loss to Evansville on Tuesday, which came after a sweep of Northwestern in a double-header Monday.\n“Our consistency comes with staying with the right approach and staying positive about things,” freshman second baseman Evan Crawford said. “You got to take the losses, but you can’t accept them.”\nAfter having played its last 11 games in Bloomington, with a 5-6 record in that stretch, the Hoosiers will start a road trip that will span 19 of its next 24 games. \nThe series against in-state rival Purdue will be the beginning of that road trip.\nPurdue is 13-12 on the year, losing 2-out-of-3 against Michigan State last weekend.. \nThe Boilermakers have produced plenty of offense on the year. Its top six batters are above .300, and the Boilermakers have three players with more than 10 RBIs in 25 games.\nLike the Hoosiers’ last Big Ten opponent, Northwestern, the problem for Purdue does not lie with its hitting. \nPlaying with what has been mostly a three-man rotation this year – now that Big Ten play has started, Purdue is throwing four pitchers – the Boilermakers have allowed their opponents to hit .287 and are giving up more than five runs per game.\nEven with the Hoosiers recently giving up eight runs to Evansville, the pitching has fared well most of the season. \nThe problem in some games has been giving up the big inning. \nAgainst Evansville, it was a four-run second inning. In the first game against Northwestern, sophomore Tyler Tufts gave up a five-run sixth inning.\n“You always want to win every inning,” senior shortstop Keith Haas said. “Big innings are definitely tough to come back from. But it’s baseball. I mean, it’s unpredictable, and it’s going to happen. You just have to keep staying positive, and you can’t let it get to you.”\nThis weekend, though, Smith is going to look for his team to be fundamentally sound on the offensive end to eliminate the significance of an opponent’s big inning. \n“It’s going to be the team that executes in crucial situations that gets the two-out RBI, gets the bunt down, executes the hit-and-run,” Smith said. “I think that’s going to be the difference this weekend.”