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(07/11/13 12:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2013 outfield lineup was rock-solid defensively throughout the year with the starters — Will Nolden, Justin Cureton and Casey Smith — combining for just eight errors and a 0.973 fielding percentage. The graduated Cureton was the best of the bunch defensively with a 0.984 fielding percentage and a knack for making highlight-reel plays in crucial moments, such as his catch against Austin Peay in the Bloomington Regional. What remains to be seen is who will take over in center and how junior catcher Kyle Schwarber will factor in to the outfield, if at all. But compared to the pitching staff and infield, the outfield has the least amount of turnover and will likely mostly resemble last year’s defensive set up. Departure (graduation) Justin Cureton, CF2013 stats: .216/.335/.286, 11 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 59 runs, 22-30 stolen basesFielding: 0.984 fielding percentage, 3 errors, 1 outfield asst.Analysis: Cureton’s reliable defense and leadership as the captain of the outfield will be missed. Depending on who takes over in center in 2014, there could be more pressure on the corner outfielders to make plays in the gaps. Excluding his freshman year in which he played in just 22 games, Cureton set career lows in hitting, on-base percentage and slugging. His offensive struggles led to him being demoted from his traditional leadoff spot to ninth in the order. Whoever takes over for Cureton will likely be an offensive upgrade, though it must be noted that when Cureton did get on base, he wreaked havoc on opposing pitchers. His 59 runs scored and 22 stolen bases ranked second and fifth in the Big Ten, respectively. He also laid down 11 sacrifice bunts, tied for first in the conference. So while Cureton’s offensive numbers don’t jump off the page, he was by far IU’s best base runner and brought an element of speed to the bottom of the order. Plus, he got on base at a good clip, considering his on base percentage (0.335) was more than 100 points higher than his average (0.216). IncumbentsCasey Smith, senior2013 stats: .309/.372/.446, 9 2B, 5 HR, 34 RBI, 25 R, 2-4 stolen basesFielding: 0.976 fielding percentage, 2 errors, 1 outfield asst.Will Nolden, senior2013 stats: .303/.404/.366, 5 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 31 R, 5-9 stolen basesFielding: 0.961 fielding percentage, 3 errors, 6 outfield assts.Up for grabs: CF, fourth OF spotAnalysis: After Schwarber returned to full-time catching duties following a knee injury, Nolden became a mainstay in the corner outfield positions and leadoff spot. Both Nolden and Smith set a number of career-highs offensively. Nolden is a favorite to start in right because of his strong arm. His six outfield assists led the team. Smith is not considered a bad defender by any means, but was often removed late in games in which IU had a lead for a defensive replacement. That defensive replacement? Tim O’Conner, who is the most likely player to man center next season. Tim O’Conner, junior2013 stats (43 games, 1 start, 20 ABs): 0.150/0.227/0.250, 1 3B, 6 RBI, 3 runs, 3-5 stolen basesFielding (24 chances): 1.000 fielding percentage, 0 errors, 2 outfield assts.Chris Sujka, junior2013 stats (46 games, 20 starts): 0.286/0.378/0.338, 4 2B, 8 RBI, 18 runs, 9-12 stolen basesFielding: 1.000 fielding percentage, 0 errors, 3 outfield assts.Analysis: During the season, Cureton expressed confidence that O’Conner would replace him in center and handle the transition from the corner outfield positions smoothly. O’Conner played sparingly in 2013 and almost entirely as a defensive replacement. As his fielding numbers suggest, he handled his limited opportunities flawlessly.O’Conner came to IU on a football scholarship after a successful career as a wide receiver at Elder High School in Cincinnati, so he has the speed and athleticism to handle center field. Cureton raved about how O’Conner had both at his disposal, making him the most natural fit. Nolden may also get a look in center because of his speed. If Nolden were to win the job, it could open the door for Sujka or Schwarber to take over a corner outfielder spot, if not O’Conner. Sujka will likely maintain the role he had in 2013 as the fourth outfielder and a platoon option with Nolden. A left-handed hitter, Nolden generally played against right-handed starters while Sujka, a right-handed hitter, got the nod against left-handed starters. Either way, Sujka is a solid option offensively and defensively off the bench and might be starting if not for a surplus of outfielders. The Big If: will Schwarber play the outfield? With a bevy of talented catchers behind Schwarber, there has been talk of moving the offensively gifted junior to the outfield. He has been playing with the USA Collegiate National Team, and IU Coach Tracy Smith said part of the stipulation with Schwarber being selected was that he would play some outfield. Schwarber also played some outfield last summer in Cape Cod League play. Team USA hasn’t shown a willingness to test Schwarber in the outfield. He has been the designated hitter in the first four games of a five-game series against Japan that concludes today. Smith also said someone would have to “knock Kyle Schwarber off the mountain” at the starting catcher position. Schwarber does not have the athleticism or speed to play center, so he would have to play a corner spot. With the fact Schwarber has hardly played outfield in college and isn’t doing so with Team USA, it seems unlikely he will start in the outfield and will instead remain the starting catcher. In other words, expect the outfield to look relatively the same with the only change coming in center field as O’Conner replaces the departed Cureton.
(07/01/13 5:40pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Now that IU baseball’s storybook season is in the books, it’s time to look ahead to next year. Yes, opening day is still approximately seven months away, but it’s never too early to evaluate the 2014 Hoosiers.This is the first part of a three-part series that will project next year’s starting lineup, beginning with the infield. Note: The class standing of each player is listed for the 2014 season.DEPARTURES (graduation)Michael Basil, SS2013 stats: .313/.402/.428, 15 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 49 RBI, 44 R, 7-13 SBFielding: .947 FLD%, 211 A, 19 errorsTrace Knoblauch, INFCareer: 34-for-172 (.198)Analysis: Whoever takes over for Basil will have big shoes to fill. He was an integral part of IU’s CWS run and will be tough to replace from a leadership standpoint, as IU Coach Tracy Smith repeatedly referred to Basil as serving the role of an assistant coach. On the field, his defensive ability was a huge plus. While he committed 19 errors, his .947 fielding percentage was a career-high. He also led the Big Ten with 211 assists and showed good range to both sides. Basil also finished second in the conference in fielding double plays with 52 (behind only sophomore first baseman Sam Travis), helping the Hoosiers to a conference-best 71 twin killings. Offensively, he set career-highs in batting average, hits, runs, doubles, RBI, slugging, on base percentage and stolen bases. Departures (MLB draft)Dustin DeMuth, senior, 3B.377/.433/.545, 24 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 46 RFielding: .904 FLD%, 137 asst, 19 errorsAnalysis: For the sake of this projection, let’s assume DeMuth signs a contract with the Minnesota Twins, who drafted him in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB Fist-Year Player Draft. His breakout year offensively helped IU’s offense lead the conference in every major offensive category except triples. DeMuth’s bat will be difficult to replace, but his successor might be an upgrade on defense. He has a very strong arm but sometimes made the routine play look difficult. His 19 errors were tied with Basil for the most in the Big Ten.Infield incumbentsFirst base: Sam Travis, junior2013: .316/.419/.545, 22 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 57 RBI, 53 RFielding: .987 FLD%, 41 asst, 8 errorsCatcher: Kyle Schwarber, junior2013: .366/.456/.647, 10 2B, 1 3B, 18 HR, 54 RBI, 65 RFielding: .989 FLD%, .190 CS%, 8 PBInfield up for grabs: 2B, SS, 3BWith the possibility that the entire left side of the infield from 2013 will be gone, sophomore Nick Ramos, junior Chad Clark, sophomore Brian Wilhite and incoming freshman Austin Cangelosi will all battle for a starting spot. 3B: Chad Clark, junior2013 (64 games, 59 starts): .232/.323/.288, 8 2B, 1 HR, 32 RBI, 19 RFielding: .966 FLD%, 129 asst, 12 errorsAnalysis: Clark started at catcher while Schwarber nursed a knee injury, but the bulk of his starts came at second base. He has said to have the strongest arm of the bunch, but the most limited range, which makes him a natural fit at third. SS: Nick Ramos, sophomore 2013 (43 games, 27 starts): .228/.265/.446, 5 2B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 13 RFielding: .957 FLD%, 74 asst, 6 errorsAnalysis: The switch-hitting Ramos was a shortstop at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., where he was named Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He is also considered the best hitter of the group, so he is likely to start somewhere in the infield. 2B: Brian Wilhite, sophomore 2013 (31 games, 3 starts): 7-for-24 (.292), 3 RFielding: .921 FLD%, 24 asst, 3 errorsAnalysis: Wilhite played sparingly as a freshman, mostly late in games when IU had a comfortable lead and mostly at second base. With Ramos a natural shortstop and Clark having the strongest arm, this leaves second open for Wilhite. Final thoughts: Though Schwarber is penciled in at catcher, there is a chance he could move to the outfield. He will likely be asked to play outfield at the next level where he is a sure-fire first round draft pick in 2014, barring injury or an unforeseen lackluster offensive season. His caught stealing percentage of .190 was more than 200 points lower than during his freshman year. On top of that, sophomore John Robertson and incoming freshman Demetrius Webb, who was ranked as the second-best catcher in the state of Indiana by Prep Baseball Report and won a Gold Glove in 2012, are considered strong defensively behind the plate. Brent Gibbs, another incoming freshman, was rated the best catcher in Prep Baseball’s eight-state coverage area. He hit .445 heading in to his senior year at Alton High School in Godfrey, Ill., so Smith might want his bat in the lineup on a regular basis. Look for a preview of the outfield in Monday’s paper and a look at the pitching staff the following Monday.
(06/30/13 11:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The second part of a three-part series previewing next year’s IU baseball lineup examines the pitching staff. Now that Aaron Slegers, the 2013 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, has signed with the Minnesota Twins, the starting rotation looks to be lefty-heavy. Below is a look at what next year’s starting rotation and bullpen might look like. Note: classes of each player are listed for the 2014 season.Rotation: incumbents1. LH senior Joey DeNato2013 stats: 10-2, 2.52 ERA, 19 App, 18 GS, 2 CG, 103.2 IP, 97 H, 87 K, 43 BB, .254 Opp B/Avg2. LH junior Kyle Hart2013 stats: 8-2, 3.01 ERA, 15 App, 15 GS, 83.2 IP, 83 H, 50 K, 27 BB, .262 Opp B/Avg3. LH sophomore Will Coursen-Carr2013 stats: 5-0, 1.93 ERA, 17 App, 11 GS, 1 CG, 65.1 IP, 54 H, 37 K, 27 BB, .233 Opp B/AvgRotation: challengersRH sophomore Christian Morris2013 stats: 1-1, 4.68 ERA, 13 App, 2 GS, 25 IP, 35 H, 12 K, 7 BB, .343 Opp B/AvgRH junior Luke Harrison 2013 stats: 4-2, 2.82 ERA, 22 App, 0 GS, 38.1 IP, 36 H, 32 K, 9 BB, .248 Opp B/avgLH freshman Austin Foote2013 high school stats unavailableLH freshman Reece Phillips2013 high school stats unavailableAnalysis: It would seem as if the only pitchers guaranteed to make the rotation are DeNato and Hart because of their starting experience. IU Coach Tracy Smith is faced with an unusual problem: does he insert Coursen-Carr into the weekend rotation and throw three quality lefties each series, or does he put a righty in there and send Coursen-Carr to the bullpen or back to the mid-week starting spot?Coursen-Carr was the mid-week starter during the regular season and eventually became a key member of the pitching staff in the postseason. He tossed a complete game to clinch the Big Ten Tournament title, started and got the win when IU clinched the Bloomington Regional and got the win out of the bullpen in the Hoosiers’ super regional-clinching victory against Florida State. Coursen-Carr gives Smith a lot of flexibility since he excelled both as a starter and in long relief. What will likely go a long way toward determining if Coursen-Carr makes the weekend rotation will be if he improves his control.The freshman walked 27 batters in 65.1 innings and had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.37. If Smith does decide he wants a righty in the weekend rotation so that opposing teams can’t stack their lineups with right-handed hitters and to give opposing hitters a different look, Harrison is the most likely candidate to enter the rotation.Harrison was a valuable bullpen arm because of his ability to bail out ineffective starters and pitch in long relief if need be, as his 22 appearances covered 38.1 innings. The seldom-used Morris is also a candidate, having made two starts in 2013. In this scenario whichever righty doesn’t make the weekend rotation would likely be the mid-week starter or the primary long reliever. Smith said he likes having lefties start because they help control the running game, but was concerned about throwing three southpaws in weekend series. Bullpen: the back threeCloser: RH senior Ryan Halstead2013 stats: 4-5, 2.89 ERA, 28 App, 11 saves, 43.2 IP, 30 H, 48 K, 12 BB, .189 Opp B/AvgSet up man: RH sophomore Scott Effross2013 stats: 6-1, 2.44 ERA, 28 App, 5 saves, 62.2 IP, 53 H, 34 K, 13 BB, .230 Opp B/AvgLefty specialist: LH senior Brian Korte2013 stats: 1-0, 1.65 ERA, 17 App, 1 save, 16.1 IP, 14 H, 7 K, 8 BB, .246 Opp B/AvgAnalysis: Halstead, a 26th-round draft pick of the Twins, is rumored to be returning to Bloomington for his senior season. He has until midnight July 13 to decide, and if he does in fact return, IU’s bullpen will get a huge boost by being able to retain its single season and career saves leader. In that scenario, Halstead would stay the closer, with Effross a more-than-capable replacement if he falters. Otherwise, the formula for closing out games remains the same: Effross is the bridge in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings for Halstead, and Korte is there to shut down the oppositions’ best left-handed hitters in key situations. The bullpen would look relatively the same with pitchers shifting around depending on how the rotation is ultimately structured and what role Foote and Phillips, the incoming freshmen, end up filling.
(06/20/13 3:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — From the get go, it appeared the Hoosiers never really had a chance.When it needed offense — one of its strengths — the IU baseball team could not muster up an attack at the worst possible time.Oregon State eliminated the Hoosiers from the College World Series behind a dominant effort by Beavers’ starter Matt Boyd, who fired a complete-game shutout in OSU’s 1-0 win Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park.IU (49-16) had one last bit of life with two outs in the ninth when sophomore first baseman Sam Travis blooped a single to right-center before freshman second baseman Nick Ramos grounded out to 3rd, ending the Hoosiers’ season.“All I hope is that whether it’s two hours from now, two days from now, two months from now, that they can sit back and say they were part of the greatest baseball team in Indiana history,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said.The pitching was certainly strong — IU entered the CWS with the nation’s eighth-best ERA — and performed well in Omaha, as the Hoosiers allowed just six runs in three games.But the team’s hallmark all season was its strong offense, and in Omaha it never really showed up. IU struck out 38 times over the three games, scoring all of six runs.“It was definitely frustrating,” Travis said. “The bats have been there all year and we come down there and they just weren’t there. Tip my hat to our pitchers, they did their job. We just couldn’t capitalize and get runs.”They Hoosiers managed just four hits off Boyd (11-4), who struck out 11. IU did not get its first hit until a one-single by senior shortstop Michael Basil in the fifth. He became the only IU runner to make to second base when senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth laid down a bunt single the very next pitch.Junior left fielder Casey Smith flew out and sophomore second baseman Chad Clark popped out to 3rd to end the threat.IU finished 1-2 in its first trip to the College World Series, its lone win a 2-0 victory against Louisville in the team’s opening game on Saturday. Both losses were by one run.Nonetheless, this IU team will stand the test of time as the first to reach Omaha.“I mean it surpassed my wildest dreams,” Basil said. “When I committed to Indiana, I never though that this was really a possibility when I was coming here. It’s really unbelievable. I mean it stings right now, but more than anything I remember the group of guys.”The Beavers (52-12) got the game’s only run on Jake Rodriguez’ sacrifice fly to right in the fourth inning that scored Kavin Keyes, who led off the inning with a single to center.IU’s hitting woes wasted sophomore starter Aaron Slegers’ first complete game. It was nothing short of a historic season for IU, which set a record for single-season wins and swept the Big Ten titles, ending decade-old conference championship droughts. It swept the Bloomington regional and swept college baseball powerhouse Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.Finally, it won its first game in the CWS on its first try.“It’s not over-achievement, because we’ve been solid all year we’ve had the confidence, the talent and the mature approach to play good baseball all year and we knew this team was something special,” senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. “To put a team like Indiana on the map is huge, especially for our school because we achieved a lot of firsts this year. It was just a great season.”Now that the Hoosiers are on the map, a new standard has been set for a once-dormant program.Travis said anything short of a repeat trip to Omaha in 2014 will not cut it.“It’s awesome to be a part of this team and it’s awesome to look who we got coming back next year,” Travis said. “We’re definitely losing some key guys, but hopefully we got enough coming back and we got some guys coming in that can help us get back here next year.”
(06/20/13 2:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha simply wasn’t going to stand by idly and watch its child move away.As the city’s contract with the College World Series was set to expire several years ago, so was the viability of Rosenblatt Stadium as the host facility. To help keep Omaha’s biggest event right where it belonged, the city constructed TD Ameritrade Park, which opened in 2011 and has received rave reviews from players and coaches, locals and fans. “This thing since 1950, they’ve been here for the College World Series, this is kind of Omaha’s child,” said Dave Keilitz, executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association. “If you need an idea of the importance of this to Omaha, when you talk to college baseball players and coaches, they don’t say College World Series. They say they’re striving to get to Omaha, and everybody in baseball knows what that means ... That’s how big it is to the city of Omaha.”Rosenblatt hosted the CWS for 50 years and captured the hearts of fans for its vibrant colors and personality. More than that, it was the camaraderie fans built with each other that made the old venue so special. Kent Peterson has attended the CWS every year since 1986 and lived in Omaha for four years during the 1980s. “The part about Rosenblatt was we sat by the same people for 25 years and they weren’t able transpose that to this new stadium,” he said. “We got split up. So you miss that and the same people tailgating, same people every year in the same seats and it got to be, it was a little sad to see that end.”Peterson said Rosenblatt was difficult to get out of after games, and praised the new stadium’s concourse structure. He also noted that tailgating is easier because there are paved islands lined with trees throughout the main parking lot.Rosenblatt, on the other hand, had islands that only accommodated four cars and were few and far between, Peterson said. The fan experience might be different for better or worse, but TD Ameritrade Park has brought college baseball’s premiere event into the modern era of ballparks. “When you look at the amenities of the locker rooms and the dugouts and the clubhouses and the hitting cages and the stadium itself, there’s no comparison (to Rosenblatt),” Keilitz said. “The tradition here will build just like you did in Rosenblatt. Traditions take time, but this is a great, great facility.” The city of Omaha helped pay for the $131 million ballpark through a private-public partnership. That might seem unwise to some, considering its primary event lasts all of 10 days. “The reason (being) that this tournament means so much to Omaha that they’re willing to build this basically for the College World Series,” Keilitz said. “And it’s worked great for the College World Series and I think it’s worked for the city of Omaha.”The stadium is also used by Creighton’s baseball team and the United Football League’s Omaha Nighthawks and has hosted numerous concerts.City officials might also believe that the stadium will pay for itself given how much the CWS boosts the local economy. When Peterson lived in Omaha, he worked in the hotel business and saw the event’s economic impact firsthand. “We as ‘hoteliers’ used to bid on what teams we’d try to get at the hotel,” he said. “Back in the mid-80s, the strength of baseball was Stanford and LSU so you know you had a contingent staying for a long period of time. “If you got one of the underdogs they’d check in and they were eliminated in a couple days and it wasn’t great for business, the hotel would go empty.” Like Peterson, Shirley Urbach bonded with her fellow CWS fans over time. The 85-year-old is attending her 38th CWS. “The friendship of the people — we met so many people in all those games that we went to from all over the county, and we come here and they’re all scattered all around,” Urbach said. “I’m just used to going to Rosenblatt and I think it was a great stadium. “It was colorful, we had so many friends there. It was sad for me.” But even a Rosenblatt-lifer like Urbach could not deny the attraction of 3-year-old TD Ameritrade Park. “It really is a beautiful stadium,” she said. “But you know, I’m old and I’ve got my traditions — I really miss Rosenblatt. There for a while, I couldn’t even drive by Rosenblatt.”With Rosenblatt gone, TD Ameritrade Park figures to one day become a legend in its own right. In 2008, the city extended its contract with the CWS through 2035. Regardless of venue, it is important to remember that the CWS is about the players competing in it, Keilitz said. “I think there probably were a lot of people (that) were skeptical coming in but I remember being here for the first game and being here every year for many of the games and when people walked in and looked around, and said ‘Wow,’” he said. “The biggest thing is when the players, when the teams come in and they see this. This is special, this is really special.”
(06/19/13 1:54pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. --- After giving up a late comeback to Mississippi State on Monday, the Hoosiers are faced with their first real win-or-go-home game of the season. IU was in danger of losing the Big Ten Tournament to Nebraska, but had all but assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament by that point. As the Hoosiers prepare to take on Oregon State at 8:08 p.m. ET Wednesday in an elimination game, below are news and notes from Tuesday’s practice. Slegers tasked with keeping Hoosiers’ season aliveSophomore right-hander Aaron Slegers will start for the Hoosiers Wednesday, IU Coach Tracy Smith said. Slegers will have to shake off some postseason cobwebs, as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year has struggled to go deep in games as of late.Slegers lasted just 8.1 innings total over his last two starts. He allowed three earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings against Florida State on June 9, a game the Hoosiers won 11-6 to clinch the Tallahassee Super Regional and advance to Omaha. “He needs to relax and pitch with something to prove,” Smith said. “I think that’s when he’s at his best is when he’s not in cruise control, he’s out there and he’s not worrying…but he should want something. “…I mean it’s one of those where if he doesn’t have something to prove in this one, there’s something wrong. But we feel really good about it, I’m looking for good things out of him.”Slegers has seemed to struggle with his command since shutting down Minnesota May 23 when he tossed seven innings of one-run ball. “If he pounds the bottom of the strike zone like he has all year, he’ll have success,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “He’s going through a little slump just like a hitter would, and I feel like tomorrow is gonna be a great example of a pitcher snapping out of that slump.”Slegers said he was too often falling behind in the count against the Seminoles and remains confident he can bounce back in IU’s biggest game of the year. “Really good, feeling really confident about going out there, competing in the elimination game, keeping our season alive,” he said. “It’s exciting.” Off-day competition helps with relaxationDue to rain, IU was relegated to the indoor batting cages at Creighton’s Kitty Gaughan Pavilion for batting practice. To both stage a friendly competition and help relax his players, Smith put together a game between the starters and non-starters in which the loser had to pick up all of the balls from batting practice. “Yea, I mean there’s a duel purpose there, but most importantly we always say in our program you try to create competition,” Smith said. “So kinda stagnant hitting in the cages today, a little boring, a little stale so we’re finishing up with a little competition.”IU’s batting-practice pitchers propped up the top section of their protective netting, a small pocket the hitters were tasked with hitting. One point was awarded for hitting it off the bounce and two for doing so on the fly. Each squad took swings against a lefty and a righty, and then switched. Justin Cureton got things going for the starters when he laced one off the pocket to give his side two points, and gave himself and emphatic chest pump. Schwarber provided the “walk-off” with a bouncer of his own to give the starters a 4-3 win and force the non-starters to clean up the cages. “Yea, we don’t like picking up balls,” he said. “We lost the last one and had to go pick up some sunflower seeds on the field, so it wasn’t too fun.”Schwarber recognized how the game also helped he and his teammates relax ahead of Wednesday’s pivotal matchup. “It’s just good fun and it’ll just get us to loosen up a bit,” he said. “I feel like we came out loose yesterday, we were doing what we needed to do…we had some mistakes, we just weren’t executing on our hitting yesterday, so I feel like that kind of stuff gets (our) mind off the game and more focused on just having fun.”Smith looks for more production from Schwarber, DeMuthOn the whole, IU’s offense has struggled in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers have scored just six runs in two games, have struck out 27 times and have left 20 men on base. Smith said IU needs to have better at bats from the entire lineup, but looked to Schwarber and junior third basemen Dustin DeMuth to lead the way. “What I liked is they were generally upset that they lost,” Smith said. “I mean I think everyone knows now that we’re not just happy to be here, these guys expect to win.”Schwarber, who is hitting .378 with a Big Ten-best 18 home runs and 54 RBI, has uncharacteristically had a hard time making contact. He is 3-for-10 and has scored two runs in the College World Series but has struck out six times, all coming in his last eight at-bats. He said he was happy with his batting practice sessions Tuesday, though. “It was good,” Schwarber said. “Staying on the ball a lot more and not pulling off. It’s just a little slump and I feel like I’m gonna pull out of it tomorrow.”DeMuth, the No. 6 hitter, is hitless in seven CWS at-bats and has struck out three times.
(06/18/13 5:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. -- Five or so feet higher, and they might still be playing. Sam Travis’ drive to left-center was easily the hardest-hit ball of the game, and yet even a ball hit that well and that deep didn’t leave the yard. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and IU trailing by two runs, Travis creamed a ball off Mississippi State’s Chad Girodo that hit at least halfway up the eight-foot wall in left-center. The hit resulted in a double, but Travis would be left on base as the tying run in IU’s 5-4 loss to Mississippi State Monday at TD Ameritrade Park. “I hit it pretty hard,” he said. “I hit it too much on a line for it to go out, I knew that right away, so I was just running as fast as I could. I was gonna try to get three, but there was someone in front of me.”That “someone” was sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka, who led off the inning with a soft single to right. Sujka looked destined to score as the ball found a jet stream in the alley before Bulldogs’ center fielder C.T. Bradford got to it quickly and hit the relay man with just as much urgency. Unfortunately for Sujka and the Hoosiers, the ball caromed right to Bradford.“I definitely for sure didn’t think Sam’s was gone,” Sujka said, “so I was taking off as soon as I saw it I saw it hit four feet up the wall, and unfortunately it bounced right to the center fielder. “I was rounding third hard and Skip said hold up, and I was kind of surprised when he did that. I didn’t think that ball would bounce like that back to him.”Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley was on deck and had a field-level view of Travis’ shot as well. He said he didn’t think the ball was a home run off the bat, either. “I just saw him hit it and put a real good piece on it, and I thought it was going to be a double but then it kept carrying,” Donley said. “It was more of a line drive. He smoked that ball.”Donley drove in Sujka with a groundout to second before senior shortstop Michael Basil ended the game on a weak grounder back to the mound. It was the home run that wasn’t, the almost shot, the close-but-no-cigar drive. The Hoosiers (49-15) might feel the same way about their offensive production against the Bulldogs. IU left 10 men on base, including seven in scoring position while striking out 14 times. Had Travis’ rope cleared the fence, it might have relaxed IU’s hitters, who also struggled against Louisville on Saturday, when they left 10 men on base and struck out 13 times. Had Travis’ laser cleared the fence, IU might not be playing the rest of its games in Omaha on the brink of elimination.Instead, a blast to left by LSU’s Mason Katz stands as the only home run through six College World Series games at spacious, pitcher-friendly TD Ameritrade Park. Field dimensions aside, Travis recognizes that IU’s bats will have to come around for IU to keep its season alive. “We haven’t really connected on any balls that should have been going out of the park,” he said. “So we just got to swing at better pitches is what we gotta start doing, and eliminate the strike outs.”
(06/17/13 1:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — “A row by any other name is still a row J.” That phrase is on a custom-made sign hung on a tailgating tent by Vic Kensler, who is attending his 46th College World Series. Kensler is part of an infamous group of CWS partiers that take full advantage of the atmosphere that surrounds college baseball’s championship series since 1968, when Rosenblatt Stadium was a landmark in downtown Omaha. He has been coming since 1968 and teamed up with Rick Marasco to purchase group tickets for “row J” every year. The group has become a mainstay at the event. Everyone knows where to find them, whether in the tailgate lot or, of course, in row J.When the old Rosenblatt Stadium was vacated in 2010 in favor of TD Ameritrade Park, the original row J was no more.In response, Kensler had the sign created to reinforce the main point behind row J. “I had this sign made so that people would understand that it’s the spirit of the party, not where you’re having it,” he said. Still, Kensler and his crew have strong emotional ties to Rosenblatt, the home of the CWS for 50 years. Kensler’s son Todd has been coming to the game since he was 3, making this his 35th CWS. To him, Rosenblat will always be the superior stadium. Perhaps that’s why he wore a shirt that read, “I still call it Rosenblatt.” Todd was so passionate about the since-demolished stadium that he bought the “row J” sign in an auction and presented a refurbished version to all the fathers of the group last Father’s Day.“Rosenblatt’s something where it’s like, you grew up as a kid,” Todd Kensler said. “I mean, a lot of life lessons, and stealing beers out of your dad’s cooler. To be able to have row J back, that’s just where we always were.”The blue “row J” sign stood proudly on full display at the edge of the Kenslers’ tent on the main drag of TD Ameritrade’s tailgating lot Saturday, the first day of competition.Vic Kensler is a CWS booster who sells general admission tickets every year. He grew up in Iowa and attended college in northeast Nebraska, and said he fell in love with the CWS and everything around it.He said he doesn’t usually have a rooting interest, and that’s part of what makes the experience so fun.“I root for good baseball,” Vic Kensler said. “And I hope everybody that comes to Omaha enjoys it and takes back good memories, and comes back again.”Morasco grew up a few miles from Rosenblatt. He has been attending the series since the 1950s and played in the stadium as a kid.“It was a big deal to go to the College World Series even before it got to be what it is today,” he said.To be sure, the CWS makes for a massive tailgating experience. Pat Hupp has been coming to the series for 30 years.Hupp, who works at insurance company in Lincoln, Neb., said some of his employees take the entire week off to hang out in Omaha. With a new venue comes an adjustment in tailgating logistics. Hupp said he was frustrated because he was having a hard time finding some tailgates, which wouldn’t have been a problem at Rosenblatt. “The park’s nice,” he said. “I think (at Rosenblatt) the tailgates and everything were all set up and everything, everyone knew where to go, I knew where all my friends were. It’s not bad here. It was great at Rosenblatt. It’ll get good here.” A visit to the row J tailgate party might just cure his frustrations. After all, it’s the spirit of the party, not where you’re having it.
(06/17/13 1:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — If tracking pitch count is overrated, then Joey DeNato is Exhibit A.The junior southpaw fired a complete-game shutout as IU beat Louisville 2-0 to win its first College World Series game Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park.The Hoosiers (49-14) will face Mississippi State at 8 p.m. Monday.DeNato (10-2) needed 136 pitches to finish off the Cardinals, surrendering just four hits while never allowing a runner past second base.“In the midst of a game like that, you never think about pitch count or your arm’s getting tired or not,” he said. “My arm felt just as good in the ninth inning as it did in the first.”Even when DeNato hit 115 pitches through seven innings and 130 through eight, even when two of DeNato’s outs in the latter innings were well-struck liners and when he gave up a sharp double with two outs in the eighth, there wasn’t so much as a passing thought of taking him out — from either coach or player.“I think we were on the same page,” DeNato said. “He knew I wanted to go out and I knew I wanted to go out, so yeah.”“We didn’t say one word to each other the entire ballgame. Truth?” IU Coach Tracy Smith asked DeNato.“Yes.”“Exactly,” Smith said.Such arm strength at the end of games wasn’t always there for DeNato. At 5 feet, 10 inches, he tended to wear down toward the end of seasons.He pitched in the Cape Cod League for two summers but decided to not throw this fall. The time off paid dividends while he rehabbed and strengthened his arm.“Last year at this point during the season, I knew my arm definitely wasn’t 100 percent,” said DeNato, who finished with eight strikeouts and three walks. “And this year, I really focused on taking care of my arm and doing rehab and all that stuff every single week. Now my arm feels just as strong as it did day one.”DeNato’s outing could have hardly come at a better time. The Hoosiers managed just seven hits and ran themselves out of scoring opportunities twice, leaving 11 men on base in all.It also snaps a streak of three consecutive games in which an IU starter failed to finish the sixth inning — including DeNato’s three-inning clunker against Florida State on June 8 — and allows Smith pitching staff flexibility.“That’s the tone-setter for the whole week that we’re here,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “I feel like that’s gonna play a big role in the morale of our bullpen and our starting pitchers.”But as IU polished its first College Series win on its first try, the night belonged to DeNato.“That was huge,” Smith said of DeNato’s performance. “Our mindset coming into the game was (to) stay in the winner’s bracket. If we had to use tomorrow’s starter, we were going to do it.”Among his eight strikeouts were three of the caught-looking variety — he froze a different hitter in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings on inside fastballs — illustrating the command he had of all three of his pitches.“It was great that he was having his control on everything,” Schwarber said. “I mean, his changeup was phenomenal. There really wasn’t anything that wasn’t working for him.”IU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley singled up the middle, scoring Schwarber. Junior outfielder Will Nolden was picked off trying to steal third by Louisville starter Chad Green, who lasted just two-plus innings.The Hoosiers tacked on a second run in the third on senior shortstop Michael Basil’s RBI single to left, which scored Nolden before Schwarber was gunned down at the plate by Coco Johnson.Nolden returned the favor in the bottom of the third. Cole Sturgeon singled sharply to right, and Nolden gunned home to nail Sutton Whiting who was trying to score from second. Nolden hit Schwarber on the fly, and the catcher was waiting for Whiting at the plate.Green (10-4) allowed two earned runs with four strikeouts and four walks for Louisville (51-13).
(06/17/13 12:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — Now that the IU baseball team has won its first College World Series game, it gets a day to recharge.Come 8 p.m. Monday, though, it’s back to business when IU takes on Mississippi State at TD Ameritrade Park.“The key thing is we don’t want to be that team — the common trap of first-timers, they get all fat and sassy after the first win and think their mission is over,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “This group is not. “We’re gonna let them enjoy some time today, catch a little bit of the games on the off day, but we’ll circle the wagons again come evening time and get guys focused in again on their baseball game.” Like he has all year, Smith said he will focus more on how his team executes rather than overanalyze the opponent. Smith said he didn’t know a lot about the Bulldogs (49-18), who beat Oregon State 5-4 Saturday, and had not yet had a chance to watch a replay of that game. Smith did not name a starter for Game 2, saying he wanted to further evaluate how his pitchers match up with Mississippi State.He could go with sophomore Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers, who has struggled in his last two postseason starts, freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr, who is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in 18.1 innings this postseason, or lefty sophomore Kyle Hart who hasn’t pitched since May 25 against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament.Slegers has made it through 8.1 innings total in his last two starts, allowing four earned runs on 15 hits in that span. He had been the No. 1 starter for the Big Ten Tournament and No. 2 for the super regional.And while Hart has had a long layoff, Smith said he would be comfortable starting him at any point, as Hart was penciled in to start a potential game four in the Bloomington Regional had the Hoosiers not swept it in three games. “The good thing about him and all these guys is they prepare every single day as if they’re going to get the ball, and I think that’s what makes this team special is there’s not sitting around moping and pouting,” Smith said of Hart. “He’s ready... and I said to him after we won at Tallahassee, ‘You’re gonna be important for us in the World Series.’”Regardless of who toes the rubber for IU, the Hoosiers have shown they can win games in different ways. IU has won four games this postseason in which it scored in double-digits, as well as four two-run contests. If Saturday’s 2-0 win against Louisville was any indication, the Hoosiers know they can win even if one part of their game — pitching, defense or offense, as was the case Saturday — falters. “It’s the best feeling ever because you take the field and not at one point in the game does it creep in your mind, ‘Oh, you know, we gotta press,’” junior outfielder Casey Smith said. “We can just handle our business.”They also bucked the recent trend for teams making their first CWS appearance: IU’s win improved such teams to 3-11 all-time. Considered an underdog coming in to Omaha, the Hoosiers might maintain thaelabel after beating the Louisville Cardinals for the third time this season, giving them an upper hand in their bracket. The deeper they get, the less realistic that label becomes. “I think people are starting to realize that we can play a little bit,” sophomore first baseman Sam Travis said. “There’s definitely gonna be the people that aren’t gonna think you’re good or think you can play with your typical SEC teams or ACC Team. But I mean, that’s gonna happen, that’s how it’s always gonna be, so we just gotta go keep playing.”
(06/16/13 6:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. --- If pitch count is overrated, then Joey DeNato is Exhibit A. The junior southpaw’s grittiness earned IU baseball a big win, and set up the Hoosiers’ pitching staff for the stretch-run. DeNato fired a complete-game shutout as IU beat Louisville 2-0 to win its first College World Series game Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park. The Hoosiers (49-14) will face Mississippi State at 8 p.m. Monday for a right to advance to the semifinals. DeNato (10-2) needed 136 pitches to finish off the Cardinals, surrendering just four hits while not allowing a runner past second base. “In the midst of a game like that, you never think about pitch count or your arm’s getting tired or not,” he said. “My arm felt just as good in the ninth inning as it did in the first.” Even when DeNato hit 115 pitches through seven innings and 130 through eight, even when two of DeNato’s outs in the latter innings were well-struck liners and he gave up a sharp double with two outs in the eighth, there wasn’t so much as a passing thought of taking him out — from either coach or player. “I think we were on the same page,” DeNato said. “He knew I wanted to go out and I knew I wanted to go out, so year.” “We didn’t say one word to each other the entire ballgame. Truth?” IU Coach Tracy Smith asked DeNato.“Yes.” “Exactly,” Smith said. Such arm strength at the end of games wasn’t always there for DeNato. At 5-foot-10, he tended to wear down toward the end of seasons, and has pitched in the Cape Cod League the past two summers. He decided to not throw this fall, and the time off has paid dividends while he rehabbed and strengthened his arm. “Last year at this point during the season, I know my arm definitely wasn’t 100 percent,” said DeNato, who finished with eight strikeouts and three walks. “And this year, I really focused on taking care of my arm and doing rehab and all that stuff every single week. “Now my arm feels just as strong as it did day one.” DeNato’s outing could hardly have come at a better time. The Hoosiers managed just seven hits and twice ran themselves out of scoring opportunities, leaving 11 men on base in all. It also snaps a streak of three consecutive games in which an IU starter failed to finish the sixth inning — included DeNato’s three-inning clunker against Florida State on June 8 — and allows Smith flexibility with his pitching staff. “That’s the tone setter for the whole week that we’re here,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “I feel like that’s gonna play a big role in the morale of our bullpen and our starting pitchers.” Smith did not name a starter for Game 2, saying he wanted to further evaluate how his pitchers match up with Mississippi State. He can go with Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers, who has struggled in his last two postseason starts, freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr, who is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in 18.1 innings this postseason, or lefty sophomore Kyle Hart, who hasn’t pitched since May 25 vs. Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament. “That was huge,” Smith said of DeNato’s performance. “Our mindset coming into the game was (to) stay in the winner’s bracket. If we had to use tomorrow’s starter, we were going to do it.” But as IU polished its first College Series win on its first try, the night belonged to DeNato. Among his eight strike outs were three of the caught-looking variety — he froze a different hitter in the fourth, fifth and eighth on inside fastballs — illustrating the superb command he had of all three of his pitches. “That’s the first time he’s thrown three pinpoint around the corner and he got three strike outs on it,” Schwarber said. “It was great that he was having his control on everything. I mean, his changeup was phenomenal.“There really wasn’t anything that wasn’t working for him.”IU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley singled up the middle, scoring Schwarber. Junior outfielder Will Nolden was picked off trying to steal third by Louisville starter Chad Green, who lasted just two-plus innings.The Hoosiers tacked on their second run in third on senior shortstop Michael Basil’s RBI single to left, that scored Nolden before Schwarber was gunned down at the plate by CoCo Johnson. Nolden returned the favor in the bottom of the third. Cole Sturgeon singled sharply to right, and Nolden gunned home to nail Sutton Whiting, who was trying to score from second. Nolden hit Schwarber on the fly, and the catcher was waiting for Whiting. Green (10-4) allowed two earned runs with four strike outs and four walks for Louisville (51-13).
(06/13/13 12:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On a team loaded with talented underclassmen, it’s easy to overlook some of its veterans. Names like Kyle Schwarber, Aaron Slegers and Sam Travis regularly appear on award lists, are mentioned frequently in broadcasts, and grace the sports section as key players.But the leadership of its four seniors — Michael Basil, Justin Cureton, Walker Stadler and Trace Knoblauch — has been integral in IU baseball’s historic ascent to its first College World Series appearance. “We’re not sitting where we are right now if we don’t have that kind of leadership in this team,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “I’ve had talented teams, and I maybe even had more talented teams than this, but what we didn’t have is exactly what we have in those guys, which is their leadership, their perspective, their work ethic has been off the charts.”All four joined the program a season after IU won its first Big Ten Tournament title and appeared in just its second NCAA Tournament, so the program wasn’t in terrible shape. Cureton said he never expected a season this good, though. “Coming in, I saw the records we’ve had in the past and I just wanted to make the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “But then coming into this year knowing the talent we had, I overlooked that.“It feels good, always to give back to a program. By having this good of a season, it just makes it that much more special because my senior year is my last year. Why not go out on top?”All four have experienced a rollercoaster ride over the four years. The team made the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed in 2010 before missing the cut the following year. In 2012, IU got hot in the second half of the season and stormed into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed, but its season ended there. “It’s unbelievable to be able to finish it with a season like this,” said Basil, a four-year starter at shortstop. “Last year started off terribly. Ever since that season turned around it’s been amazing. To know that I’ve been able to be an upperclassman and a starter throughout all that and playing a big role in it, it’s definitely special to me to know I’ve been able to be a part of that.”Cureton, Basil and Stadler talked about leading by example, both on and off the field. Basil said that he and his fellow seniors get help from sophomores like Schwarber and Travis, who he described as natural leaders. In turn, he said, the freshman were taught the expectations of the program early on in the season. “I’ve said all year this is the easiest team to be considered a leader of because everyone knows what’s expected,” he said. “We just come to practice and make sure we’re doing everything right, and if we do stuff the right way, then the younger kids will see that and they will do it too. “Vocally, there’s not that much that has to be done to keep the team in check. Everyone is always helping each other, and I think the thing that’s really helped the team is this is the closest team I’ve ever been with from top to bottom.” Stadler and Knoblauch don’t have nearly the same impact on the field as Cureton and Basil. Knoblauch is a career .199 hitter in 171 at-bats, having started just 34 games.Stadler has a 5.96 ERA in 90.2 innings pitched and has thrown just 9.1 innings in six appearances this season. But Smith said having both players around is like having extra assistant coaches, and that without their leadership the team would not be headed to Omaha. “We don’t really care what our roles are,” Stadler said. “We’re just happy to be here and this is an unbelievable team.”
(06/13/13 12:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s not who you beat, but when you beat them. When Indiana and Louisville play each other at 8 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., it will be the fourth meeting this season between the two teams and on the biggest stage yet. The Hoosiers took two of three from the Cardinals in the regular season, an error late in the third game costing them a sweep. To IU Coach Tracy Smith, though, the postseason is a new season, and regular season head-to-head results mean little. “I would say they’re playing really, really good baseball right now, better than they played earlier in the season,” he said. “So I’m not gonna put any stock into the fact that we beat them twice during the regular season.”Nonetheless, the matchup has developed into a Midwestern rivalry. The team accomplished one of its preseason goals by taking two games from the Cardinals, who had owned the Hoosiers in the recent seasons. Louisville had won 10 of the previous 11 games prior to 2013, outscoring IU 34-8 in two wins against IU in 2012. “We feel like we’re almost like their kid brother,” junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth said. “They beat us up pretty good last year and we kind of got back at them this year.”The significance of beating a regional college baseball powerhouse — the Cardinals have made the NCAA Tournament six of the last seven seasons and appeared in the College World Series in 2007 — was not lost on DeMuth, either. “We definitely have confidence against them beating them twice and playing them down to the wire at their place,” he said. “I don’t think it’s friendly. I don’t think they like us, we probably don’t like them, but they’re a good team. We respect them and have a lot of respect for their program.”The Hoosiers will send junior left-hander Joey DeNato (9-2, 2.76 ERA) to the mound. He struggled in his last start, lasting just three innings giving up two earned runs and walking four in IU’s 10-9 super-regional win against Florida State Saturday. As a unit, IU’s starters have struggled with their command in five postseason games, walking 12 in 23.1 innings. Only once has a starter lasted at least six innings in that span.Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber was not concerned with his starters. He said they were just going through a normal slump all pitchers experience. “Those guys have been solid for us all throughout the year,” he said. “I’m expecting Joey to come out and be Joey. He’s just gonna come out there and pound the strike zone.”DeNato and his teammates dealt with a hostile crowd in Tallahasee, Fla., something Schwarber said will help prepare the Hoosiers for the stage in Omaha. “There’s not gonna be a more hostile place in college baseball,” he said. “Playing in the super regional down at Florida State, those fans are brutal. That’s gonna help us calm ourselves down in the midst of all the people around us and the lights shining on us.”The Hoosiers will also have to play in yet another unfamiliar venue, and will move from a more hitter-friendly ballpark to a spacious one. While Florida State’s Dick Howser Stadium featured a short porch in right and a high wall that encourages doubles and triples, Omaha’s TD Ameritrade Park features larger dimensions — 335 feet to left and right field, and 408 to dead center — than the average ballpark.For the Big Ten Tournament, IU played at the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field, which is even deeper in left and the left-center field gap, and the same distance to center.Smith said other coaches who have played at TD Ameritrade Park have suggested he tell his hitters to not to hit fly balls in batting practice to adjust to the dimensions. “That’s like telling the Pope not to pray,” he said. “We’re gonna be who we are. I’m not gonna try to change them in one week’s time.” He said the first seven or eight hitters in his lineup have gap-to-gap power, which plays well in this particular ballpark, he said. The Hoosiers have averaged 9.4 runs per game in the postseason, scoring in double digits in three of five games while clubbing six home runs. “We don’t think there’s a hole in our lineup,” DeMuth said. “You go one-through-nine and everyone can hit, everyone can bunt, can do the little things and we have a lot of confidence in our lineup. If pitching’s not there one game, we feel like we can swing our way out of it.”The Hoosiers are the only Big Ten team to make Omaha this year, and the first since Michigan in 1984. Smith said he received “nasty emails” from people in Tallahassee saying IU had no chance of winning.“It makes it that much sweeter when we’re able to defy the odds,” junior outfielder Will Nolden said. “They definitely doubted us heading down to Florida State. We felt it more than ever. I think what we were able to do down there sends a message to the rest of the country.”
(06/09/13 8:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s storybook season is still being written, and the final chapter is on the way.After decades in obscurity, the Hoosiers are finally Omaha-bound.IU clinched its first appearance in the College World Series with an 11-6 win over Florida State Sunday at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.IU will play Louisville next weekend in Omaha, Neb. The Hoosiers took two of three games from the Cardinals during the regular season.It has been a season of “firsts” for the Hoosiers, but this first — a spot on college baseball’s biggest stage — is perhaps the most important. IU swept the mighty Seminoles, a perennial power from the ACC, in two games. Florida State was playing in its sixth straight super regional and 13th overall, but it was the first for IU.The Hoosiers had made it a point not to stage on-field team celebrations after several monumental wins — the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, and the Bloomington regional — having repeatedly said those accomplishments were just steps along the way to the ultimate goal.When Tim O’Conner caught DJ Stewart’s fly ball to left for the final out, they finally enjoyed a well-deserved dogpile.“I join the entire university community in congratulating the IU baseball team for continuing its historic season with its first-ever trip to the College World Series,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release. “But, as coach Tracy Smith would say, there’s more work to be done starting next weekend in Omaha. I, and IU fans everywhere, will be rooting on the Hoosiers as they swing for a national championship.”The Hoosiers (48-14) were unfazed by going up against one of college baseball’s Goliaths in its home ballpark. Florida State has been nothing short of dominant since the current super regional format began in 1999.The Seminoles’ six straight super regional appearances is the longest active streak in the nation. This was the 10th time they were hosting a super regional, the most all-time. They have only missed the super regionals twice in the 15 years the round has existed and have appeared in the College World Series 21 times. IU is the first Big Ten team to reach the College World Series since Michigan did so in 1984.The Hoosiers were also not fazed by Florida State pitching, which came into the series with nation’s 10th-best ERA. IU scored 21 runs over the two games. Perhaps most remarkably, 12 of those runs came off the Seminoles’ dominant starting pitching tandem of Luke Weaver and Scott Sitz (10-2). Weaver came in to the series with a 1.95 ERA and was tagged for five runs in six innings in IU’s 10-9 win in Game 1 Saturday. The offense picked up where it left off Sunday, knocking Sitz out of the game in the fifth inning. IU Coach Tracy Smith, the 2013 Big Ten Coach of the Year, inherited a last-place team when he took over in 2006. He labored through a 19-44 Big Ten record and 41-69 overall record his first two seasons, with IU finishing dead last both years.The Hoosiers have played .571 ball (201-151) since, and 87-64 (.576) in Big Ten play during that span. Two of IU’s three NCAA Tournament appearances have come in the last five years. In 2010, Smith was offered the head coaching position at Ohio State, a program that at the time had far more resources and a much better history than IU baseball. “It is fitting that the baseball team’s season for the ages would coincide with the opening of our superb new facility, Bart Kaufman Field, and we are all immensely proud of the team’s accomplishments this year and the positive attention it has brought to the university,” McRobbie said. IU jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a four-run first inning, adding a run in the third and two in the fifth. Sitz lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Ahead 8-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, IU blew the game open with a three-run inning.Dustin DeMuth hit a one-out double to left that kicked up chalk along the foul line and was brought home three batters later on senior center fielder Justin Cureton’s two-out, two-run triple to right that also scored Chad Clark, who reached on a fielder’s choice.Will Nolden made it 11-5 IU on an RBI double high off the extended wall in right.The insurance runs gave freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr (5-0) a comfortable margin to work with. He bailed out ineffective starter Aaron Slegers, tossing four innings of one-run ball before allowing a pair of base runners in the ninth and giving way to closer Ryan Halstead with one out.Halstead’s appearance didn’t come without some drama, though.He walked Giovanny Alfonzo to load the bases before hitting Casey Smit to force across a run, but he bounced back by striking out Josh Delph on a high fastball and inducing Stewart’s flyout.
(06/05/13 11:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To college baseball traditionalists, the action this weekend in northern Florida features a David vs. Goliath matchup.For the IU baseball team, that means being an underdog for one of only a few times this season, and for the first time this postseason. Not that it bothers Indiana, who will take on host Florida State in a best-of-three super regional series starting noon Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla. “It’s gonna be fun,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “It’s gonna be a good atmosphere for us, and I feel like not many people are gonna expect what we have. If we just do what we need to do, I feel like we can raise some eyebrows down there.”It’s easy to see why Florida State, the No. 7 national seed, is considered a college baseball powerhouse. The Seminoles have been to six straight super regionals and 13 of the 15 all-time since the format changed. This is the 10th time they will host a super regional.The Seminoles (47-15) plowed through the competition in the Tallahassee Regional, outscoring Savannah State and Troy a combined 32-4 during the three-game sweep.The Hoosiers, meanwhile, are making their first-ever super regional appearance. “Finally, we get to be an underdog,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “I’ve been reading the stuff. I’ve been hearing the quotes out of Tallahassee. Nobody’s giving us a chance, so that’s okay. We’ll go down there and put our best foot forward and see what happens.”The Hoosiers (46-14) will be challenged by the Seminoles’ pitching staff, which ranks 10th in the nation with a 2.73 ERA. Two Florida State starters have a sub-2 ERA: senior right-hander Scott Sitz (10-1, 1.59 ERA) and sophomore righty Luke Weaver (7-2, 1.95). “They’re gonna be good arms,” Schwarber said. “We haven’t got to see them much. We’ll probably take a look at them today, maybe, and see how they approach kids. I kind of think it’s gonna be like a Florida matchup, power arms. “We’re gonna have to stick to our game plan and I feel like we’ll have success.”IU will counter with a strong pitching staff of its own. The Hoosiers’ 2.56 team ERA is sixth lowest in the country. IU will go with junior left-hander Joey DeNato (9-2, 2.65) in Game 1 followed by sophomore righty Aaron Slegers (9-1, 1.94) in Game 2. If the series goes to a decisive Game 3, Smith said either freshman Will Coursen-Carr or sophomore lefty Kyle Hart will start, depending on if either is used in long-relief in the first two games and which pitcher Smith believes will match up better against the Seminoles’ hitters.Slegers will take the bump in Game 2 in a position to either secure IU’s position in the College World Series or keep the season alive. He said pitching in front of a capacity crowd of 3,000-plus fans in Game 1 of the Bloomington Regional — in which he lasted just four innings — has prepared him to not get caught up in the moment and pitch in high-pressure situations. The situation will be even more pressure-packed at hostile Dick Howser Stadium, which seats 6,700 fans. “Always in those packed away venues, it’s always fun going against that away crowd,” Slegers said. “It gives you a little motivation to compete out there.”If Slegers’ sentiment is any indication, the team won’t be fazed by the atmosphere or stakes. Smith said his team’s series at Ohio State — when the team clinched the Big Ten regular season title — as well as the fact that five of IU’s players played in the Cape Cod championship game last summer, has the Hoosiers prepared for a series of such a high magnitude. “I think all of the stuff helps prepare you to get to the moment we’re in right now,” he said. “This team, I do not, for one bit, worry about them getting too riled up on that.” Besides the Seminoles, the Hoosiers will have to contend with another unfamiliar foe: extreme heat. Forecasts predict highs in the low 90s for each of the three days. Smith said the team practices in the early afternoon to prepare for such heat, and will get to Tallahassee early so it can practice in the heat. “Baseball guys in the Midwest, you just get yourself ready for all kinds of temperatures,” he said. “I bet you if you took a poll of the locker room, said ‘You can play at 92-95 or play in 30 and 19 degree wind chill,’ we’ll take the 95 any day of the week.” A final potential distraction are the several draft-eligible players on IU’s team that have been thoroughly scouted. Smith said that this is the latest his team has been playing in his tenure as coach, and that it coincides with the MLB First-Year Player Draft, which runs Thursday through Saturday. He mentioned Slegers, a redshirt sophomore, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and junior closer Ryan Halstead as the players he expects to be drafted. Nonetheless, the focus remains on beating the Seminoles.“I’d say in years past, definitely, definitely a distraction,” Smith said. “This group of draft-eligible guys has handled this whole scenario better than any group I’ve ever coached. “I can tell you their whole focus is Indiana University baseball and trying to advance beyond this weekend.”
(06/03/13 4:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s attempt to advance further in a historic season came down to the right arm of a closer having a record-setting season.Ryan Halstead came in a little earlier than usual, but got the job done Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.Halstead struck out Matt Wollenzin with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning to preserve the Hoosiers’ three-run lead in a 6-1 win over Austin Peay to capture the Bloomington regional championship and advance to a NCAA Super Regional against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.The team swept the Bloomington regional, 3-0. IU had won one game in the NCAA Tournament coming into the season.The Hoosiers (46-14) will take on the Seminoles in a best-of-three series next weekend for a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.This is IU’s first-ever regional championship in a season full of accomplishments, having won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships while setting a single-season record for wins. It is also the first time a Big Ten team has won a regional since Michigan did so in 2007.“It seems like every step we take we’re making history for Indiana baseball,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “It’s fun, that was certainly a memorable evening for us.”Halstead worked the final 3.1 innings, striking out two batters in the ninth before Dylan Riner ended the game with a foul-out down the left-field line that Dustin DeMuth tracked down and caught basket-style near the left field clubhouse.Halstead, typically reserved for the ninth inning, entered the game with the Hoosiers in a tight jam in the top of the sixth.The Governors (47-15) loaded the bases with one out on singles by Jordan Hankins and Harper and a walk by Cody Hudson, ending freshman starter Will Coursen-Carr’s outing.In came righty Luke Harrison, who forced in a run by walking Michael Davis, cutting IU’s lead to 4-1. Harrison then struck outTorress before Halstead came in to shut the door and leave the bases loaded.It was a huge play on defense in the top of the second that kept the Governors’ offense at bay and prevented them from tying the game.With one out and runners on first and second, P.J. Torres hit a ball to deep center field that senior center fielder Justin Cureton made a sensational catch on to rob Torres of a three-run homer. Cureton scaled the wall and brought the ball back from beyond the fence, and then got it back quickly into the infield.“I’ve already referred to it as ‘the catch,’” Smith said. “I don’t think people appreciate how tough of a defensive play that is.”The relay throw went to second, but Reed Harper, who walked with one out, got back in time. Second baseman Chad Clark then saw Cody Hudson straying too far off first and fired over to Sam Travis to complete the 8-4-3 double play and end the inning.“I had a bead on the ball,” Cureton said. “I just made the play. I let my athleticism take over.”IU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a solo shot to right by Kyle Schwarber and RBI singles by Michael Basil and Casey Smith.The Hoosiers added a run in the fifth on an RBI-double by DeMuth and two in the sixth on a two-run error by Harper at shortstop.Coursen-Carr fired 5.1 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks to earn the win. He gave up no extra base hits.IU’s Sam Travis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Bloomington regional. The first baseman had two hits including a double and a run scored in Sunday’s game.Five other Hoosiers were named to the Regional All-Tournament team in addition to Travis: Clark, Schwarber, Cureton, Smith and sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.IU is now scheduled to play Florida State in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.
(06/03/13 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team’s attempt to advance further in a historic season came down to the right arm of a closer having a record-setting season.Ryan Halstead came in a little earlier than usual, but got the job done Sunday at Bart Kaufman Field.Halstead struck out Matt Wollenzin with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth to preserve the Hoosiers’ three-run lead in a 6-1 win over Austin Peay to capture the Bloomington regional championship and advance to a NCAA Super Regional against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.The team swept the Bloomington Regional, 3-0. Coming into this season, IU had won one game in the NCAA Tournament.The Hoosiers (46-14) will take on the Seminoles in a best-of-three series next weekend for a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.This is IU's first-ever regional championship in a season full of lofty accomplishments, having won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships while setting a single-season record for wins. It is also the first time a Big Ten team has won a regional since Michigan in 2007. Halstead worked the final 3.1 innings, striking out two in the ninth before Dylan Riner ended it with a foul-out down the left-field line that Dustin DeMuth tracked down and caught basket-style near the left-field clubhouse.Normally reserved for the ninth inning, Halstead entered the game with the Hoosiers in a tight jam in the top of the sixth. The Governors (47-15) loaded the bases with one out on singles by Jordan Hankins and Harper, and a walk by Cody Hudson, ending freshman starter Will Coursen-Carr's outing. In came righty Luke Harrison, who forced in a run by walking Michael Davis, cutting IU's lead to 4-1. Harrison then struck out Torress before Halstead came in to shut the door and leave the bases loaded.It was a huge play on defense in the top of the second that kept the Governors' offense at bay and prevented them from tying the game. With one out at runners on first and second, P.J. Torres hit a ball to deep center field that senior center fielder Justin Cureton made a sensational catch on to rob Torres of a 3-run homer. Cureton scaled the wall and brought the ball back from beyond the fence, and then got it back quickly into the infield."I've already referred to it as 'the catch,'" IU Coach Tracy Smith said. "I don't think people appreciate how tough of a defensive play that is." The relay throw went to second but Reed Harper, who walked with one out, got back in time. Second baseman Chad Clark then saw Cody Hudson straying too far off first and fired over to Sam Travis to complete the 8-4-3 double play and end the inning.IU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a solo shot to right by Kyle Schwarber, and RBI singles by Michael Basil and Casey Smith.The Hoosiers added a run in the fifth on an RBI-double by DeMuth and two in the sixth on a two-run error by Harper at short. Coursen-Carr fired 5.1 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks to earn the win. He gave up no extra base hits.IU's Sam Travis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Bloomington Regional. The first baseman had two hits, including a double, and a run scored in Sunday's game. Five other Hoosiers were also named to the Regional All-Tournament team: Clark, Schwarber, Cureton, Smith and sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.
(06/02/13 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After falling behind early for the second straight game, the IU baseball team was determined to respond quickly this time around. The Hoosiers scored five runs in the second and four runs in both the fifth and sixth to demolish Austin Peay 15-6 Friday at Bart Kaufman Field, sending IU to the championship game of the Bloomington regional.IU will play the winner of Sunday’s elimination game between Austin Peay and Valparaiso at 7:05 p.m. and can capture the regional championship with a win. The team that fights off elimination in the afternoon game would have to beat the Hoosiers twice to win the regional championship. IU pounded out 14 hits against Austin Peay, but the Governors quieted the home crowd early on. Reed Harper rocked a 1-1 pitch from junior lefty Joey DeNato into the left-field bullpen for a quick 3-0 Governors lead. It was nearly 5-0 Austin Peay when P.J. Torress drove a DeNato fastball deep to left, but junior Casey Smith made the catch while leaning against the wall. Unlike its dramatic 5-4 walk-off win Friday night against Valparaiso, the Hoosiers got the bats working quickly to put the game out of reach by the sixth inning. Dustin DeMuth led off with a double to right-center and later scored on a passed ball that also advanced Chad Clark to second with Justin Cureton at the plate. After a Will Nolden flyout that advanced the runners to second and third, Kyle Schwarber laced a two-run single up the middle that tied the game at 3-3. Sam Travis then rocked a two-runner homer off the scoreboard in left-center on the first pitch he saw, scoring Schwarber and giving IU a 5-3 lead. The Governors got a run back in bottom half on an RBI-double by Jordan Hankins that scored Dylan Riner, who singled and reached second on a passed ball.That's when the fireworks really started for the Hoosiers (45-14).IU extended the lead to 7-4 in the fourth on a two-run single by Basil that drove in Nolden and Travis, who finished 2-for-3 with four runs, three RBI and three walks. In the fifth, the rout was officially on. The Hoosiers strung together four hits and a walk to score four times, the highlight a bases-clearing double to right-center by Donley that extended the Hoosiers' lead to 11-4. IU made it back-to-back four-run innings in the sixth, needing just two hits. The Hoosiers drew three straight walks off righty Dan Whitson, the latter two RBI-walks by Travis and Donley with the bases loaded. Basil added a two run single to left to extend the lead to 15-6. DeNato (9-2) was shaky through the first two innings, allowing four runs on six hits and Torres' near-home run, but settled down after that, not allowing hits over his final four innings of work. In total, he allowed four earned runs through six innings with nine strikeouts and two walks. Austin Peay starter Casey Delgado (9-3) did not make it out of the second inning, allowing five earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched for the Governors (46-14).
(06/01/13 2:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chad Clark committed a costly two-run error in the top of the 9th, and things looked bleak for the IU baseball team in the first round of the NCAA Bloomington regional.He more than atoned for his mistake in the bottom half of the inning.Clark ripped an 0-1 slider from Karch Kowalczyk into the left-field bullpen for a two-run, walk-off homer that propelled the Hoosiers to a 5-4 win against Valparaiso and completed a miraculous four-run ninth inning comeback Friday at Bart Kaufman Field. “I knew I was gonna smoke the ball right when it came out of his hand because he hung the slider, and I was sitting on the slider, too,” Clark said. “I knew it was coming. And then right when I hit it, I knew it too.”Perhaps most remarkable is that the walk-off was Clark’s first home run of his career, and it came off Kowalkczyk (1-1), who had allowed one run in 25 innings coming into the game. Clark’s clutch hitting gave the Hoosiers their first NCAA Tournament win since 1996, and only their second all-time. “I think we got a new life,” junior outfielder Casey Smith said. “I think that home run helped us just push that one aside, all the mistakes, forget about ‘em, keep moving on tomorrow.”Down 4-1, Michael Basil started the rally with a one-out infield single and scored on a Dustin DeMuth double. Smith followed with an RBI double down the left field line, setting up Clark’s heroics.Up 2-1, the Crusaders added two runs in the ninth on two defensive miscues by the Hoosiers.With one out and runners on first and second, Tanner Vavra hit a slow grounder to short off junior right-hander Ryan Halstead. Clark was playing a few feet into the outfield grass in right, and had a long run to the second base bag. Basil fired it to Clark anyway, who was unable to reach the bag in time, loading the bases. IU Coach Tracy Smith said Basil should have taken the out at first.On the next play, John Loeffler hit a slower roller to second with Clark once again playing deep in the hole.Clark charged on the play but let it slip under his mitt, allowing two runs to score before he redeemed himself at the plate.“That’s never happened to me in my life. I’ve never had a walk-off hit,” Clark said. “It feels good to help the team out again, kind of make up for my mistakes in the field.”Halstead (4-4) then got the final out, striking out Chris Manning with runners on the corners. On the mound, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers was out of sync, allowing eight base runners through the first two innings. In the first, singles by Andrew Bain, Tanner Vavra and John Loeffler loaded the bases with one out before Chris Manning grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Bain. After Billy Cribbs reached on fielder’s choice and moved to second on a passed ball, Bain singled to center to drive him in two batters later, extending Valparaiso’s lead to 2-0. Between an error by Basil to start the second, the passed ball and Slegers’ ineffectiveness, the Hoosiers (44-14) looked jittery in the early going in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 3,045. “I felt like we were more worried about playing well for our hometown people rather than just going out and playing baseball,” Tracy Smith said. “And that’s all I said to them after the game: ‘OK, are we ready now?’”Until the ninth, though, IU’s hitters looked lost at the plate against Valpo starter Cole Webb. The Hoosiers did not get a runner to third base until the third when Scott Donley sacrificed Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis to scoring position. Both were left on base. IU managed just three hits — all of them singles — the first six innings against Webb before cutting the Crusaders’ lead in half in the seventh. Tracy Smith said IU’s left-handed hitters had a hard time picking up Webb’s cutter, which moved in on their hands.A switch hitter, Casey Smith would normally hit from the left side against Webb, but decided to switch to the right side with one out in the seventh to get a better look at Webb’s release. The move paid off, as Smith rocked a double that one-hopped the wall in right center and scored on a Clark single to left that made it 2-1 Valparaiso.Slegers made it through just four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. Scott Effross came in and tossed 4.1 innings, allowing two unearned runs on Clark’s ninth-inning error.
(05/26/13 8:22pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MINNEAPOLIS — Kyle Schwarber veered off the basepath and was called out, but it didn’t matter. There was just too much to celebrate. Scott Donley hit a walk-off single to left-center with the bases loaded to beat Nebraska 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Target Field, giving IU its first Big Ten Tournament championship since 2009.Schwarber was at second when Donley hit the gapper that scored Will Nolden from third and instantly sprinted toward Donley. By rule, Schwarber was out for leaving the basepath, causing some momentary confusion. Thankfully for IU, the run counted, and the rest of the Hoosier dugout ran out to join Schwarber and Donley near second base in elation. “It was awesome,” said sophomore first baseman Sam Travis, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “As soon as Donley hit the ball, I knew right away that we won the game and there’s not a better feeling than winning a championship.”Already in position to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the IU baseball team (43-14) found a way to lock up a bid on its own one night after experiencing walk-off heartbreak at the expense of the Cornhuskers. The title comes eight days after the Hoosiers captured their first outright Big Ten regular season title since 1932. It is the first time in program history IU has won both conference championships in the same season. “That did hurt last night,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “But you just regroup, and then it was like, ‘OK, they broke our hearts last night, lets break theirs tonight,’ so that was fun.” Hours after the game, it was announced that IU will be one of 16 regional hosts for the NCAA tournament.NCAA Tournament officials came away with a positive impression of brand new Bart Kaufman field after visiting the Hoosiers’ home field in mid-April. Smith said his players are not simply happy to have made the NCAA Tournament. They are instead focused on advancing to Omaha, something they have been talking about all year. “We think that we are (a) College World Series-caliber team,” senior shortstop Michael Basil said. “If we play our best baseball, we know we have all the talent to get there.”Nolden led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to the gap in right-center off Nebraska right-hander Jeff Chestnut, who then issued an intentional walk to Schwarber. Travis then twice failed to get down the bunt but drew a walk to load the bases and draw the Cornhuskers’ infield in, setting up Donley’s heroics.A day after erasing a three-run deficit over the final four innings, the Cornhuskers (29-30) staged yet another late rally.With IU up 3-1, Tanner Lubach doubled to to lead off the seventh but was caught off third two batters later when Bryan Peters hit a chopper back to the mound.Pat Kelly cut the lead to 3-2 on an RBI single to center, a blooper that glanced of shortstop Michael Basil’s mitt as he dove backwards.The Huskers tied the game in the 8th on a Lubach sac fly that scored Kash Kalkowski.The Hoosiers had a strong effort on the mound from freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr (2-1), who went a career high nine innings and thew a career-high 127 pitches. His complete game gave the Hoosier bullpen a much-needed breather. IU used four relievers in Saturday’s loss, and Smith said he wanted to save his bullpen arms for the postseason. “I knew there was nobody warming up or anything, so I was excited to get that chance to finish the game,” said Coursen-Carr, who allowed three earned runs on eight hits. “I was just exhausted, but it was fun.”IU got on the board first in the third inning when Travis doubled off the wall in right to score senior center field Justin Cureton. Travis hit .563 (9-16) with two home runs, three doubles and a tournament-high 8 RBI in four tournament games. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Coursen-Carr, sophomore right-hander Aaron Slegers, Schwarber, Travis, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth and junior outfielder Casey Smith. Nebraska tied the game at 1-1 in the fifth on an RBI single by Kelly that scored Peters, who led off the inning with a triple. The Hoosiers scored two runs in the sixth on a DeMuth RBI ground ball and a sac fly to left by pinch-hitter Ricky Alfonso.