The IU baseball team started off its eight games in eight day stretch with a 1-1 record against two MAC teams.
On Saturday, coach Tracy Smith's Hoosiers ran into the best pitching performance they have seen in the early part of the 2011 season. Central Michigan's (6-8) Trent Howard threw a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits while striking out 10 and walking none.
Wes Wilson and Micah Johnson were the only two Hoosiers to record hits. Pitcher Blake Monar racked up another quality start as he went seven innings allowing three runs (only one of which were earned). The IU defense which came into the game leading the Big Ten in fielding committed three errors
The Hoosiers (8-5) bounced back on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over Akron (2-10) behind another seven inning effort out of junior Chad Martin.
Johnson had a multi-hit game for the Hoosiers with a triple and scoring a pair of runs. Alex Dickerson went 3 for 4 at the plate and was the only IU batter in the same spot in the batting lineup compared to Saturday.
T.C. Knipp (CF), Josh Lyon (RF), Casey Smith (3B) and Trace Knoblauch (DH) all started in the victory over the Zips but did not start against CMU.
Look for coach Smith to continue to shake up the lineup all week and expect to see some new faces on the mound as well.
The Hoosiers will return to the field at 11:00 EST against Pittsburgh on Monday and then take on Jacksonville State at 3:00 EST on Tuesday.
Stay tuned to Hoosier Hype for information on the baseball team and follow @ids_baseball on Twitter for more updates.
