Posting some notes and quotes that did not make the preview story ...
Can Indiana bring some consistency to a Big Ten series? That's a question that will probably determine their postseason fate.
Against Penn State and Iowa, the Hoosiers won the series openers. However, they would lose the second game of each series, thus setting up rubber matches. Against the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes, the Hoosiers won the series. Against the Illini, they lost their first Big Ten series.
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Though junior Baseball America Preseason All-American Micah Johnson had surgery in early March, IU Coach Tracy Smith is able to use him as a pinch runner.
(It wasn't the first time, as Johnson was brought in as a pinch runner against Penn State.)
Freshman outfielder Chris Sujka's game-winning bunt single scored Johnson to give the Hoosiers an 8-7 win against Indiana State on Wednesday.
Smith explained Sujka's struggles.
"More importantly for him, he just needs to relax at the plate and see the baseball," said the sixth-year head coach. "It always feels good to get a knock. Hopefully that relaxes him a little bit."
Johnson said Wednesday's win gives the Hoosiers a lift entering the past two Big Ten series.
"It definitely helps us going into the weekend," he said. "Last week, we had a walk-off ... and lost the series. If you can get a win out of games like that, that's a pick-me-up."
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Junior shortstop Michael Basil said by telephone following Sunday's loss to Illinois that he has been anticipating this series against the Spartans.
"Looking forward to getting back to another series," he said. "This one definitely hurt to lose."
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Lastly, I'm going to discontinue the stats blogs previewing each IU opponent. If you would like to see conference statistics, they're available here. If you want me to bring back said blog, contact me here.
