Coming off its first series sweep of the season against in-state rival Purdue, IU has won a season-high five games in a row.
IU will be host to Ball State on Wednesday, a team from Indiana that’s on an even better run than the Hoosiers. The Cardinals, who won nine of their last 10 games, are in prime position for their second MAC title in the past three seasons.
“They’re very well coached and really strong position player wise,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “They may have some of the higher draft picks in our state this year. It’s a really good group over there.”
The Hoosiers have been successful in the tough midweek games. They’ve scored at least seven runs in all three midweek wins this season while being shutout in their lone loss.
Piecing together pitching has been the primary struggle for IU in the midweek. The Hoosiers have sent out three different starting pitchers in those contests with none tossing more than four innings in a start.
Junior right-handed pitcher Luke Stephenson will get his third start of the season against the Cardinals and his first in nearly a month. He tossed three innings with one earned run in his last start at Evansville and has since pitched 2.2 innings in relief.
As Lemonis likes to keep the midweek starter on an inning cap, he’ll call to the bullpen whenever it’s necessary to mix and match relievers given the situation that arises in the game.
The trio out of the bullpen that has seen the most work starts with sophomore BJ Sabol in the early relief innings. Juniors Thomas Belcher and Jake Kelzer have been closing games.
Kelzer only allowed one earned run through his first 22 innings pitched before his four-run ninth inning hiccup against Purdue last Friday. Belcher, allowing zero earned runs over his last nine appearances, totaling 15.1 innings, has been the steadiest Hoosier in the late innings.
“It’s really a mindset,” Belcher said. “You have to go out there and be confident in your stuff. Something always happens late in the game, so you have to be on and can’t give up an inch.”
The Ball State offense will put IU pitching on notice Wednesday with a team batting average of .307 and five starters sitting above .300 on the year. Primarily, the Cardinals have gotten production from three juniors — Alex Call, Caleb Stayton and Jarett Rindfleisch — who have combined for 18 home runs and 94 RBIs on the year.
IU counters on offense with sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers leading the team with six home runs, including four since his return from injury March 23. Sowers is complemented in the middle of the lineup by junior outfielder Craig Dedelow and freshman catcher Ryan Fineman, who is riding an 11-game hit streak. Both Dedelow and Fineman are hitting more than .300 on the season.
After struggling to produce runs early in the season, the Hoosiers have averaged 7.2 runs per game during their current five-game win streak.
“As a team, it’s the confidence factor. We’re walking up there knowing we’re ready to hit, and we know we can do a team job,” Fineman said. “We’re not trying to swing out of our shoes. We’re just trying to put the ball in play and drive a guy in.”
