Matt Bashore got to IU a couple of hours before his freshman roommate Josh Phegley last year, but now both the Big Ten’s best hitter for average and best strikeout pitcher seem to be arriving at the exact same time on the diamond.\nPhegley and Bashore headline the Hoosier lineup and pitching staff respectively, and their statistics put them among the conference leaders in several major categories. Bashore says they wouldn’t have it any other way. \n“We knew we were good ballplayers,” Bashore said of himself, his roommate and their entire sophomore class. “We didn’t say we needed a year, we expected ourselves to just come out and play.”\nBashore and Phegley were part of a 19-person recruiting class that’s since been trimmed to 11 players. But their size within the program and collective skill on the diamond has made IU coach Tracy Smith’s first full recruiting class the face of the program.\nThe relationship Phegley and Bashore developed living together last year has paid off. The pitcher and catcher are usually on the same page when Bashore takes the mound. Phegley said that closeness makes it easier for them to communicate quickly and effectively during games. \n“Just knowing him that well, I’d probably say things to him that I wouldn’t say to anyone else,” Phegley said. “I wasn’t afraid to hurt his feelings to help him out a little bit.”
The Pitcher
The results speak for themselves. So far this season, Bashore is 6-3 with a 2.77 ERA, good for a second-place tie with Michigan’s Zach Putnam in the Big Ten. He’s also struck out more batters – 79 – than anyone else (next in line are Minnesota’s Kyle Carr and Ohio State’s J.B. Shuck, who have just 65 apiece), and he’s won Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors three times this season. \nThe first time IU pitching coach Ty Neal saw Bashore pitch at a showcase in the fall of his senior year of high school, he didn’t like him. \n“He was at the tail end of his Tommy John surgery, he was stiff, he hadn’t thrown all summer,” Neal said.\nNeal’s opinion changed quickly, thanks at least, in part, to Bashore’s ability to effectively throw both a curveball and a slider to supplement his 89-mph fastball. \n“The next time I did go see him was in the spring,” Neal said, “and when I was walking into the yard, I knew we had a guy.”
The Slugger
Phegley’s story is remarkably similar to Bashore’s in terms of development. The sophomore from Terre Haute struggled last year with little protection around him in the lineup, hitting just .232 with no home runs and 16 RBIs.\nPhegley currently leads the Big Ten in hitting with a .425 batting average, and his 64 RBIs are tops in the conference. He’s tied with Purdue’s Dan Black for second in the conference in home runs with 12, and he’s second overall in total hits and total bases. \nIU assistant coach Tyler Best said Phegley’s success is largely due to his own skill and mentality at the plate. But he said Phegley’s willingness to buy into the system of hitting Best and IU hitting coach Sheldon Watkins implemented this year has paid off not just for him, but for the whole team. \n“Josh is kind of soft-spoken in the way that he goes about his business,” Best said, “but when they see him working and they see the numbers he’s put up … guys look up to that and want to feed off that, there’s no doubt.”\nBest said the coaches “challenged him mentally throughout the fall and into the first part of the school year,” something Best said made Phegley a much better hitter.\n“He’s kind of taken that to the next level with the physical ability,” Best said. “But I think the mental ability, he’s totally bought into the system and been able to go out and demonstrate what he does day in and day out, high intensity, high effort all the time.”\nBashore also pointed to another facet of Phegley’s game he thinks doesn’t get enough recognition: his defense. “He just does a great job of really owning the whole plate,” Bashore said of Phegley. “If I’ve got two strikes on somebody and a guy on third, I know I can throw a curveball in the dirt and he’s gonna block it.”
Cape Cod Connection
Bashore and Phegley no longer live together, but they both say they still see each other plenty off the diamond. And even if IU’s season ends this weekend at Michigan State, it won’t be the end for the Hoosiers’ dynamic duo. The two, along with right fielder Kipp Schutz, will head to Wareham, Mass., this year to play for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League. The adjustment shouldn’t be too difficult; Phegley played for Wareham last year. \n“I think definitely when I go there it’s going to be nice to know that, when I stand up on the mound looking home, it’s him again,” Bashore said. “It’s not somebody different, or it’s not him standing in the batter’s box with a bat.”\nTheir days as roommates might be over, but the Hoosiers’ best pitcher-catcher combination still remain good friends. They’ve fast become team leaders on the diamond as well, something Phegley calls a product of their similar personalities. “It might be a little bit of a coincidence that we roomed together, but I think our personalities were kind of goofy and laid back,” Phegley said. “We know how to relax and show our talents.”
