Two hundred miles separate these two Indiana schools, but the similarities between their baseball teams are great.
IU (23-15, 8-4) will travel to Indianapolis on Tuesday to square off against Notre Dame (23-15, 9-10) at Victory Field for the second season in a row. Last season, IU trailed by two runs in the ninth with the bases loaded. The Hoosiers scored three runs off two costly throwing errors by the Irish to walkoff in thrilling fashion in front of a cream and crimson-packed crowd.
“That was pretty crazy,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said after last year’s game. “You need a little bit of that to get you going. I thought it was unbelievable tonight how our fans and their fans supported the game.”
Both the Hoosiers and the Irish enter the matchup with identical records but are coming off two different weekend series. IU was able to go on the road to East Lansing, Michigan, and take two of three from Michigan State, while Notre Dame struggled at No. 7 Florida State and were swept after a seven game win-streak.
Offensively, the Irish find a balanced production from their order with five batters with more than 20 RBIs. Outfielder Jake Shepski leads the club with seven home runs in just 25 games played.
Second baseman Cavan Biggio, son of major league baseball hall of famer Craig Biggio, mans the lead-off spot with an on base percentage near .500, while designated hitter Ricky Sanchez has been a force in the middle of the order with a .345 batting average.
For the Hoosiers, sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers has picked up a hit in six consecutive games and came up with three RBIs in the extra-inning victory Sunday against the Spartans. Junior outfielder Craig Dedelow has collected seven hits in the past six games and has steadily gotten on base in front of Sowers.
With Xavier looming Wednesday, this will be the first time since March IU is scheduled to play back-to-back midweek games. Junior right-handed pitcher Luke Stephenson has gotten the starting nod the past two mid-week games and is the likely starter for Tuesday’s matchup.
Stephenson tossed a season-high four shutout innings and allowed just three hits against Xavier in a 8-0 win to start the five-game road swing for the Hoosiers. He said he was aggressive attacking the zone with his fastball and using his slider to get himself ahead in his previous start.
“When you go through rehab it just takes a little bit of time,” Lemonis said about Stephenson after the Xavier game. “Every outing has been a little bit better, and that was the most complete by far.”
This is a matchup that could give the Hoosiers attention in the national spotlight in hopes of making a push for the NCAA tournament as Notre Dame currently sits in the top 50 of the RPI and is vying for a spot in the tournament. IU helped its bid for the tournament last weekend against Michigan State, but beating the Irish would boost the Hoosiers even higher.
“To come out and have a great weekend is a big statement for us,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “But it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t come out this week and take care of business.”
