Hoosiers win home opener

IU played their first ever game at Kaufman Field Wednesday, which many players said is a definite upgrade from their old facility, Sembower Field.

“It’s unbelievable,” senior infielder Michael Basil said. “The difference between this and Sembower is like going from a high school field to a cathedral.”

The Hoosiers improved to 15-3 on the year after they beat Miami (Ohio) 15-1 Wednesday night. IU has won eight straight games and 13 of their last 14.

“After the game, I did talk to the guys about how proud I am of them,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “All the stuff that goes into this moment and this game ... I was proud of the fact we got a good thing going right now, and I can see the guys are taking just a little bit more pride in stuff.”

It was frosty conditions as the wind chill was 21 degrees when the first pitch was hurled and 17 degrees by the end of the contest. During the first few innings, snowflakes were fluttering around Kaufman Field.

“Even with how cold, it was it was kind of an afterthought in your mind because of how excited I was to be out on the field,” Basil said.

Sophomore pitcher Aaron Slegers gave the Hoosiers three scoreless innings in his fifth start of the season, and in relief, freshman Evan Bell threw three scoreless innings of his own.

“Bell’s not going to overpower you, but he’s going to throw strikes,” Smith said.

Junior Matt Dearden contributed two more scoreless innings, and junior Walker Stradler gave up one run in his one inning of work.

For the third straight year, Miami pitcher Alex Brown started against IU. And for the third straight year, Brown gave up at least three earned runs to Hoosier hitters.

Brown lasted two innings and gave up the first ever run in Kaufman stadium, an infield single by junior utility player Casey Smith to score sophomore infielder Scott Donley.

IU blew the game open in the third frame, scoring seven runs. Casey highlighted the inning with bases clearing double and had five RBIs on the day.

Last year, Casey had to sit out the entire season with an injury and was subsequently redshirted. Now he is getting a chance to prove his worth to the team.

“He’s gone through a lot,” Basil said of Casey. “So it’s awesome for him to be able to do that in the home opener.”

Casey is the son of IU manager Tracy and said when he reached third base after his double, his father told him how proud he was.

“Just to see it in his eyes, I was all excited,” Casey said. “This is a dream come true, finally.”

“I was saying to him, ‘I’m proud of you,’” Tracy said. “Because he’s had to sit back and watch ... It wasn’t necessarily a coach, player thing. It was more of a father, son thing.”

IU had two bases clearing doubles on the day, the first by Casey and the second by junior infielder Dustin DeMuth in the fifth inning.

On the day, seven Hoosiers scored a run with Donley leading the way with four.

In all, IU’s potent offense went through seven Miami pitchers, but there is still more to prove for DeMuth.

“We really haven’t reached our potential yet,” DeMuth said. “But once we do that, we’re pretty dangerous.”