Baseball hosts Ball State today

Following a sweep at home this past weekend against Michigan State, the IU baseball team looks to continue its hot play when it plays host to Ball State Wednesday.

IU (25-11, 11-1) is in first place in the Big Ten, two games over Illinois, who the Hoosiers face this weekend.

But first they must play a Cardinals team that beat them in Bloomington last year.

“We have some unfinished business with these guys,” IU junior catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “We can’t take them lightly. They aren’t going to just roll over for us. We’re going to take care of business.”

The Hoosiers are 13-1 in their last 14 games and are looking to get in position to hold a regional at Bart Kaufman Field, a goal IU Coach Tracy Smith talked about all year.

But IU is not the only team on a hot streak right now. Ball State (27-13, 11-4) has won 17 of their past 22 games.

Sophomore left-hander Sullivan Stadler will start on the mound for IU. He is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA this season. He will look to grab the fourth spot in the rotation, which has become open because of inconsistency from sophomore Will Coursen-Carr.

“You want to pitch at Indiana University, you have to throw strikes and be competitive in the zone,” Smith said. “I expect to see that out of (Stadler) tomorrow.”

Last week, senior Brian Korte started in the midweek game as well as pitching the Sunday game against Michigan State.

Korte has impressed the coaching staff and seems to have a lock on the number three spot in the rotation after sophomore Kyle Hart was ruled out for the season with a torn UCL.

Smith gave credit to his pitching coach for his staff’s resilience.

“I don’t know how many programs could overcome losing certainly two pitchers out of your top five from last year,” Smith said. “(Pitching) Coach Higelin has done a fantastic job, he’s a very positive guy and keeps these guys on track physically and mentally.”

The Hoosiers’ ninth-year coach said despite his team’s hot streak, it will continue to take every game seriously.

“We’re not overlooking Ball State,” Smith said. “It isn’t going to happen. This is a very mature team. We don’t play the opponent, we just try to take one game at a time.”

The Hoosiers’ offense is led by Schwarber, who is batting .338 with six home runs and 21 RBIs, junior first baseman Sam Travis who is hitting .362 with five home runs and 37 RBIs, and senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth, who has a team-high batting average of .371 with five home runs and 15 RBIs.

“(DeMuth is) a guy that can hit doubles, hit home runs,” Schwarber said. “He’s a guy we need in the lineup every day, and he takes a really mature approach at the plate and doesn’t give any at-bats away.”

Junior designated hitter Scott Donley has also come alive after a slow start and is batting .301 with four home runs and 31 RBIs.

The Cardinals have some power of their own, as they have combined for 31 home runs as a team, more than the 25 by the Hoosiers. Seven of these home runs are from senior Sean Godfry.

“We are just going to play our baseball,” senior Joey DeNato said. “Hopefully it works out.”