IU baseball set to play Long Beach State Dirtbags

IU will play some Dirtbags this weekend.

The No. 16 Hoosiers (8-6) travel to California to face the Long Beach State Dirtbags (8-7) in IU’s final non-conference series.

IU was ranked No. 3 in preseason polls but started the year 2-5. They’ve turned it around by winning six of their last seven games, including knocking off two ranked opponents.

“I think we’re starting to figure it out,” junior first baseman Sam Travis said. “Slowly.”
IU comes into the series against Long Beach State fresh off a 7-2 home win against No. 20 Kentucky.

Several players and IU Coach Tracy Smith said the win was important because of a lackluster showing the previous weekend.

Despite beating Jacksonville in two of three games, Smith was not proud of how his team played.

Smith said the team didn’t pay enough attention to what they needed to do, but addressed these issues after the games.

Long Beach State also started the year 2-5 and has fought back to
currently sit above .500. The Dirtbags boast wins against Arizona State and USC this year, and swept a two-game series against Arizona.

The projected IU starters are senior Joey DeNato (3-1 with a 1.37 ERA) and sophomore Will Coursen-Carr (1-2 with a 4.12 ERA). Sunday’s starter has yet to be announced.

In the first-ever meeting between the Dirtbags and Hoosiers at 9 p.m. March 14, Long Beach State will have a special promotion. Fans with moustaches, real or fake, will receive tickets for $5.

The moustache-laden crowd will see DeNato, making a return to his home state, pitch against Long Beach State’s Nick Sabo. Sabo has gone 2-1 this year with a 1.67 ERA.
Coursen-Carr will face Andrew Rohrbach, who is 2-1 this year with a 3.04 ERA, during the 5 p.m. game March 15.

The Dirtbag pitcher and the Hoosier pitcher for March 16’s game at 4 p.m. have yet to be announced.

This series will be the only time this season the Hoosiers venture to the Golden State. They’ll see a dramatic difference in the weather from what they’ve experienced at home.

Just nine days after IU’s home opener against Xavier, where snow had to be removed from Bart Kaufman Field, IU will finish the series against Long Beach State Sunday with a projected high of 87 degrees.

After the three-game stint in California, IU comes back for a home rematch against No. 17 Louisville before Michigan comes to Bloomington the following weekend.

Smith stressed the importance of getting in sync during the non-conference portion of the schedule to gear up for Big Ten play.

“If we have her nailed down by the time we start the conference, that’s kind of the purpose of what we’re doing,” Smith said.