Sophomore duo leads Hoosiers

They looked at each other, both smiling, and then sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber pointed to his right toward sophomore infielder Sam Travis, but Travis was having none of it.

“That’s not a question that we can discuss,” Travis said, laughing and shifting around nervously. “We’re on the same team. That’s all that matters.”

They were uneasy about answering the question of who the better hitter between them was. But for good reason: The bats of Travis and Schwarber were almost statistically identical last season.

And both were statistically phenomenal.

Last year, Travis, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, had a .319 average, nine home runs, 50 RBIs and 118 total bases.

Not to be outdone, Schwarber had a .300 average, eight home runs, 47 RBIs and 118 total bases.

Both players played in all 60 games of their freshman campaign and were named Freshmen All-Americans.

“Me and (Travis) had some pretty high expectations coming into last season,” Schwarber said. “We both know that we are pretty good ball players. They put us right in the middle of the lineup.”

Schwarber, listed at 6-foot and 235 pounds, bats second for the Hoosiers with Travis sitting behind him on the lineup card.

However, Schwarber is not your typical two-hole hitter, IU Coach Tracy Smith said.

“He’s a bit unorthodox,” Smith said. “Big ole’ burly, crusty two-hole guy, but so what? He still comes to the plate more often than not.”

He would love to move Schwarber back in the lineup for more RBI situations but isn’t comfortable with the notion of an inning passing without both his sluggers getting to the plate, Smith said.

“My philosophy is ‘let’s get our best hitters to the plate as much as we can,’” Smith said. “I don’t want that first inning to go by and have Schwarber and Travis not hit.”

Smith’s philosophy is backed up by statistics. Both Travis and Schwarber ranked in the top seven in the Big Ten in home runs, RBIs and total bases as freshmen.

Following up their freshman campaigns, the two were named Big Ten players to watch heading into this season.

“We don’t really pay attention to that preseason stuff,” Travis said. “We’re just playing Indiana baseball.”

Both have new goals for their second season donning the cream and crimson. They went to the Cape Cod League this summer to hone their talents and have a few key things they’ll be looking to improve.

“We’re being more selective in our pitch counts,” Schwarber said. “And, defensively, we’re not so much rookies anymore, we’re veterans. We’re just taking it ball by ball, you know?”

Both Travis and Schwarber had 11 errors last season as freshmen, which tied them for third most on the team. Smith said with such a talented bat, you have to take the errors as they come.

“It’s a concern,” Smith said. “But you have to weigh all the facets of the game. Those guys are going to bring enough to the table offensively that we may have to live with an error here or there. I don’t want to, but we have to.”

Even though both were selected as Freshmen All-Americans, Smith said they have a lot more to prove in order to reach the lofty standards set by the recent success of IU baseball.

“They have a lot of career left, so I’ll reserve some of my comments on their legacy,” Smith said. “But as a tandem, as two players that feed off each other and that are important to a particular ball club, these guys are up there.”

If IU wants to achieve their lofty goals this year, they will lean heavily on Travis and Schwarber, as they did last season.

IU was picked to win the Big Ten this year by several national media outlets, as well as the Big Ten coaches.

The Hoosiers surprised a lot of people last year by finishing second in the Big Ten. They were not picked by the conference coaches to finish in the top six in the preseason.

“Big Ten championship, going to regionals, supers and then hopefully the College World Series,” Schwarber said. “Those are our expectations for this year.”

The lack of freshmen lends credence to the maturity of the team, Schwarber added.

“The sky’s the limit for us,” Travis said with a smile.