During its current seven-game winning streak, IU has scored 60 runs, 30 of those coming in its last three games.
So much for the ?narrative.
IU has continued to score runs this season in part because the Hoosiers say they are as good as anyone else in the country.
“We’re not going to shy away from the fastball or anything,” senior second baseman Casey Rodrigue said. “Just going to stand in there because we can bang with anybody in the ?country.”
This run production is due to the bottom of IU’s lineup. IU Coach Chris Lemonis said he thinks he has 13 to 14 players who are good enough to start. This makes IU one of the deepest teams in the country, he said.
In IU’s two-game series against Eastern Michigan this week, the No. 9 spot in the lineup combined to go 4-for-7 with four RBIs, three runs and a home run.
This weekend IU’s deep lineup will face one of the country’s top pitching rotations in Cal State Fullerton.
The Titans are led by junior starter Thomas Eshelman, who has a 1.23 ERA this year in four starts. He also has 39 strikeouts with only four walks while holding opposing batters to a .176 batting average.
Eshelman has started Friday nights — typically when a team’s best pitcher plays — each of his three seasons.
The Titans’ Saturday night starter in each of those three seasons has been fellow junior Justin Garza. Garza is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 14 innings this season and has struck out 13 while walking four. However, he has allowed a .310 batting average to opponents.
Fullerton’s closer, Tyler Reitzmeier, has six saves this year with a 1.69 ERA while striking out 20 opponents and walking one.
This series also presents IU an opportunity at home against a Californian team, something that does not typically happen.
“How many times do you get a great program like Cal State Fullerton here?” Lemonis said. “We’re excited to play. We feel like we have a lot to prove.”
Normally teams from California don’t leave the West Coast, and when they do it is to play in the South. Never the Midwest.
The three games this weekend will be the first ever games played between the two programs.
“The commitment from our athletic department to build a facility like this is one of the main reasons,” Lemonis said. “Anybody would love to come and play here.”
IU will be pitching junior Christian Morris on Friday, junior Caleb Baragar on Saturday and sophomore Jake Kelzer on Sunday.
Junior Scott Effross will be missing for the second straight weekend due to soreness in his arm, Lemonis said.
“We’ll still be another week out or so on Scott Effross, who’s coming along nicely, but we just don’t want to rush it,” ?Lemonis said.
