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(06/18/13 1:56pm)
The IU offense struggled all night, striking out 14 times and leaving 10 men on base. The Hoosiers ended six innings with a strikeout, and also closed six frames with someone left on base.
(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.”
(06/18/13 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. -- Michael Basil knew he had been fooled on IU's final out of the game.He was far from the first Hoosier to be fooled in the game.With the tying run at third base, Basil sent a dribbler off the end of his bat to Mississippi State's Jonathan Holder to end the game, sending IU to its first loss of the NCAA Tournament, falling 5-4 to Mississippi State.IU now faces an elimination game Wednesday night against Oregon State at 8 p.m. It will have to win three consecutive games to advance to the Championship Series.Basil wasn't the only Hoosier to walk away from Monday's College World Series game at TD Ameritrade Park puzzled.IU struggled offensively all game, striking out a season-high 14 times and leaving 10 men on base."It wasn't that we needed the two-out base hit or the big double or something like that," IU Coach Tracy Smith said. "We simply needed to put a baseball in play and we did not do that. And we've done a pretty good job of that all year."My thought is that it's an anomaly."In the IU locker room, players said that the off-speed stuff was what they struggled with on the evening.Basil said he saw two breaking balls from Holder, and he bit out in front on the second, thinking he could drive it."Tonight we struggled against the off-speed and laying off bad pitches," senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. "We didn't have our usual approach tonight and it showed and the result also showed."Mississippi State did execute its plan in making us chase and throwing off-speed and keeping us guessing. When you stray from the approach we have, bad things will happen, and that was the result tonight."IU ended six separate innings with a strikeout, and also closed six frames with runners left on base.In the bottom of the third inning, junior outfielder Casey Smith struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber, who had only struck out 30 times all season entering the tournament, has struck out three times in each of the first two games in the College World Series.Despite the offensive struggles, the Hoosiers led for most of the game.Mississippi State took the lead in the eighth inning on a Trey Porter single to right center field that scored two go-ahead runs and a 5-3 advantage.IU mounted a comeback in the ninth inning when sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka pitch hit for junior outfielder Will Nolden with a single to right to start the inning.One batter later, sophomore first baseman Sam Travis sent a double to the left field fence, moving Sujka to third.Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley grounded out, but Sujka scored to bring IU within a run.That brought up Basil against Mississippi State's Holder."We had opportunities," Travis said. "We had guys on base. But like I said, that's baseball. Things aren't going to go your way. Today they didn't go our way. That's baseball. You just have to bounce back." Mississippi State drew first blood off of freshman pitcher Will Coursen-Carr. After IU shut out Louisville in its first game in the College World Series, the Hoosiers allowed the Bulldogs a run just four pitches into the game.Coursen-Carr allowed a single to Adam Frazier on the first pitch of the game. Then he he Alex Detz with the second pitch.His third pitch flew in the dirt, with both runners advancing.Hunter Renfroe hit a grounder to third on Coursen-Carr's fourth pitch, scoring Frazier from third, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.Starting with Renfroe, Coursen-Carr would settle in to retire 12 of his next 14 batters, with the two exceptions being a walk and an intentional walk.IU answered in the bottom of the second, as Basil walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored to tie the game on a single by junior outfielder Casey Smith.The Hoosiers took the lead in the third inning, with RBI hits from Travis and Donley to make it 3-1 IU. That would be the score until the sixth inning.Coursen-Carr finished with a final line of 5.1 innings pitched, and two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts.Halstead came on in the sixth, and takes the loss for IU. He allowed the hit to Porter in the eighth inning."They got the big two-out hit which, to me, inflates the numbers a little bit," Smith said of Halstead's outing."I mean, that ball's hit at somebody, no big deal. They just happened to fall tonight. So I'm not going to make more out of it than there is. I thought Ryan did his job. Mississippi State hitters did their job."IU will have to defeat Oregon State to stay in the College World Series.To do that, Travis said it is integral that the team get its bats working."That's just baseball," Travis said of the team's slow start with six total runs in two games in Omaha. "Sometimes things don't go your way. You're going to have your good days and your bad days.""Hopefully we can bounce back and get these bats rolling."
(06/18/13 3:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. -- With one swing of the bat in the eighth inning, Trey Porter changed IU's fate in the College World Series.Porter singled to right center field to score the two go-ahead runs and give Mississippi State a 5-4 win against IU Monday night at TD Ameritrade Park.The loss sends IU to an elimination game against Oregon State Wednesday at 8 p.m.Oregon State advanced to Wednesday's elimination game out of the loser's bracket by defeating Louisville 11-4 Monday afternoon. The Beavers are the No. 3 national seed in the tournament.IU must now win three consecutive games to advance to the Championship Series.Mississippi State, which took the lead in the eighth, is now 44-0 when leading after eight innings.Closer Jonathan Holder shut the door on senior shortstop Michael Basil in the ninth with two outs and the tying run on second.IU made it interesting in the final frame. Sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka pitch-hit for sophomore outfielder Will Nolden and reached with a single to right field to lead off the ninth.After sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber recorded the first out, sophomore first baseman Sam Travis doubled off the left field wall, just missing a game-tying home run.Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley hit a ground ball to second that scored Travis, bringing IU to within a run.That's when Holder came in.Holder induced Basil into a dribbling groundball back to the pitcher. Holder almost threw the ball in the dirt, but Rea picked it out, giving the Bulldogs the victory.Junior pitcher Ryan Halstead took the loss for IU.Mississippi State drew first blood Monday, scoring a run on the fourth pitch from freshman Will Coursen-Carr. Coursen-Carr allowed a single to start the game, then hit the second batter with his second pitch of the game, then threw a wild pitch with his third bullet to start the game.First round draft pick Hunter Renfroe grounded out, but the runner from third scored to give the Bulldogs the early advantage.IU tied the game in the second. Senior shortstop Michael Basil walked, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Junior outfielder Casey Smith brought him in with a hit up the middle.The Hoosiers took a 3-1 lead in the third inning that would hold until the eighth inning. Nolden singled with one out, followed by three consecutive ground balls that would put IU ahead.Schwarber dribbled one through the left side that allowed Nolden to go first to third. Travis followed that with a double that scored Nolden.Donley knocked in Schwarber with his team-leading 60th RBI.Coursen-Carr would retire 12 of his next 14 batters have his third pitch, finishing with a line of 5.1 innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs and four strikeouts.
(06/17/13 9:50pm)
OMAHA, Neb. -- Freshman left-hander Will Coursen-Carr will start against Mississippi State at 8 p.m. tonight in IU's second College World Series game.
(06/17/13 1:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — Chef Dayanny DelaCruz refers to TD Ameritrade Park as her baby.And she’s still coming up with new food options for her three-year-old baby.“I opened this stadium,” she said. “It’s my baby, actually. I took it from construction stage, and I’ve been here three years.”The newest food for her baby is the “Triple Play” and the “Midwestern Monster.”The Triple Play is a 3.5-pound burger that feeds seven to eight people.“Everything is big at the College World Series,” Chef DelaCruz said.The sandwich features three layers of fried dough, a bottom layer of bratwurst melt, short ribs in the middle and sweet potato tots and fried onions to top off the large masterpiece.“It’s absolutely amazing,” she said.Her other new favorite item on the menu this year is the Midwestern Monster. The Monster has two Angus beef patties with cheese and pulled pork and bacon in the middle. Sriracha mayo and a cheese spread glaze the top patty. Delacruz has also added a mix of healthier options that line the main concourse. She said she invites people to respond with requests for new menu items each year, and last year the demand was for healthy options.“If you go down and walk the concourse, you’re going to find fresh eats, veggie cups, Mediterranean wraps, salads,” she said. “We also have vegetarian and vegan items.”In addition to the new healthy choices and Omaha steaks, which are featured prominently throughout the entire ballpark with the hamburgers, baby back ribs, pulled pork and ribeye sandwich, Chef Delacruz prides herself on the one-stop-shop that is the club level.Season ticket holders are greeted there with what she calls “mini restaurants” that feature different high-end culinary products.“Of course we love our hot dogs and our hamburgers and all of those things, but at the same time, we’re trying to be a little more open,” Delacruz said, “When you come here, you don’t have to go anywhere else. We can give you the high end. We can give you fine dining. We’ve got chicken and waffles. You have loaded mac ‘n’ cheese, and you have bison sausage.”She said her favorite dish is the Reuben sausage. It takes all of the ingredients from a Reuben, which Chef DelaCruz said originated in Nebraska, and puts it on a sausage. “It’s been a favorite ever since we started,” she said.TD Ameritrade Park may be the best-fed three-year-old baby ever.
(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 1:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — The line stretched longer than the eye could see.When IU fans sitting in the general admission section made their way to TD Ameritrade Park Saturday for IU’s first game of the College World Series, they were welcomed by a familiar sight they usually see outside Assembly Hall.Fans sitting in general admission are allowed to line up for their spot outside the park several hours before the game starts.For sophomore JoJo Daghe, the line looked a lot like the line for the student section general admission to IU basketball games.“We waited a lot of nights when it was freezing before games,” she said. “I’m used to this.”The first IU fans spotted in the line were Joe and Danna Creager from Carrollton, Ky. Joe graduated from IU in 2004 and is originally from Ft. Wayne.He said being nestled in with Lousiville and Kentucky fans has made his life as an IU fan challenging at times.“It’s a little crazy,” he said. “I’m a teacher and all of my students are either U of L or UK fans. All the U of L people were asking me if I was coming to this and telling me that U of L was going to win. But I know we’re going to take this one.”Joe and Danna lined up at 2 p.m. local time — five hours before the start of the IU game.Unfortunately, the two didn’t have anything to do for their five-hour wait except people watch, but they said they enjoyed that.They decided to make the trip Wednesday and arrived at Omaha at 11 a.m. on Saturday, spending Friday night in Des Moines, Iowa.Daghe and her party of eight could not come close to seeing the Creagers. The line snaked back for hundreds of feet as people lined the sidewalk and sat against the fence outside the ballpark waiting for their opportunity to get in and see their team.Daghe stood near the end of the line. Someone else in her party asked how far up the line went, as they couldn’t even see half of it.All they could see in the straight line in front of them was people, not an entrance.“It’s crazy,” Daghe said. “Someone said it’s like 200 people, and then all of a sudden, it’s like all these people.“Daghe and her immediate family and friends left Indiana at 4 a.m. Saturday, arriving around noon local time to Omaha.They were just in time to make it in line.“It was kind of a late decision,” Daghe said. “We just decided that we really wanted to see it, and then it happened.”With his spot secured in the front of the line, Joe Creager had the chance to evaluate the fans walking past him. He thought he saw more Hoosier crimson than Cardinal red. Danna said that everywhere they had been, people had greeted them with “Go Hoosiers!”That’s exactly what made Daghe decide she had to come.“I was really excited just to be here because I’ve heard people say how awesome it is,” she said. “It definitely hasn’t let me down.”
(06/17/13 1:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — In the hallways of TD Ameritrade Park Saturday evening, sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka approached his good friend Will Nolden.“It’s blowing up on ESPN!” Sujka told him. “You’re on SportsCenter! Your throw is the No. 2 play!”“Really?” Nolden responded.The throw that gave Nolden his 15 seconds of fame may have clinched IU’s victory against Louisville Saturday night.In the bottom of the third, Louisville’s Sutton Whiting walked to advance to first.Then he made it to second on a passed ball.His next move around the bases wouldn’t be as easy.With two outs, Cole Sturgeon recorded the first hit off of junior starting pitcher Joey DeNato, dropping the ball into short right field.Whiting was waved home.By the time he got there, sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber stood planted with the ball in his glove waiting for him in front of the plate.Nolden had fired a dart from the outfield to beat Whiting.“Will has a great arm,” senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. “We all know that, and I’m glad our opponents don’t yet. They try to test it as many times as possible, but that’s just a bad move. He has a great arm, a very strong arm, a very accurate arm, and it’s a weapon out there. When he gets the ball, and someone’s going home or third, or any other base, we know he’s going to make a play. Tonight he just made a great play.”Cureton said he sees Nolden make plays similar to that routinely in practice.“I just had that feeling that Will was going to put it on the money, and he did,” Cureton said. “When I see runners try to test that arm, I’m just shaking my head like ‘please don’t do it’ for their sake. But for our sake, I’m glad we have a weapon out there in right with such a monster arm.”Louisville Coach Dan McDonnell said that with two outs, the team would be sending the runner from second “99 percent of the time” and wanted to try to capitalize off of DeNato, who hasn’t allowed an earned run to Louisville in 13 innings pitched this season.Then he acknowledged Nolden and admitted it’s easy to second guess the decision.“That kid’s got a good arm and didn’t even risk a bounce,” McDonnell said. “He threw it in the air.”Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth watched Whiting get the wave around. He said he knew then that the inning would be over.“It was beautiful, a perfect throw,” he said. “Right when I saw them send the guy around third, I knew he was going to be out. It was a huge play for us.”Nolden also provided the offensive spark for the Hoosiers. The leadoff man went 1-2 with a double, three walks and a run scored.He started rallies in the first, third, seventh and ninth innings by reaching base.In the first, he was thrown out trying to steal third, but eventually Schwarber scored on a single by sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley.“He was huge getting on in the first inning, setting the tone for us,” DeMuth said of Nolden. “It really helped. Anytime he can get on at the leadoff spot, he can run a little bit, and we’ve got Schwarber and Sam right behind him.”When Sujka approached Nolden after the game, Sujka wasn’t surprised about the throw or the play, his expression instead stemming from ESPN finally noting something his teammates have noticed all season long.“Every time it’s hit to him,” DeMuth said, “I expect him to make a play.”
(06/17/13 12:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. — IU Coach Tracy Smith has dealt with people doubting his team all year.The Hoosiers surprised many at the beginning of the year when they took two of three games from Florida, an SEC team, in Gainesville, Fla.Now they get another SEC team in their second College World Series game.IU will play Mississippi State at 8 p.m. Monday in Omaha.“SEC teams, the two traits I would say is they’re good and they’re very good,” Smith said.Being ranked last, or near last, of the eight College World Series teams in several categories doesn’t really bother him.Baseball America had IU as the worst defensive team of the eight remaining in college baseball, the second worst in starting pitching, the worst bullpen and the worst on experience and intangibles.“I read all the stuff,” Smith said. “Everyone grades us out. We’re not supposed to be able to pitch it, our defense is terrible, blah blah blah blah blah. But we’re still here, and that’s kind of the way we’re going about it.”But, IU’s total cumulative score from Baseball America, 56.4 on a scale from 20-80 with 50 being average, is the same as Mississippi State’s.The Bulldogs are the one team graded lower than IU’s 50 in starting pitching, receiving a 40.While Smith said he doesn’t read too much into those numbers, being ranked near the bottom in pitching is different.He suddenly started to talk softer and more direct, looking reporters directly in the eyes when answering.“I understand defensively, but the pitching thing kinda got me a little bit because these guys have pitched it pretty consistently, been in the top 10 all season,” Smith said. “So I don’t get it.” Is it motivation?“I hope so, ‘cause it motivates me,” he said.Smith said he made sure that his pitchers saw the rankings so they were aware of how people felt about them.“I look at some of the national breakdowns,” he said. “Yeah, I like to read that stuff just to see. And I saw that they had our pitching rated down below — how can you rate a pitching staff — when it all goes back to, ‘well, they play in the Big Ten.’”The geographic location has biased some people against IU all year. Going into the Bloomington regional, Smith talked about how he felt it was IU’s job to carry the torch for the northern schools.They’ve taken that torch all the way to Omaha.“I guess if you want to knock the northern (schools) you can,” sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley said. “But we’re out here. We’re going to prove ourselves.”After defeating Louisville 2-0 Saturday behind a dominant, complete game shutout from junior pitcher Joey DeNato, it reiterated Smith’s point about the team’s pitching.And for junior outfielder Casey Smith, it sent another message to the doubters.“I think last night was the stamp on it like, ‘Hey, we’re here,’” he said Sunday. “We play so much better with a chip on our shoulder. We need those doubters.”IU will once again be viewed as an underdog against Mississippi State after the Bulldogs knocked off the only national seed on IU’s side of the bracket, Oregon State, on Saturday afternoon.“I don’t really think of it,” Donley said. “I just go out there and play. I treat every team like it’s the same whether it’s a northern team, southern team, west coast, east coast. I’m going to go out there and keep playing the game.”
(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).
(06/16/13 4:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. -- In the hallways of the TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., Saturday evening, sophomore outfielder Chris Sujka approached his good friend Will Nolden."It's blowing up on ESPN!" Sujka told him. "You're on SportsCenter! Your throw is the No. 2 play!""Really?" Nolden responded.The throw that gave Nolden his 15 seconds of fame may have saved IU's victory against Louisville Saturday night.In the bottom of the third, Sutton Whiting walked to advance to first. Then he made it to second on a passed ball.His next move around the bases wouldn't be as easy.With two outs, Cole Sturgeon recorded the first hit off of IU starter Joey DeNato, dropping the ball into short right field. Whiting got waved home.By the time he got there, sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber stood planted with the ball in his glove waiting for him in front of the plate.Nolden had fired a dart from the outfield to beat Whiting."Will has a great arm," senior center fielder Justin Cureton said. "We all know that, and I'm glad our opponents don't yet. They try to test it as many times as possible, but that's just a bad move. He has a great arm. A very strong arm, a very accurate arm, and it's a weapon out there."When he gets the ball, and someone's going home or third, or any other base, we know he's going to make a play. Tonight he just made a great play."It's a play none of his teammates were surprised to see him make. Cureton said he sees Nolden make plays similar to that routinely in practice."I just had that feeling that Will was going to put it on the money, and he did," he said. "When I see runners try to test that arm, I'm just shaking my head like, 'Please don't do it' for their sake. But for our sake, I'm glad we have a weapon out there in right with such a monster arm."Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said that with two outs, the team would be sending the runner from second "99 percent of the time" and wanted to try to capitalize off of DeNato, who hasn't allowed an earned run to Louisville in 13 innings pitched this season.Then he acknowledged Nolden and admitted it's easy to second guess the decision."That kid's got a good arm and didn't even risk a bounce," McDonnell said. "He threw it in the air. "Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth watched Whiting get the wave around. He knew then that the inning would be over."It was beautiful. A perfect throw. Right when I saw them send the guy
around third, I knew he was going to be out. It was a huge play for us."Nolden also provided the offensive spark for the Hoosiers. The leadoff man went 1-2 with a double, three walks and a run scored.He started rallies in the first, third, seventh and ninth inning by reaching base.In the first, he was thrown out trying to steal third, but eventually Schwarber scored on a single by sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley."He was huge getting on in the first inning, setting the tone for us," DeMuth said of Nolden. "It really helped. Anytime he can get on at the leadoff spot, he can run a little bit, and we've got Schwarber and Sam right behind him."When Sujka approached Nolden after the game, Sujka wasn't surprised about the throw or the play, his expression laid in the fact that ESPN had taken note of something his teammates have noticed all season long."Every time it's hit to him," DeMuth said, "I expect him to make a play."
(06/16/13 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>OMAHA, Neb. -- IU started the first inning of the College World Series the same way it did in 28 of its previous 62 games: it scored a run.Saturday, that one run in the top of the first was all the offense the Hoosiers needed.IU defeated Louisville 2-0 Saturday in Omaha, Neb., in its first game of the College World Series, advancing to the winner's side of the bracket in the double-elimination tournament.Junior pitcher Joey DeNato pitched nine innings and recorded eight strikeouts to shut down the Louisville attack and record the shut out. He never allowed a runner to advance to third, and he only surrendered four hits.IU will play Mississippi State, who defeated Oregon State 5-4 Saturday afternoon, on Monday at 8 p.m.Coming into the game, Louisville had won 21 of its last 23 games, including a win against the Hoosiers March 8 in Louisville.Junior outfielder Will Nolden got things started for IU in the top of the first with a walk. Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber followed with a single to put two runners on. Nolden was eventually picked off at third on a double steal attempt, but Schwarber advanced to second.Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley, the team's RBI leader, singled up the middle with two outs to score Schwarber from second to give IU the 1-0 lead that it would never relinquish.Nolden set the tone again in the third when IU recorded its second run. He started the inning once again with a walk. Schwarber singled, again, too. After sophomore first baseman Sam Travis walked to load the bases, Donley recorded a fly out that brought up senior shortstop Michael Basil.Basil ripped a grounder through the left side to score Nolden to make it 2-0 IU, but Schwarber was thrown out at the plate.In the third inning, Nolden gunned out Louisville's Sutton Whiting at the plate to keep the clean sheet for DeNato. Whiting started on second, and was sent home on a Cole Sturgeon single to right field. But the sharply hit ball combined with the powerful right arm of Nolden resulted in Whiting being greeted by Schwarber with the ball in his hands when he met him at home.Louisville would not threaten again the rest of the game.Saturday morning, IU Coach Tracy Smith was announced as the National Coach of the Year by the National Baseball Writers of America.The win came in front of the seventh largest crowd in College World Series history, and it was the largest crowd in TD Ameritrade Park history at 27,122.
(06/15/13 8:25pm)
College World Series fan Pat Hupp talks about his favorite part of the event at the "fanzone" outside of TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. Hupp, of Lincoln, Neb., has been coming to the College World Series for the past 30 years with his daughter and a couple of her friends.
(06/15/13 7:55pm)
University of Minnesota alum Kent Peterson talks about his tailgating experience at the College World Series as his allegiance to the Big Ten. Peterson's camp was set up in "Lot D" near TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.
(06/15/13 6:05pm)
It's a special Father's Day for Larry Bentley.
(06/15/13 3:28pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Coach Tracy Smith was named National Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association Saturday morning in Omaha, Neb.Smith led the Hoosiers to their first College World Series appearance this season. The team has also recorded a record number of wins against D-I opponents this season and won the outright Big Ten regular season title for the first time in 81 years.The Hoosiers followed that with a Big Ten Tournament Championship, the first time the team had ever won both in the same season.IU achieved a national ranking as well this year.The team hosted its first regional in school history and made just its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. IU has won five consecutive games in the NCAA Tournament. Before that, the Hoosiers had only recorded one win in the tournament in school history.— Robby Howard
(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.”