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(04/11/11 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Down to a final out with the bases loaded and trailing by three runs, the IU baseball team stood on the cusp of losing its first Big Ten series at home Sunday.IU center fielder T.C. Knipp stepped to the plate.The senior cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple, and sophomore shortstop Michael Basil followed with a walk-off single to cement a 10-9 win against Ohio State. The victory gave the Hoosiers (20-11, 4-2) a 2-1 advantage in their first home conference series.IU had trailed 8-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth before its offense heated up.“Those are rare,” IU coach Tracy Smith said of the win. “You’re not going to sit and plan on those things, but you know what, I thought we swung the bat well, and you could just kind of feel that momentum changing. We kind of took control of the second half of the game. I just thought it was huge of senior T.C. Knipp to step up and do that. I’m thrilled to death for him.”The Carmel, Ind., native faced a do-or-die situation with one out to go after three of IU’s heavy hitters — senior Jerrud Sabourin, junior Alex Dickerson and senior Wes Wilson — had gotten on base. Knipp didn’t flinch; he took the first pitch from Ohio State pitcher Dean Wolosiansky and blasted it to the center-field fence to tie the ball game, driving in all three base runners and setting up Basil’s game-winning hit.“I was just really trying to keep everything rolling,” Knipp said. “I don’t remember who started it off, but (Wolosiansky) was getting after it with fastballs, and I kind of felt like he was trying to let us get ourselves out instead of us just hitting his fastball. That’s what I was trying to do.“I knew I put a good swing on it. With the wind today, there were a couple of balls that maybe shouldn’t have got out that did, and I knew it had a chance. Whether it got out or not, I was just glad to put a good swing on it.”Knipp, who had come through in clutch situations for the Hoosiers both offensively and defensively earlier in the season, finished 2-for-5 from the plate with a run and three RBI.Basil, who went 3-for-5 at the plate, said he was glad Knipp gave him the opportunity to finish it off. “I was really excited because I knew that I would have a chance to be able to win the game,” Basil said. “Him hitting that ball and tying it up, I knew the pitcher was probably going to try to get ahead of me in the count and put a fastball right over the middle on the first pitch.“I knew he was going to come right after me, so I just took advantage of it.” The explosive four-run ninth inning was the climax of a late surge by IU’s batters that came after the team struggled both at the plate and on the mound. In the top of the fourth, IU went through three pitchers while surrendering four runs. Freshman Joey DeNato rounded out those pitchers and remained in the game to pick up his third win.Down 8-2 midway through the sixth inning, junior outfielder Josh Lyon powered a hit that rode the heavy afternoon breeze for a two-run home run, cutting the lead to four before Ohio State’s Brad Hutton answered with a bomb of his own in the seventh.The Hoosiers appeared to be staging a comeback in the bottom of that inning, notching two runs on a single by Dickerson and further narrowing the Buckeyes’ lead to three runs. However, Micah Johnson was called for interference in making contact with Ohio State’s shortstop, resulting in a double play to end the frame with Dickerson on third.In the end, it all set up Knipp’s moment in the ninth, which sealed an offensive ending to what had been a defensive weekend at Sembower Field. The Buckeyes won 6-1 Friday with three sac flies, and the Hoosiers claimed a 5-3 win on just eight hits Saturday.“We’ve had a lot of comeback wins this year, especially in the ninth inning, and that’s just a testimony to how we grind and just keep going regardless of what’s up against us,” Knipp said.
(04/05/11 2:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team now can settle into a normal weekly routine.Fresh off winning two of three games in its conference-opening series last weekend in Michigan, the Hoosiers (18-9, 2-1 Big Ten) will face a weekend Big Ten series, as well as one or two midweek non-conference contests during each remaining week on its schedule.That routine kicks in at 6 p.m. today when IU battles Miami (Ohio) in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks (13-14, 4-2 MAC) will visit Bloomington on April 26 to round out the home-and-home series.Miami has gone 2-2 in midweek games heading into today, while the Hoosiers have won all five such contests outside their spring break swing in Florida. Despite dropping game 1 in Saturday’s double-header 3-2, the Hoosiers had a productive weekend offensively against the Wolverines, scoring a combined 25 runs on 34 hits in three games Friday and Saturday.Whether IU hits that efficiently today could depend on the kind of pitching performance its opponent is able to give. IU batters can expect to face Miami junior pitcher Shawn Marquardt, the RedHawks’ normal midweek starter. Marquardt has struggled thus far in 2011, going 1-4 in decisions with a 5.56 ERA. Opposing batters have hit a collective .337 average against the Carmel, Ind., native. While Marquardt hasn’t fared particularly well, Miami’s pitching staff as a whole, thanks in large part to weekend starter Tyler Melling (5-0, 2.85 ERA) and the team’s bullpen, has vaulted to second in the MAC with a collective 3.23 ERA.The Hoosiers plan to switch things up on the mound today with a planned staff. Freshman Brian Korte, who started IU’s second game against Evansville and whom IU coach Tracy Smith envisioned as a fixture in the third weekend slot, will get the nod against the RedHawks. Junior Drew Leininger, the Hoosiers’ usual midweek starter, will relieve him.Just as with its pitching, Miami’s batting could go either way against IU’s defense.The RedHawks have hit a collective .271, which pegs them in the middle of the MAC. However, the team has managed to tally a .358 on-base percentage, and senior infielder Kyle Weldon’s 24 RBI rank third in the MAC and trail only junior outfielder Alex Dickerson’s total of 25 when compared to IU hitters.The Hoosiers’ midweek date with Miami precedes the team’s first home Big Ten series this weekend against another Ohio foe — Ohio State. DeMuth named Big Ten Freshman of the Week AgainFreshman shortstop Dustin DeMuth was awarded Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second-consecutive time after batting .500 with two runs and three RBI in IU’s weekend series at Michigan. On the year, DeMuth is batting a team-best .385 and has the most hits in the Big Ten with 45.In the field, he holds a .962 fielding percentage.
(04/01/11 3:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team leads the Big Ten in team fielding and stands third in the conference in team pitching.Yet, IU coach Tracy Smith is still looking for improvement in those areas as the Hoosiers (16-8) open Big Ten play this weekend with a three-game series against Michigan in Ann Arbor.“We need to be better defensively,” Smith said. “We were playing well early in the season. We were solid defensively.”Smith’s comments came on the heels of IU’s 12-8 home victory against NAIA Shawnee State on Wednesday; the Bears scored eight runs on 14 hits. Junior pitcher Drew Leininger allowed Shawnee State batters 10 hits before claiming his third win of the season. But sure enough, errors played a factor.The Hoosiers committed three errors in each of their two midweek games, both of which were added to the schedule last week. Three of Shawnee State’s eight runs Wednesday were unearned.Junior outfielder Josh Lyon, who went 3-for-4 against Shawnee State, said opponents’ good hitting could have lead to such a large amount of errors.“That’s a recipe for errors with any team if you do that a lot,” Lyon said. “We’ll definitely turn the corner with the defense and be sharp.” Smith said what perhaps has helped opponents like Shawnee State, Northern Kentucky and Evansville get in scoring position on IU is the Hoosier pitchers’ recent tendency to walk batters. IU has averaged more than four walks in its last four games.“We’ve got to cut our walks down,” Smith said. “We’re walking too many people. We did it (Tuesday) and we walked some guys (Wednesday), and that’s the only thing that’s going to get you beat. That’s something I want to see us really focus on as we head into the Big Ten.”However, a positive trend on the mound that has translated to the field is the pickoff throw. Hoosier pitchers have retired 22 base runners on pickoff throws, led by freshman Joey DeNato’s eight, which is as many as the closest Big Ten team.Senior catcher Wes Wilson said the issue would resolve itself.“Pitching-wise, our pitchers are going to throw strikes,” Wilson said. “It’ll be fine. Our guys on the weekend have always done a good job. “I think it’s important that we do minimize that, or else the Big Ten teams will make us pay for it.”
(03/31/11 2:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team scheduled Wednesday’s game against Shawnee State to get in some extra work before opening Big Ten play.However, the Hoosiers got a lot more than they bargained for.IU coach Tracy Smith’s team received the NAIA squad’s best effort at the plate in a heavy-hitting, error-laden 12-8 victory at Sembower Field.The Bears matched IU hit-for-hit throughout the contest, as both teams finished with 14 connections at bat.“After the first inning, I said, ‘These guys are going to move the baseball,’” Smith said of Shawnee State. “I thought they looked pretty good offensively.”The Bears scored once in the first, from two hits off IU junior pitcher Drew Leininger, who earned the win to improve to 3-1.However, the Hoosier batters retaliated — as they would do all game, scoring in each inning — when senior catcher Wes Wilson hit a solo home run over the left-field fence in the bottom of the first.Wilson, who finished 4-for-5 with three runs, said he simply liked what Shawnee State’s five pitchers were showing him.“I was feeling it, but a lot of it was getting good first pitches,” Wilson said. “I like to swing early in the count, and I think there in my first four at-bats, I saw five pitches. So that was helpful to me, a lot of straight stuff early on.”The Bears were able to maintain pace with the Hoosiers through the top of the fifth when they knotted the score at six, but an IU three-run sixth inning off of as many hits put the game out of reach.While both teams hit efficiently, several runs on either side of the high-scoring affair resulted from fielding errors.Shawnee State finished with six errors, two of which were errant throws in the bottom of the second. In the end, half the Hoosiers’ runs were unearned.Unfortunately for IU, it suffered the same problems on defense, amassing three errors. Shawnee State cashed in two of its three scores in the third inning when IU sophomore shortstop Michael Basil committed an error on a throw to first base, giving the Bears a 4-3 lead.“I don’t know what it is,” Smith said of Basil. “He’s a good player. He’s been a good shortstop for us. He needs to get back in there and get comfortable again.”Wet conditions from snowfall earlier in the day could have caused some of the mistakes on either side, Wilson said.“The grass was a little slick with the early snow that we had,” he said. “Even when I moved to the outfield (in the eighth inning), I could tell that balls got on you a little quicker on the grass.”Smith agreed. “I give them credit,” Smith said. “This is a very difficult game to play, let alone playing in 30, or whatever it is, wind chill.“It wasn’t the prettiest, but yet I think our guys will be ready to go this weekend.”
(03/29/11 2:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team was not left with much time to turn around following Sunday’s quasi-doubleheader against Evansville.As the Big Ten portion of the Hoosiers’ season looms, IU coach Tracy Smith worked two extra midweek home games into the schedule beforehand, the first of which comes at 3:05 p.m. today against Northern Kentucky.Senior catcher Wes Wilson, who batted in the game-winning run in IU’s 6-5 extra-inning victory in the first game against the Purple Aces, said the new midweek games eliminate the problem of a schedule gap before the Hoosiers open their first conference series this weekend.“I think it’s just we want to be rolling into Big Ten play and be ready for Michigan up in Ann Arbor,” Wilson said. “It’s something where we don’t want to take a whole four or five days off in between games heading into the most important week thus far in the season.”The contest with Northern Kentucky, along with the second schedule addition Wednesday against NAIA school Shawnee State, also offers IU a chance to work out some kinks at the plate before tackling the conference slate.And such work is necessary, players said.In the Hoosiers’ two games last weekend against the Purple Aces — the second of which resulted in a 7-5 loss — the team did not match its opponent’s efficiency at the plate. IU recorded nine and 11 hits, respectively, to Evansville’s 16 in each game.Starting slow at the plate perhaps has factored into the equation. Despite a knack for winning close games — the Hoosiers are now 5-1 in extra-inning affairs — Smith and players have expressed a need to get hits in earlier innings. In Sunday’s loss, the Hoosiers had five hits to Evansville’s 12 through six innings before a four-run, four-hit seventh frame put the Hoosiers back in it.Although they have been able battle back late, Wilson said they can’t keep putting themselves in a hole.“We were seeing the ball all right,” Wilson said. “I think that we had a couple of hard-hit balls that just weren’t falling. Lately, we’ve been kind of a slow-starting team and we pick up at the end of games, and that’s why we come back in the seventh, eighth and ninth (innings). That’s something we’ve got to get started early.”Other problems presented themselves as well.Sophomore second baseman Micah Johnson, the Big Ten Player of the Week, ironically cited one of his personal strengths as a team weakness against Evansville that could be addressed this week.Johnson stole six bases, giving him a Big Ten-leading 14 on the season, and scored six of IU’s 11 runs last weekend en route to the award, but he said team base running cost the Hoosiers a few chances late in the second game Sunday.“It’s hard to tell as a spectator, but we had a lot of mental mistakes ... that kind of cost us a couple of runs,” Johnson said. “I feel like coming into Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ve really got to sharpen those up going up to Ann Arbor.”
(03/25/11 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After 20 road games, the IU baseball team is coming home.For IU coach Tracy Smith and the Hoosiers (13-7), it’s better late than never.IU’s home opener is at 1:05 p.m. Sunday against Evansville, but only as the finale in a three-game series with the Purple Aces. The Hoosiers travel to Evansville for a double-header Saturday.Smith said the team is glad to usher in baseball season to Bloomington after a taxing travel schedule early in 2011.“You get tired,” Smith said. “We don’t want to make excuses and whatever, but it does take a toll on you. It takes a toll on you not only physically but also mentally because of the academics and things and always trying to stay on top of that.“We’re ready to play at home. I hope the weather is nice so we can get a nice crowd, but we’re ready to play a couple of home games.”A recently added home contest against NAIA’s Shawnee State on Wednesday gives the Hoosiers 18 games at Sembower Field this season, the longest stretch being five games between April 20-26.While IU can get a bit more comfortable within familiar confines, so can the teams it will play often in both weekend and midweek games, Smith said.“We’re trying to set ourselves now for the conference, so yeah, pretty much the same lineup the guys have been playing across there,” Smith said.That includes the starting pitchers.After experimenting during the season with the bullpen driving much of the pitching staff’s success, IU seems to have found good fits and thus production that has vaulted the Hoosiers to third in the Big Ten in total pitching. Junior pitcher Drew Leininger, a weekend starter in 2010, could see more midweek duty. Leininger improved to 2-0 in midweek starts Wednesday, allowing no runs on three hits in the Hoosiers’ 10-2 victory against Ball State.And the weekend rotation? Smith said it’s likely freshman Brian Korte has earned one of the three spots.The lefty from North Bend, Ohio, made the most of his appearance in Florida, tossing a complete game in IU’s 9-2 win against Pittsburgh.Smith said Korte projects well as the Hoosiers’ Sunday starter. “We’ll probably roll with that,” Smith said. “He did a good job in that. It allows us to shape up some things that we like in terms of our bullpen. He did a nice job, and he didn’t do anything pitching-wise to hurt himself.“We like him there and feel he gives us the best chance to win out of that three spot.”If IU sticks to its plan, Korte will be the first Hoosier pitcher to take the mound at Sembower Field in 2011 as the team wraps up its affair with Evansville.
(03/23/11 2:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU baseball coach Tracy Smith is starting to like what he’s seeing at the plate.Smith expressed the need for more timely, consistent production at bat during last week’s eight-game stretch in Lakeland and Winter Haven, Fla. The Hoosiers responded with 32 runs on 48 hits during their final four contests. IU (12-7) needs to carry its improved hitting back into the normal routine of the season, starting with a matchup against Ball State at 3 p.m. today in Muncie. “I thought we made better adjustments towards the end of the week and started better approaches, and I think the results indicated that as well,” Smith said. “We’re still waiting to put all those pieces together, but if guys continue to make those adjustments, work on those things, the pitching and the defense, I feel pretty comfortable, are going to be there.“But I was pleased. Truthfully, I was pleased as the week went on that we were doing more of what we were supposed to be doing offensively.”The Hoosiers have been aiming to do so throughout the young season, striving for the production that made them the Big Ten’s top hitting team a year ago. IU currently finds itself fifth in the conference in total batting. Similarly, junior outfielder Alex Dickerson seems to have found his 2010 self again.The All-American and Big Ten Triple Crown winner recorded two or more hits in five of IU’s eight games last week, including three home runs — two in a 10-7 win against Dartmouth — and nine RBI en route to his first Big Ten Player of the Week honor of 2011.“We were waiting for him to get going a little bit,” Smith said. “He’s a good hitter and a proven hitter and one of the best hitters in the country, so I don’t think it was something that was totally surprising. It was just a matter of time for him to get comfortable and start feeling his swing a little bit.”With a return to Indiana for today’s bout with the Cardinals as well as for a home-and-away weekend series with Evansville, the focus on consistency at the plate has not changed.What also will not change much, Smith said, is the lineup.The Hoosiers plan to employ the same groups of men for both midweek and weekend games. Junior pitcher Drew Leininger, who started midweek two weeks ago against Indiana State, will get the nod once again today.“We’ll see where we are defensively, but we’re going to run with our guys out there that give us the best chance to win,” Smith said. “The thing I like is we have depth, but it’s like now, we’ve kind of got our lineup set.“We’re going to roll with that and make substitutions as games dictate, but we’re not going through this experimental phase now. We’re kind of locking in, and let’s roll with it and try to play as well as we can.”
(03/10/11 3:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>TERRE HAUTE — The IU baseball team’s offense put it together Wednesday.The Hoosiers followed up 10 hits with solid base running — including a steal home in a two-run sixth inning — to earn a 6-4 victory against Indiana State at Bob Warn Field.The Sycamores (5-6) struck first, holding a 1-0 lead through the first two innings with two two-base hits. However, in the top of the third, IU freshman designated hitter Dillon Dooney batted in two with a base hit to give IU (7-4) a lead it would not relinquish.The Hoosiers kept the Sycamores at bay in the middle innings, but Indiana State battled back in the final three innings. ISU centerfielder Robby Ort slammed a solo home run over right field in the seventh, and the Sycamores earned another run in the ninth to again pull within two scores.The late run was not enough, and Indiana State finished with four runs on eight hits. The Sycamores’ aggressive bats prompted appearances by seven different IU pitchers in attempts to preserve the win for starter junior Drew Leininger, who improved to 1-1 on the season.Seven different IU batters contributed at least one hit, and three Hoosiers combined for five RBIs. Dooney, who also drove in IU’s final run in the top of the ninth, said good baserunning had been a point of emphasis going into Wednesday’s game.“We’re definitely working on that a lot more, and we’re getting better with that,” Dooney said. “As the year goes by it’s going to increase, and it’s going to come with our hitting.”This progress manifested itself in the Hoosiers’ two-run, two-hit sixth inning.Sophomore shortstop Michael Basil, who scored one of the two runs on Dooney’s second-inning single, stole home plate when Indiana State threw to first in a pickoff attempt to record IU’s fifth run. With the RBIs, Dooney tied the team-high total with six on the season off of six hits.IU coach Tracy Smith said the team had been drawing up that maneuver in practice.“It’s kind of a trick play, a gadget play we work on,” Smith said. “That was a big run for us. That was definitely a big run for us.”Basil said he just went with it.“I didn’t think going into the game we would try it,” Basil said. “But we’ve worked on it the past couple of weeks, and he just called for it at that moment.”IU senior pitcher Matt Carr threw IU’s Big Ten-leading ninth pickoff out with a tag at first in the fourth inning.While IU did plenty at the plate to earn its fourth win in March, Smith said he still is looking for more from the Hoosiers’ offense.“We’ve been pounding out 10 hits, but it just doesn’t seem like we’ve gotten the hit yet,” Smith said. “I know it’s going to come.“Most pleasing to me is just we were able to get after it on the mound again and throw strikes and compete. And as soon as those bats come around, I think it’s going to be that much better for us.”
(03/07/11 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team is getting its hits thus far in 2011.The results in the win-loss ledger have largely relied on capitalizing on those hits. The previous weekend was no different.Two wins and a loss in the Tennessee Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., saw the Hoosiers (6-4) earn at least nine hits in each contest, but the run discrepancy in the differing outcomes was clear.IU claimed 6-5 and 6-3 victories against Morehead State and host Tennessee, respectively — the former came in 13 innings Friday — but the Hoosiers mustered just two runs on 11 hits Sunday in a 6-2 loss to Bradley.“We still haven’t clicked offensively yet, leaving a lot of guys on and really not getting the tune on RBIs like we can and have in the past,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “I’m still waiting for us to kind of put it together offensively so we can enjoy one of these things and not let it be a nail-biter the whole time.”Smith and his ballclub certainly experienced those nail-biters during the weekend.The win against Morehead State didn’t go final until senior T.C. Knipp hit a walk-off line drive in the bottom of the 13th to bat in the winning run.Similarly, IU produced complete offense Saturday in the top of the eighth against the Volunteers, scoring three runs with as many hits, to pull away after trailing 3-2.Sunday was a different story. IU could not recover after allowing a fifth-inning grand slam by the Braves’ designated hitter Brad Kimball. The base-clearing homer was one of just four hits on the day for Bradley; the Braves got the majority of their runners on base by virtue of eight Hoosier walks.“We have some pretty good hitters we’ve hit in the past and have hit for multiple games in the past that just aren’t getting hits right now,” Smith said. “When that starts to happen, I think we’ll start scoring a few more runs, and we won’t have as close a ball game, so we can actually put some people away and extend the lead.” The scoring effect has manifested itself in much of IU’s young season.The Hoosiers have averaged more than six runs in their six wins, one of which was a 14-run wallop of Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Feb. 25. In IU’s four losses, however, the team has managed just 2.5 runs.IU has averaged more than 10 hits through 10 games and has only been out-hit once in the Feb. 19 loss to Boston College. Knipp said it’s just a matter of time before the runs pick up with more consistency.“We know our bats are going to be there,” Knipp said. “Just in general, I feel like our bats will be there when it matters.”
(03/03/11 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No Alex Dickerson? No problem for the IU baseball team. That seemed to be the case Wednesday for junior Josh Lyon.Manning positions in left field and the batting order for an inactive Dickerson, Lyon hit two home runs and earned four RBI to lead the Hoosiers (4-3) to a 7-6 win against Xavier in Mason, Ohio.“I thought it was pretty big, winning a close game on the road against one of our regional rivals, sort of,” said Lyon, who went 3-for-5 on the day. “I think in past years we’ve struggled with our midweek games, and I thought it was big beating one of the Midwest teams on the road for a midweek win.”Lyon’s first homer came in the top of the first inning with teammates Justin Cureton and Jerrud Sabourin already on base. Freshman designated hitter Dillon Dooney followed Lyon with a home run of his own to give IU an early 4-0 lead.The junior’s second home run led off the fifth when Lyon hammered a pitch from Xavier pitcher Brian Muransky over the right-field fence to put the Hoosiers up 6-5.While Lyon produced like Dickerson, who rested after colliding with the outfield fence last weekend against Oregon State, he said there wasn’t added pressure to do so.“I wouldn’t say that so much, just that we just want to come out every day and perform like that,” Lyon said. “That’s our real goal, but I think with (Dickerson) being out, we definitely knew we would all have to put our fair share of effort in the game.”IU coach Tracy Smith said he was pleased with Lyon’s day at the plate as well as the Hoosiers’ overall offensive output. The team hit a collective .303, registering 10 hits.“Any time you’re missing a player like Dickerson, that’s the good thing about this team,” Smith said. “We feel like we’ve got some guys that can fill in, and maybe they’re not going to replace Alex Dickerson, but I think we’ve got some guys who are going to be pretty darn close.” IU sealed the win in the top of the eighth when freshman catcher Ty Downing’s single to center field batted in senior outfielder T.C. Knipp to give the contest its final tally.But as that heavy score would indicate, IU needed more than heavy hitting against the Musketeers (2-5).Junior Matt Igel struggled with Xavier’s hitters as the Hoosiers’ starter, allowing five runs — two unearned — in the first two innings to erase the early four-run advantage IU gained in the first.Igel’s relief — six pitchers in all, three of whom saw action in the fifth inning — also seemed to have trouble with the Musketeers, who recorded eight hits total.Enter IU freshman Joey DeNato.Seeing his first action out of the bullpen, the lefty from San Diego struck out two batters and recorded three outs on pickoff throws of baserunners to set up freshman closer Ryan Halstead for the save.Smith said DeNato, who picked up the win for IU, seemed more comfortable coming out of the bullpen.“We liked him much better in that role tonight just because he was more relaxed and more like the guy we saw all fall and certainly in indoor (practices),” Smith said. “And he has a weapon with that pickoff. It really neutralizes the running game, and ... it was a real momentum breaker.“I was very pleased with him out of the pen today for sure.”While DeNato delivered late, the hitting continued to progress from the opening weekend, and Smith said the Hoosiers’ bats are getting closer to where they need to be.“It’s the right track, because for us to do that, we’ve got to have other guys hitting around,” Smith said. “As soon as those guys get more consistent at bat and get more game at-bats under their belt, I’ll think we’ll be certainly closer to last year.”
(02/25/11 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU baseball team managed just five runs in three games last weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C.If the Hoosiers have their way, that won’t happen again this weekend.IU coach Tracy Smith and his hitters said a second round of games at the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas, should see an improved effort at the plate.Smith specifically mentioned having a plan for at-bats as key going into matchups with host Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi on Friday, Connecticut on Saturday and Oregon State on Sunday.“You’re not always going to get base hits, but you can increase your chances to get base hits by having a plan, and not even base hits, but hitting balls hard,” Smith said. “We want to hit more balls hard this weekend, but to me it starts well before the swing and the pitch. “I just felt we swung at a lot of bad pitches last week, and that led to poor results. So we really need to spread around that mindset and mentality before we step into the box.”The opening-weekend results might have shown as much.As a team, IU hit 29-for-123 for a collective .236 average and left 31 runners stranded on base. Junior outfielder Alex Dickerson agreed that pitch judgment contributed to the Hoosiers’ lack of offensive output.“We’ve got a good hitting team, and we all didn’t hit well one weekend,” said Dickerson, who recorded one hit against each of Boston College and Coastal Carolina. “We’re all saying we’ve just got to kind of swing at better pitches and let it happen.”The 2010 Big Ten Triple Crown winner added that simply getting back into a game rhythm was another factor in getting the team’s batting back to where IU is accustomed to seeing it.“Just getting it all out of the way, just getting all the rust off,” Dickerson said. “I think we just got really unfortunate, didn’t get any breaks, along with the fact that we just weren’t striking the ball well. I think you just give this team time, and we’ll get all the hits back in place.”While the Hoosiers as a whole struggled to register hits in succession and reel in runners the first weekend out, they were encouraged by a particular individual performance.Freshman third baseman Dustin DeMuth was largely responsible for much of what IU was able to produce from the plate.The LaPorte, Ind., native scored one of the Hoosiers’ runs in the team’s 4-2 loss to Virginia Tech on Feb. 18 and two days later hit the game-winning single in the team’s 16-inning marathon victory against Coastal Carolina.In accord with his coach and his teammate, DeMuth said the Hoosier hitters need to “just concentrate good contact on the ball and just try to make them fall in this weekend.”While IU looks to regain the proficiency that made it the Big Ten’s top batting team in 2010, Dickerson said it is merely a matter of time.“I really think we’re just going to pick it up one of these days pretty soon, and we’ll be back to where we were last year,” he said.
(02/21/11 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It took nearly the length of four full games, but the IU baseball team finally capitalized on hitting Sunday.The Hoosiers (1-2) benefited from freshman third baseman Dustin DeMuth’s RBI in the top of the 16th inning to down No. 18 Coastal Carolina 2-1 after suffering two straight losses at the Caravelle Resort Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C.“It was awesome because it’s one of those things where you’ve already lost two on the trip and you haven’t played that badly; you actually have played OK and have nothing to show for it,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “To be in that game, it’s like, ‘OK, we’re (in) extra innings.’“I would just worry a little bit about the psyche of our team if we had stayed there that long and played really, really well and come away empty-handed again.”With the game knotted at 1-1 for the previous 11 innings, sophomore second baseman Micah Johnson got on base with a single in the top of the 16th.Two at-bats later, DeMuth hit a single and was able to advance to second on a wild throw from center field, allowing the speedy Johnson to reach home for the go-ahead and, ultimately, the winning run.“We knew he was a good player, or we wouldn’t give him the nod,” Smith said of DeMuth. “He’s just a very mature kid and very comfortable, but I thought he made a big impression with everybody, including teammates and fans, and I’m sure opposition, with what he did this weekend.”Freshman relief pitcher Ryan Halstead picked up the win in his first collegiate game, cementing a stellar effort from IU’s bullpen. Senior Matt Carr pitched 3 2/3 innings in relief, and junior Matt Igel saw 4 1/3 frames of action. Each of the three allowed no runs.Junior outfielder Alex Dickerson struggled at the plate, going just one-for-six, but he excelled defensively late in the game, throwing a dart to force a game-saving out at home in the bottom of the 12th.Downer debut for DenatoFreshman pitcher Joey DeNato’s collegiate debut Saturday didn’t quite work out the way IU might have hoped.DeNato lasted just 3 1/3 innings after allowing two earned runs in the second in the Hoosiers’ 6-1 loss to Boston College in Myrtle Beach, S.C.Leading 1-0 after the first inning, IU struggled in the field in the top of the second, allowing two rundowns to slip from its grasp. The Eagles knocked in two runners and also recorded an unearned run en route to a 3-1 advantage early.Junior Chad Martin relieved DeNato, allowing two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work.Boston College proceeded to score again in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings to put the game out of reach and hand the Hoosiers their second-straight loss to begin the 2010 season.Senior first baseman Jerrud Sabourin scored on a wild pitch by Eagles starter Nate Bayuk in the bottom of the first, registering IU’s only run of the afternoon.Missed chances early on in openerA solid batting effort wasn’t enough for IU on Friday in its season opener.Despite owning an advantage in hits, the Hoosiers allowed Virginia Tech just enough on defense to suffer a 4-2 loss in IU’s first game of the Caravelle Resort Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C.IU finished with nine hits to Virginia Tech’s six, but the Hokies managed to capitalize on early Hoosier mistakes to jump to a lead.The wheels started to come off in the bottom of the third inning for IU junior pitcher Drew Leininger, with his team leading 1-0. Leininger allowed an RBI single and then a run scored on a wild pitch.A two-run home run in the fifth by Virginia Tech outfielder Andrew Rash dug the Hoosiers into a hole from which they couldn’t re-emerge.IU gained its only lead in the top of the second inning when DeMuth successfully executed a bunt down the third-base line and advanced on-base each of the Hoosiers’ next three at-bats. He scored on the third, a single to center field by Johnson.DeMuth finished his collegiate debut 2-for-4 with the run. Dickerson also recorded two hits in his four at-bats.Dickerson and Sabourin registered hits in the top of the first inning and helped IU load the bases, but the Hoosiers came away empty-handed with stranded runners on each base.
(12/28/10 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU coach Tom Crean said back spasms contributed to sophomore forward Christian Watford’s uncharacteristic evening Monday.Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said all young players typically have off-nights throughout the course of a long season.Whatever the reason, Watford suffered his least productive outing of 2010 in the IU men’s basketball team’s Big Ten-opening 69-60 loss to Penn State at Assembly Hall.Watford, who entered Monday leading IU (9-5) in scoring with 18.3 points per game, managed just three points against the Nittany Lions (8-4). It marked his lowest point total of the season as well as the first time he failed to score in double figures.Crean praised Penn State’s efforts to neutralize the second-year IU player but also revealed that Watford suffered periodic back pain throughout the game.“I give him credit for trying to gut it out and play through it as much as he did, and that’s where a lot of that lies in the sense of him not having a great night,” Crean said of Watford.Either way, Watford was hardly himself on the offensive end. The sophomore, who previously had averaged 46.3 percent from the field, finished 1-of-5, his only first-half point coming on a free throw attempt. DeChellis said while Watford got “a star next to his name” on the blackboard in the Penn State locker room before the game, he wasn’t sure whether it was his team’s defense or Watford’s own struggles that produced the Birmingham, Ala. native’s final stat line.“We sent somebody down there to dig the ball out of his hands when he got it inside there deep,” DeChellis said. “When he gets it in there deep is when he really can play. He’s going to score and get fouls.“We felt we could … get down there and try to make him dribble a little bit more than he wanted to and make him uncomfortable with the ball, but I’m not sure if that’s our great defense or if he just had a tough time.”Perhaps DeChellis’ plan was effective. Watford committed three turnovers, the most of any one Hoosier and a third of IU’s nine total turnovers.The one layup Watford converted at the beginning of the second half began a run that powered IU from a 34-25 halftime deficit to a one-point lead with 8:45 to play. However, a missed layup by the forward a minute later led to a jumper by Penn State forward Jeff Brooks to give the Nittany Lions a three-point lead. Penn State wouldn’t relinquish its advantage the rest of the way.Watford has been a go-to player for the Hoosiers, but Crean said it takes a full team effort to close out games late.“I don’t think it’s a situation where it’s just one guy because they all want to do it,” Crean said. “They all mean well. It’s not like nobody comes up and they say, ‘Oh, the game’s over, we can’t win.’ It’s just they start to lose that hope, but it’s got to come throughout the game.”
(12/10/10 5:26am)
The IDS compiled a list of the top 10 sports stories of the fall semester. Cody Zeller's commitment topped the list.
(10/25/10 2:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The IU defense had routinely given up big plays for big yards and big points during the first half of the 2010 season.Same case Saturday, right? Not so fast.In their 43-13 loss at Illinois, the Hoosiers (4-3, 0-3) surrendered just 289 yards of total offense and allowed just 14 points on drives that began outside their territory.The unit forced its opponent into punt- and field-goal situations on all but three of its offensive possessions, one of which began just outside the IU red zone. “I thought our defense really played hard,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “I thought we held (Illinois) off in some key situations. We’ve improved each week defensively, and I saw that out there today.”Of the 289 yards the IU defense allowed the Fighting Illini (4-3, 2-2), 98 came in the first quarter, particularly on three plays.The Illinois offense picked up its chunks late in the period following IU redshirt freshman tight end Ted Bolser’s single-season record-setting touchdown reception. Illinois running back Mikel Leshoure broke loose on second-and-nine for a 39-yard gain, and quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase scrambled for 25 yards two plays later.Scheelhaase then found tight end Evan Wilson down the north sideline for a 29-yard touchdown connection to put the Fighting Illini up 10-7 in the waning moments of the quarter.From there, the Hoosiers began to contain Illinois in terms of yards gained.IU allowed gains of just 20, 23 and 36 yards, respectively, during the Fighting Illini’s final three offensive series of the first half. Illinois’ second-quarter touchdowns occurred only after the Fighting Illini recovered a Dusty Kiel fumble at the Hoosiers’ 23-yard line and when Illinois defensive back Patrick Nixon-Youman returned senior quarterback Ben Chappell’s second interception of the game to the house.Chappell’s first pick on the game’s opening series also pitted his team’s defense in unfavorable field position, giving Illinois possession at the IU 16-yard line and ultimately a field goal.However, senior linebacker Tyler Replogle insisted the Hoosier defense wasn’t concerned about its starting positions after the offense’s turnovers.“We got put in some tough situations, but that’s football,” the defensive captain said. “I think as a defense, that’s when your play is most important. ... And I think we responded well.”The defense remained stout to begin the second half.The Hoosiers forced a three-and-out on the Fighting Illini’s opening possession and after junior punter Chris Hagerup’s punt was blocked and recovered at the IU 21-yard line, forced a turnover of their own.Junior defensive end Darius Johnson forced the ball out of Scheelhaase’s grasp after the Illinois quarterback picked up 11 yards on the ground, and junior safety Donnell Jones recovered the loose ball at the IU 7-yard line.However, the offense was unable to capitalize on the turnover, and Illinois blocked another Hagerup punt and recovered it in the end zone for a safety — two more points that didn’t come at the expense of the Hoosiers’ defensive squad.“That we have to get corrected,” Lynch said of the two blocked punts. “That’s one of those things you cannot have in the kicking game, but we did, and we’ll get those corrected.”On a day those blocked punts and IU’s turnovers resulted in 26 of the Fighting Illini’s 43 points, the defense felt it put forth one of its stronger efforts of the season.The Hoosiers stopped Leshoure — who entered Saturday as the nation’s 14th-leading rusher, averaging 113.3 yards per game — to just 77 yards on the ground.Junior linebacker Jeff Thomas, who led the Hoosiers with 13 tackles, attributed that success to the team’s tackling as a whole.“I feel like we’ve been making a lot better tackles,” Thomas said. “Open-field tackles, one-on-one tackles and all that. I definitely feel like we’re playing better there.”The junior also said he expects the defense to continue to improve. “We continually come together week-in and week-out,” Thomas said. “We make mistakes together, but we make good plays together, and I feel like we just continue to build every week.”
(10/22/10 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Renowned sportscaster and ... playwright?Yes, but only if viewers like Dick Enberg’s play, “COACH: The Untold Story of College Basketball Legend Al McGuire,” the professional play-by-play announcer and IU graduate joked.“If the audience doesn’t like the play, I have a terrific out — I didn’t write it. Al wrote it,” Enberg said.That is to say, Al’s own words make up Enberg’s one-man production that takes the stage in Bloomington for the first time with 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday performances at the Ruth N. Halls Theater.Written by Enberg and starring actor Cotter Smith, the play follows the life of Al McGuire, coach of the 1977 national champion Marquette men’s basketball team and popular college basketball broadcaster later in life. The play reveals the inspiring personality Enberg saw in him.In addressing IU sports marketing and communication students Thursday, Enberg said his late CBS colleague and friend was “the most amazing character I’ve ever met.”One instance explicitly mentioned in “COACH” is McGuire’s willingness to “take a right-hand turn in life.”“When he left his home outside of Milwaukee to go into Marquette (for work), he ran into a dead stop where if he turned left, he went into Milwaukee. If he turned right, he went into the Milwaukee countryside,” Enberg said. “He said, ‘Sometimes I’d come to that stop sign, and at that moment, I’d say I’m taking a right-hand turn today.’“The right-hand turn allowed him to go out with no game plan,” he said. “ ... There was no agenda. It was just ‘Take a drive, and let life come to you.’”McGuire was profoundly insightful and crazy at the same time, Enberg said.“Al McGuire was throwing chairs long before Bobby Knight,” he said.To Enberg, who has been a sports broadcaster since 1957 and as a graduate student at IU did radio broadcasts for the Little 500, a play chronicling his friend’s life seemed the most fitting way to celebrate McGuire’s memory.When McGuire died of leukemia in 2001, his family asked Enberg to write the notes for the coach’s memorial program, which Enberg described as “a daunting task.”“How do you put this man’s life on one piece of paper?” he said.Rather than write a personal account, Enberg decided the best way to remember McGuire was to use his friend’s own words.“I used a bunch of his ‘McGuire-isms,’” he said. “‘Take a right-hand turn.’ ‘Why are the largest American flags over foreign car dealerships?’ ‘Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets?’ ‘If it’s wet, think dry. If it’s dry, think wet.’”Compiling all of McGuire’s phrases for the program inspired Enberg to write them down for himself, and he soon realized he could do more with these expressions.“After about six months, I had volumes of material,” he said. “I said, ‘You know? If I put this part here when he was dying, over here when he was coaching and this when we were broadcasting with (former CBS color analyst) Billy Packer over here, I think we’ve got a play.’”“COACH” debuted in 2005 at Marquette. The play has since shown in several cities, and it recently showed at North Carolina’s Belmont Abbey College, where McGuire earned his first college head coaching job. Enberg said a reward of writing his play is seeing actor Cotter Smith become McGuire and receive a standing ovation each night for doing so.“Any actor worth his salt or her salt would never want to do a one-man show,” Enberg said. “It’s tough to know the lines and deliver the lines at the start, and now, to not only know the lines, but feel the lines from his soul, that he’s become Al McGuire. (Smith) said in 30 years of acting, he’s never been so rewarded by any role as this.”Enberg, who said he took a liking to theater during his days at Central Michigan University, said he believes drama should be preserved and has aimed to do so by highlighting it in the sports world.“We are dictated by our computers and television,” he said. “And too often we don’t wander and appreciate something that’s actually been done live where you’re really connecting with an actor and the experience.” In bringing “COACH” to Bloomington, Enberg said he hopes to connect with a target audience — students — by way of an in-person portrayal of one of the most interesting teachers he has known.“If a student doesn’t leave the theater with at least five notes on life lessons, I’d be really disappointed because there’s a lot there,” he said.
(09/26/10 8:09pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s soccer team lost its game against Wisconsin today when midfielder Monica Lam-Feist scored a goal just more than a minute into overtime to break a 0-0 tie and give the Badgers the road victory.The loss dropped the Hoosiers to 4-6-1 on the season.
(08/25/10 9:44pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU was one of just 14 universities in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision to turn a profit for athletics during the 2009 fiscal year, earning approximately $145,000.“IU Athletics is proud that we have been, and project to continue to be, financially self-sustaining,” Athletics Director Fred Glass said in a statement. “We believe it is our obligation to our state and our university to do so.”Since becoming Athletics Director in January 2009, Glass has implemented projects to maximize profit amidst declining attendance numbers at football and men’s basketball games.Those efforts have included $5 balcony tickets during the 2008-09 men’s basketball season and football promotions such as Knothole Park, Knothole Club, Kicks-for-Keeps and a new high-definition scoreboard. roballen@indiana.edu
(08/25/10 9:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU was one of just 14 universities in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision to turn a profit for athletics during the 2009 fiscal year, earning approximately $145,000.“IU Athletics is proud that we have been, and project to continue to be, financially self-sustaining,” Athletics Director Fred Glass said in a statement. “We believe it is our obligation to our state and our university to do so.”Since becoming Athletics Director in January 2009, Glass has implemented projects to maximize profit amidst declining attendance numbers at football and men’s basketball games.Those efforts have included $5 balcony tickets during the 2008-09 men’s basketball season and football promotions such as Knothole Park, Knothole Club, Kicks-for-Keeps and a new high-definition scoreboard. roballen@indiana.edu
(07/11/10 10:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As Stuart Gray watched Indiana Pacers mascot Boomer venture around College Mall and engage passers-by with handshakes, handstands and photos, the former Pacers center couldn’t help but chuckle at the feline who has been Indiana’s official mascot since 1991.“Boomer is always fun,” he said.Gray, Boomer and two members of the Pacemates dance team greeted fans and signed autographs for two hours as part of the mall’s Pacers Fan Event on Saturday.Gray, a second-round pick of the Pacers in the 1984 draft, said events like Saturday’s autograph session are a great way to stay connected with the team and the fans.“Indiana fans are ... just hard-core basketball,” he said. “You lose that connection when all of a sudden you retire.”After five seasons in Indiana, Gray went on to play for the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks, but he never had as much emotional attachment for those teams as he had for the Pacers.“Out of the teams I played for, I loved all of them, but the Pacers were my team,” he said. “I spent the longest here, lived in Indiana forever. I like it. You meet good people.”Gray described fans like those who attended the event as “the lifeblood” of professional athletes’ careers.“It’s one of the reasons you play,” he said. “The fans were always good to me. They had to be hard-core fans to support us back then. We needed them.”He meant it.The Pacers compiled a 155-255 record during Gray’s five seasons with the team, and thus Gray said he understands Indiana’s trouble with the attendance in recent years — the Pacers have been at or near the bottom of the league in attendance each season since 2007-08.“Every team will ebb and flow,” he said. “It’s what the management’s commitment is to the team, and the Simons have been great. They may lose some, but the fans will stay with them.“The Pacers usually do a good job, in my mind, of making certain that the fans know that they’re committed to the community — or, I should say, communities.”Gray said he hasn’t been able to follow the Pacers much in recent seasons because he lives in Lexington, Ky., where the team is not covered.“I’ll keep in contact with people I know and get snippets,” he said.However, he said he plans to become much more involved this year.“This year, I’m going to try to come back some more,” he said. “I’m glad I’m going to be back up in Indianapolis here and there and try to get to some games again.“They’ll always be in my heart.”