When the Hoosiers got home from sweeping Maryland, they were in for a surprise.
Bart Kaufman Field had a new addition on its right center field wall. Instead of the uniform dark green and black spanning the majority of the outfield wall, there is now a patch of red.
Inside this patch of red is the symbol for the College World ?Series and the number 2013, ?signifying IU’s trip to the College World Series during the summer of 2013.
“How can you come to our park and not see that we were at the World Series?” IU Coach Chris Lemonis asked. “It was something we were trying to add.”
Lemonis said his coaching staff has been trying to add the banner since October or November, but the process of putting it up took?a while.
But now the banner’s there and will still be there when IU plays Long Beach State this weekend at Bart Kaufman Field.
And after IU’s sweep at Maryland, the Hoosiers are ?feeling good.
“It’s tough to say it was only three games but anyone who was there watching us play, it was a different look than it has been where we went in a bit of a rut there,” ?senior outfielder Will Nolden said. “We’re looking good and we’re feeling good, most importantly.”
The sweep at Maryland also helped confirm what the Hoosiers have known all along: They belong in the NCAA Tournament.
Even through the struggles, even after losing two games to both Indiana State and Evansville, the Hoosiers still knew where they belonged.
“I think within the clubhouse and on the field we feel like we’re an NCAA team,” senior catcher Brad Hartong said. “We’ve had our ups and downs but I think if we just play one good game at a time, play good baseball like we know we can, I think we’ll be an NCAA team.”
IU will start the same three pitchers on the mound this weekend as at Maryland. Sophomore Jake Kelzer will start Friday, junior Kyle Hart will start Saturday and junior Caleb Baragar will start in the finale Sunday.
Lemonis said all three pitched well last week and that there’s no reason to change the rotation after a sweep.
Hart especially is beginning to look more comfortable in the starting rotation after working back from Tommy John surgery last season.
He’s gotten his pitch count to around 70-80 pitches, Lemonis said. That’s about the highest it’s is going to get this season, Lemonis said, but a lot of that is dependent on the amount of stressful innings he has.
The most important thing Hart has done since coming back has been competing, Lemonis said. Even when he could only throw an inning or two, he wanted to start.
“He came out and wanted the ball even if it was for three or four innings just to get us going, which was huge,” Lemonis said. “His stuff’s been the same since he’s been back, but he’s just recovering better at this point in time.”
And if Hart, or any of his teammates, need ?any motivation to keep competing, keep battling towards the NCAA tournament, they can always peer out towards the right center field wall.
They can always be reminded of where this team has gone before.
“We came back from Maryland and were pumped after a big series win, a big series sweep, and then we saw that new addition and everyone got a little fired up, checked it out and did a little walk by,” Hart said. “Definitely a little extra ?motivation.”
