The only certainty for the IU baseball team in recent weeks has been uncertainty.
Since March 13, three scheduled games for IU have been cancelled, and several others have had their start times adjusted.
Despite the changes, the on-field product has remained strong for the Hoosiers.
IU closed its eight-game home stand with a six-game win streak before starting Big Ten Conference play last weekend at Iowa.
"We're trying to quit talking about the weather and get ready," IU Coach Chris Lemonis. "It does affect you. It's been a tough two weeks, just moving games. So we have to prepare to play and when they tell us to show up and play we're going to play and go from there."
Snowy weather in Iowa City, Iowa, limited what was supposed to be a three-day, three-game series between Iowa and IU to just two games. The teams split a doubleheader last Friday, with IU winning the early game 4-2 after a seven-inning start by junior pitcher Jonathan Stiever.
"It was more mix and matching," Stiever said of his pitch selection against Iowa. "I got behind a little bit, more than usual, but I made some pitches when I needed to."
The victory extended IU's winning streak to seven games for the second time this season, but Iowa won the second game of the doubleheader 5-1.
"Second game wasn't what we hope for," junior outfielder Logan Kaletha said. "But that's just baseball. So come out next series and dominate."
For the foreseeable future, IU's task will be to try and dominate in-state opponents.
The next nine games for IU all come against Indiana teams, starting with Wednesday afternoon's game at Indiana State.
Kaletha, who is from Michigan City, Indiana, said he's excited to face his friends who play at other Indiana schools during the stretch.
The game against Indiana State was originally scheduled for Tuesday night, but rain again caused a change to IU's schedule. As a result, IU will now play four games in four days, as Butler will come to Bloomington for a three-game series starting Thursday night.
Individual games against Ball State and Indiana State, with a conference series at home against Purdue sandwiched in the middle, is also part of the in-state stretch of games for IU.
"Everybody wants to beat Indiana," Lemonis said. "It's an in-state rivalry. We take a lot of pride in it. It's important to everybody out there between the lines."
No NCAA Division I baseball team in Indiana is in better form than Indiana State. The Sycamores have won nine straight games and bring a 14-5 record, including a 4-0 mark at home at Bob Warn Field, into Wednesday's game.
ISU's explosive offense has put up single-game run totals of 11, 17 and 21 runs this season, and the Sycamores average nearly eight runs a game.
Junior infielder Jarrod Watkins, junior outfielder Luke Fegen and senior infielder Dane Giesler all hit above a .300 average, but its junior infielder Romero Harris who does the real offensive damage for Indiana State.
Harris leads ISU with 22 RBIs, five home runs and a slugging percentage of .594.
Lemonis said for the upcoming four-game stretch it will important for IU to have its starting pitchers established, and one of the games during the stretch against ISU or Butler will be a "bullpen game."
IU has not yet announced its starting pitcher for Wednesday's game.
"It's a little tougher just cause having a midweek right up to the weekend series is a little tougher on the bullpen," Stiever said. "Guys will have to throw multiple times in a row or just only one day in between, so its just a little different than our usual routine, but we have enough depth on our staff where we can handle it pretty well."
