Hoosiers enter super regional as underdog

To college baseball traditionalists, the action this weekend in northern Florida features a David vs. Goliath matchup.

For the IU baseball team, that means being an underdog for one of only a few times this season, and for the first time this postseason.

Not that it bothers Indiana, who will take on host Florida State in a best-of-three super regional series starting noon Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.

“It’s gonna be fun,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “It’s gonna be a good atmosphere for us, and I feel like not many people are gonna expect what we have. If we just do what we need to do, I feel like we can raise some eyebrows down there.”

It’s easy to see why Florida State, the No. 7 national seed, is considered a college baseball powerhouse. The Seminoles have been to six straight super regionals and 13 of the 15 all-time since the format changed. This is the 10th time they will host a super regional.

The Seminoles (47-15) plowed through the competition in the Tallahassee Regional, outscoring Savannah State and Troy a combined 32-4 during the three-game sweep.
The Hoosiers, meanwhile, are making their first-ever super regional appearance.

“Finally, we get to be an underdog,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “I’ve been reading the stuff. I’ve been hearing the quotes out of Tallahassee. Nobody’s giving us a chance, so that’s okay. We’ll go down there and put our best foot forward and see what happens.”

The Hoosiers (46-14) will be challenged by the Seminoles’ pitching staff, which ranks 10th in the nation with a 2.73 ERA. 

Two Florida State starters have a sub-2 ERA: senior right-hander Scott Sitz (10-1, 1.59 ERA) and sophomore righty Luke Weaver (7-2, 1.95).

“They’re gonna be good arms,” Schwarber said. “We haven’t got to see them much. We’ll probably take a look at them today, maybe, and see how they approach kids. I kind of think it’s gonna be like a Florida matchup, power arms.

“We’re gonna have to stick to our game plan and I feel like we’ll have success.”
IU will counter with a strong pitching staff of its own. The Hoosiers’ 2.56 team ERA is sixth lowest in the country.

IU will go with junior left-hander Joey DeNato (9-2, 2.65) in Game 1 followed by sophomore righty Aaron Slegers (9-1, 1.94) in Game 2.

If the series goes to a decisive Game 3, Smith said either freshman Will Coursen-Carr or sophomore lefty Kyle Hart will start, depending on if either is used in long-relief in the first two games and which pitcher Smith believes will match up better against the Seminoles’ hitters.

Slegers will take the bump in Game 2 in a position to either secure IU’s position in the College World Series or keep the season alive.

He said pitching in front of a capacity crowd of 3,000-plus fans in Game 1 of the Bloomington Regional — in which he lasted just four innings —  has prepared him to not get caught up in the moment and pitch in high-pressure situations.

The situation will be even more pressure-packed at hostile Dick Howser Stadium, which seats 6,700 fans.

“Always in those packed away venues, it’s always fun going against that away crowd,” Slegers said. “It gives you a little motivation to compete out there.”

If Slegers’ sentiment is any indication, the team won’t be fazed by the atmosphere or stakes.

Smith said his team’s series at Ohio State — when the team clinched the Big Ten regular season title — as well as the fact that five of IU’s players played in the Cape Cod championship game last summer, has the Hoosiers prepared for a series of such a high magnitude.

“I think all of the stuff helps prepare you to get to the moment we’re in right now,” he said. “This team, I do not, for one bit, worry about them getting too riled up on that.”

Besides the Seminoles, the Hoosiers will have to contend with another unfamiliar foe: extreme heat. Forecasts predict highs in the low 90s for each of the three days.

Smith said the team practices in the early afternoon to prepare for such heat, and will get to Tallahassee early so it can practice in the heat.

“Baseball guys in the Midwest, you just get yourself ready for all kinds of temperatures,” he said. “I bet you if you took a poll of the locker room, said ‘You can play at 92-95 or play in 30 and 19 degree wind chill,’ we’ll take the 95 any day of the week.”

A final potential distraction are the several draft-eligible players on IU’s team that have been thoroughly scouted.

Smith said that this is the latest his team has been playing in his tenure as coach, and that it coincides with the MLB First-Year Player Draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday. 

He mentioned Slegers, a redshirt sophomore, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and junior closer Ryan Halstead as the players he expects to be drafted.
Nonetheless, the focus remains on beating the Seminoles.

“I’d say in years past, definitely, definitely a distraction,” Smith said. “This group of draft-eligible guys has handled this whole scenario better than any group I’ve ever coached.

“I can tell you their whole focus is Indiana University baseball and trying to advance beyond this weekend.”