I was able to head out to baseball practice this afternoon and caught up with head coach Tracy Smith on how his team is doing in fall practice. Follow the jump for some quotes from Smith about just about everything including a pair of freshmen he expects to be in the middle of the lineup.
Tracy Smith could get used to this weather. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s have greeted the IU baseball coach and his team as the Hoosiers head into their final week of fall ball.
The Hoosiers will conclude fall practice with five intersquad games next week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) and have been on the diamond since official practice started September 11th.
Smith's squad lost four regular starters from the spring and has seen the growth in his young team over the course of the last month.
"The first couple weeks I wasn't pleased with the way we were going about our business but the last couple weeks it's picked up a little bit and that's to be expected," Smith said. "We have 16 new guys and guys trying to learn and know the system so it was going to be a little sloppy. The last few practices I've been pleased as we are finally starting to come together."
The biggest question surrounding college baseball heading into last season was how teams would adjust to the new composite bats that were implemented for safety purposes. After being one of the top offensive teams in the Midwest the prior season, IU struggled to the new bats and missed the Big Ten Tournament by one game in 2011.
A set lineup was something Smith never really found last year as he routinely shuffled his batting order. Heading into this season, Smith believes he has a team that can hit for power while using their speed on the base paths.
"Really a combination of both (speed and power) because we've got a couple of guys that can knock the ball out of the park," Smith said in regards to his lineup. "We're faster this year. Top to bottom of the lineup we're going to be faster."
The Hoosiers must replace the middle of the order as Alex Dickerson was selected in the third round of the MLB Draft and Jerrud Sabourin and Wes Wilson ran out of eligibility.
Sabourin is the all-time hits leader at IU and Wilson was a productive right-handed bat in a lineup dominated by lefties.
"You can't replace a guy like Dickerson's numbers and really what Wes did last year was phenomenal for us," Smith said. "Although, I like some of the young bats we have and of course the other guys are older. We are just going to be a different team. Last year we kind of laid back and relied on that power stuff because we couldn't steal the bases, where as this year I feel we're going to steal the bases with six or seven guys in the lineup."
Losing so much talent means Smith will rely heavily on his newcomers. Last year, third baseman Dustin DeMuth found himself in the lead off role for almost the entire season as a freshman. Smith sees a pair of freshman following a similar path as DeMuth, this time in the middle of the IU order.
Selected in the 40th round of the MLB Draft, freshman Sam Travis chose not to sign with the Cincinnati Reds and head to Bloomington. Travis hit over .500 with 75 RBI's in his senior season at Providence Classic in Orland Park, Ill.
Swinging form the left side of the plate, freshman Kyle Schwarber was an All-State football selection in Middleton, Ohio.
"Honestly right now if we opened tomorrow, I'd feel very comfortable throwing a freshman in the three hole and four hole in Sam and Kyle," Smith said.
On the mound, IU brings back four different pitchers who saw extensive time in the weekend rotation in 2011.
The Hoosiers had 'Scout Day' on Wednesday for MLB teams and Smith mentioned pitchers Chad Martin and Aaron Slegers has showing impressive stuff. Martin pitched sparingly in the rotation for IU last season with Slegers pitching only one inning in the spring before injuring his forearm.
Sophomore Joey DeNato was a freshman All-American last spring while leading the team with 2.80 ERA and Smith expects the California native to be his Friday starter.
"When you are making the front end of the rotation clearly I think Joey DeNato is the guy on the front end for us there," Smith said. "That (pitching) is going to be the key for us because I think we are going to pretty good offensively. I think we'll be good enough defensively but my question mark is going to be what happens on the mound and do we have the depth to compete for that championship. It's one thing to pitch against your buddies in the fall but we'll learn more the first couple weeks of the season"
When searching for leaders on a young Hoosiers squad, Smith singled out senior Drew Leininger with the pitching staff. Leininger was a weekend starter early in his IU career but struggled at times in 2010.
In the field, Smith said things are still a work in progress with junior Micah Johnson and DeMuth adjusting to leadership roles.
Two freshmen that have caught the skipper's eye this fall are Kyle Hart and Collin McEnery.
Smith said Hart, a 6'5" left-handed pitcher, will throw some quality innings for IU. McEnery, a high school teammate of Travis, is a versatile athlete that can play both the field and pitch.
Expectations were high surrounding the Hoosiers last spring but IU missed post-season play. Losing two of the program's most productive hitters of all-time might seem like cause for a rebuilding season but Smith said the goals remain the same with a different message.
"The message is loud and clear this year and we talked about from day one and keep talking about is--play for IU," Smith said "We all want the best outside of here and playing beyond but we really talked a lot about let's take care of business at IU and worry about future careers as we move on and I think the guys have done a good job of buying into that"
