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(04/19/14 2:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior starter Joey DeNato now owns three of the most significant pitching records in IU baseball history.IU (23-11, 9-1) beat Michigan State (20-15, 5-5) in game one of their three-game stint Friday night 7-0. The Hoosiers combined timely hitting with another masterful DeNato – 8 innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 0 runs on 113 pitches.Already this season, DeNato broke a couple of IU records. His 32 wins and 261 strikeouts are most for any pitcher in IU’s 119-year history. Against Michigan State on Friday night, DeNato’s career innings count went to 324 – setting another IU record.“Actually I didn’t know about the innings pitched (record),” DeNato said.DeNato had a rocky start to the game. The Spartans had the bases loaded in the top of the first with just one out, but DeNato got a key strikeout to make it two outs.Then a Spartan batter tried to execute a suicide squeeze, but he whiffed on the bunt attempt. The runner on third, charging home, was caught in a precarious situation. Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber threw to third and senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth tagged out the runner, ending the Michigan State threat.In the first inning it took DeNato 25 pitches to ultimately get through the frame unscathed. Through the rest of the game, DeNato settled down and stymied all potential Spartan rallies.As for the difference between the first inning and the rest of the game, IU Coach Tracy Smith had a simple explanation as to why that happened.“That’s just baseball,” Smith said. “I don’t think there was anything major that I would attribute that to. The good part of it is: he doesn’t let that stuff bother him.”Only two Hoosiers gave DeNato run support, and it was two unlikely suspects.Junior outfielder Will Nolden went 2-for-3 with four RBI and sophomore shortstop Nick Ramos went 1-for-4 with a two-run homerun and a sac fly to total three RBI on the day.The bottom of the order came up big for the Hoosiers and picked up the slack of the top of the order. Hitters 1-through-5 went a combined 4-for-17 on the day.“I thought Will Nolden had one of the better games from him that I’ve seen,” Smith said. “Just in terms of focus at the plate … that was nice to see from him sitting down here in the seven-hole.”In Nolden’s first at-bat, he roped a line drive to right-center field – in between two Spartan outfielders. Nolden hustled around the base paths, and recorded a stand-up triple to score two Hoosiers.Nolden knew pretty soon he was going to round second and continue to third.“Right off the bat,” Nolden said. “I kinda knew I was going three because I saw both the outfielders with their backs turned, and that’s the biggest part of the ballpark.”The series continues tomorrow from Bart Kaufman Field. IU’s Christian Morris – 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA – will go against Spartan starter Justin Alleman – 4-1 with a 2.90 ERA.First pitch is scheduled for 2:05.
(04/18/14 2:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When IU traveled to East Lansing, Mich., for a three-game stint with Michigan State last season, the Hoosiers were hot.IU had just had its 18-game winning streak snapped by Illinois five days prior, but had still won 22 of its last 24 games and had vaulted to No. 12 in the national rankings.The Spartans swept the Hoosiers in three losses for IU. Two of the games went to extra innings, and all three losses were one-run affairs that featured a Spartan walk-off hit to beat the Hoosiers. The team expressed anger, but said this time around it will be more composed if adversity comes its way.“It definitely made us all a little bit angry,” senior ace Joey DeNato said. “Baseball’s a sport where you have to channel your anger. In football if you’re hyped up you can go hit someone. In baseball you can’t do that, you have to maintain your composure.”IU (22-11, 8-1) will get its chance at revenge when Michigan State (20-14, 5-4) comes to Bloomington for a three-game series starting at 7:05 p.m. today.DeNato will get the start for the Hoosiers today. The lefty became the winningest pitcher in IU history with his last start against Morehead State. DeNato now owns the record for most career strikeouts — 257 — and wins — 31 — in IU baseball’s 119-year history.Whenever DeNato plays the Spartans, it holds a little extra motivation for him. His father attended Michigan State and Joey — a San Diego native — grew up attending Michigan State football games.“It’s always good beating them,” DeNato said. “For bragging rights.”In the last two seasons against the Spartans, the Hoosiers are just 1-5. This year, the Spartans have had an up-and-down year. Back in February, the Spartans knocked off then-No. 1 Oregon State. But in their last six games, they are just 3-3 against weak competition.In their recent six-game stretch, the Spartans lost two games to Central Michigan and took two of three from Purdue, where they had an average run differential of just +1 per game. The Boilermakers are 8-24 this year.Michigan State leads the Big Ten in steals and steal attempts. IU has a speedster of its own — junior second baseman Casey Rodrigue — who leads the team with 10 stolen bags, which also ranks fifth in the Big Ten.Rodrigue is playing his first year for IU after transferring from LSU-Eunice and has cemented himself as the team’s leadoff hitter. He said he’s heard from his teammates how frustrating last year’s sweep was.“It kinda left a salty taste in their mouths,” Rodrigue said. “And they know there’s a little bit more of an importance on this series.”
(04/17/14 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The entire IU team was ready to vault over the side of the dugout and swarm its teammate.In a game tied 0-0, junior centerfielder Tim O’Conner came to bat with two outs in the 10th inning. Junior right fielder Will Nolden was on second base after a stolen bag, ready to score the winning run.To put the luck on O’Conner’s side, a majority of the team turned its caps inside out in a fashion known as a “rally cap.”After fouling off two pitches with two strikes, O’Conner delivered.He hit a ball over the first baseman’s head, landing just fair, which allowed Nolden to score. The team ran out of the dugout and jumped on O’Conner, creating a massive Hoosier dog pile.“It was awesome,” O’Conner said. “I just kinda got mauled by all the guys. It was a good feeling.”In a pitcher’s duel, IU (22-11, 8-1) was the first to draw blood in its matchup with Western Kentucky (19-18, 7-8 in the Sun Belt conference). O’Conner’s RBI was the only run of the day in the 1-0 victory, the first of the walk-off variety this season for IU.O’Conner came into the game hitting just .172 in 64 at-bats. Even though the defensive specialist’s bat hasn’t been clicking this season, IU Coach Tracy Smith said he didn’t think of pinch-hitting for O’Conner. If he didn’t come through and the game went to the 11th inning, Smith would need O’Conner’s glove in center field.“Timmy is our best center fielder,” Smith said. “That was his game to win regardless. If we didn’t score, we were going to have to go out there and play defense.”The IU pitching staff picked up the struggling offense, which only registered three hits on the day. Brian Korte, Thomas Belcher, Jake Kelzer and Scott Effross combined for the 10-inning shutout of the Hilltoppers.Korte got the start and went five innings, giving up only six base runners. After Belcher threw 1.1 innings, 6-foot-7 freshman Jake Kelzer threw 2.2 innings of no-hit baseball. Kelzer — who began his IU athletic career on the swim team — struck out four batters in what he said was the best he has pitched all year.“I was particularly pleased with Jake,” Smith said. “If he can be in the zone like that, that’s going to help us tremendously.”Though the Hoosiers needed three pitchers to throw eight innings, the Hilltoppers needed just one.Western Kentucky starter Ryan Thurston came into the game with a 4.50 ERA and allowed opponents to hit .258 off him. He was originally supposed to throw four or five innings, he said. That plan was vacated when the Madison, Ind., native took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against one of the nation’s most prolific offenses.The performance — which Thurston said was the best he’s pitched in his career — held extra weight for the freshman.He and his father would make the 82-mile journey to Bloomington. He watched the Hoosiers have their best season in program history last year on the same field where he dominated the usually active IU bats Wednesday night.“We showed velocity doesn’t have to get people out,” Thurston said. “I just kept it down.”In the bottom of the ninth, preseason All-American catcher Kyle Schwarber broke up the no-hitter with a deep fly ball to right-center. The hit got the crowd at Bart Kaufman Field out of their seats, thinking it would be a walk-off homerun.“Off the bat, I thought it was gone,” Thurston said.The Hoosiers were unable to capitalize on Schwarber’s leadoff double in the ninth, forcing extra innings where O’Conner came through in the clutch.As did the rally caps.“We’re superstitious man,” Kelzer said with a smile.
(04/16/14 2:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last year, IU’s midweek starter was a constant staple for the team. That hasn’t been the case this year.Will Coursen-Carr, a freshman last year, excelled as the midweek starter in 2013. He was 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA. This year, Coursen-Carr was moved into the weekend rotation but has struggled. Several pitchers have thrown the midweek game, with none securing the job for himself.Brian Korte, Sullivan Stadler and Kyle Hart have all thrown midweek games. Hart excelled and was promoted to the weekend rotation.Korte will get his start when Western Kentucky (19-17, 7-8) comes to Bloomington to face IU (21-11, 8-1). IU had its nine-game winning streak snapped last Sunday against Morehead State. Despite a grand slam by designated hitter Scott Donley in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Hoosiers fell 8-7 to the Eagles.Senior Brian Korte will start tonight against the Hilltoppers. Korte earned the start in the Hoosiers’ last midweek game against Indiana State. The senior went three innings and gave up no earned runs. Freshman Thomas Belcher came in and threw four innings of relief, giving up two earned runs.The issue of starting pitching depth has become a real issue for IU since the injury of junior starter Kyle Hart. Hart — who underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday and is out for the season — has been out since March 30. The injury has bumped pitching up in the rotation, and IU Coach Tracy Smith wants one of his pitchers to step up. With Korte, he specifically wants him to be more aggressive in the strike zone.“With multiple pitches,” Smith added. “I think as a starter, you have to do that. You can’t go hard, hard, hard all the time. You have to drop some off-speed stuff in there.”Smith doesn’t have a specific number of innings he wants Korte to throw. It will be a fluid situation, and Smith will make a decision during the game how long he wants to keep Korte in the game.“If we can jump out and get a few runs, yeah it’d be nice to save him for the weekend,” Smith said.The run support for IU starting pitchers has been prolific as of late. The Hoosiers have scored five or more runs in their last 11 games and haven’t scored less than 3 runs in more than a month.Junior Casey Rodrigue has cemented himself as the leadoff hitter on the team. Rodrigue, hitting .311 this year, said he knows his role is to get on base for Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis, who hit immediately behind him.“The big bats showed this weekend and during the win streak,” Rodrigue said. “A lot of people are doing great.”
(04/14/14 6:11pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The not-so-simple challenge that was presented to me: three pancakes and Paxson’s Potatoes from Village Deli for brunch, the ‘‘Big Ugly’’ Challenge from Bub’s for dinner, and a banana split from Hartzell’s for dessert.One day. Three challenges. Probably five billion calories. I can only imagine what went through the head of my friend and one of the editors of Inside when she thought of who to ask to take on these challenges.“Hmmm… Who do I know who eats a lot? … Oh Evan! Evan eats food all the time! Usually a lot of it!”Challenge accepted.I put in some preparation for the day of gluttony. The day before my body would never forgive me, I Googled, “How to eat a lot of food.” The results were mixed with a lot of personal testimonies from “experts” basically telling me this endeavor was not natural to the body and extreme caution should be exercised. Great.I showed up at Village Deli with an empty stomach. I wouldn’t say I was arrogant, but I mean, its just pancakes, right?“Three pancakes and Paxson’s Potatoes please,” I said to the waiter.The waiter, who I later learned was named Pierce, looked at me and said, “You know they’re pretty big right?”“Yeah, yeah I know.”“OK, if you’re sure.”Oh, I was sure. I’m not a huge fan of pancakes, admittedly. I’m definitely more of a waffle guy — born and raised on those delicious frozen Eggo waffles that should be the staple of every little kid’s childhood. But pancakes can’t be that filling, or so I thought.Then, Pierce brought out the pancakes. They. Were. Large.The size of each pancake overwhelmed me. The pancakes hung over the side of the plate. And the thickness — wow. I was staring at three pancakes the size of my head and the width of a dime. Oh yeah, and a bowl of Paxson’s Potatoes.“I put them each on different plates,” Pierce said. “They looked more daunting that way.”Thanks, Pierce.I applied the butter and draped syrup over the behemoths. I took my first bite and was feeling like a champ. The thought, “Hey, these taste pretty good, I can do this,” went through my head.Fast-forward to the end of pancake one. I had cleared one plate but still had two pancakes and Paxton’s Potatoes left. I had to get creative if I was going to trick my stomach into eating more food.I chopped up one of the pancakes into bite sized pieces. The people I was with were interested/disgusted in my strategy.“What are you going to do?”“You’ll see,” I replied.I put the Paxson’s Potatoes — laden with potatoes, gravy, onions and cheese — onto the pancake. Was I crazy? Insane? A mad man?No — it was delicious.Topping it off with a good amount of hot sauce, I was pleasantly surprised I enjoyed this concoction.“Interesting strategy,” Pierce said as he walked by. Thanks, Pierce.But I got halfway through the pile and had to surrender. It was too much.Village Deli – 1, Evan – 0.I knew this would be my weakest point of the day. Like I said, I’m not a huge pancake connoisseur. But I was still disappointed in myself. I had let the challenge down. I had let Pierce down.I had six hours to regroup. Bub’s Burgers & Ice Cream would be calling at 6 p.m. When dinnertime came around, I wasn’t that hungry, but I couldn’t let down the good people of Bloomington again. I ordered the “Big Ugly.”What my waiter, Justin, brought out was a one-pound burger that once again was the size of my head. Justin also brought out a “just in case” bucket. My reward if I eat the whole thing — my picture on the wall with hundreds of other people who like food.Game on. This was more in my wheelhouse. Dinner food has always been my specialty. But could I finish this gigantic chunk of meat with Village Deli pancakes still in my belly?Half an hour later, I was still going strong. I don’t know what came over me. I had eaten three-fourths of this burger and was still feeling good. I wouldn’t say I’m the Michael Jordan of eating the Bub’s Big Ugly, but I’m at least the Robert Horry of eating the Bub’s Big Ugly. (For those of you who have lives and don’t follow sports to the alarming degree I do, Robert Horry is a former decent NBA player who made ridiculously clutch plays when it mattered most.)As I took my final bite of the patty, I had defeated the Big Ugly. I was stuffed to my brim full of meat but couldn’t be happier.“I’ll go grab the camera,” Justin said. “I’m impressed.”Damn right, Justin.Evan – 1, Bub’s – 0.I had three hours to recover for my banana split at Hartzell’s, but I wasn’t worried. I have been eating Edy’s Rocky Road out of the tub for years. The banana split was a beautiful creature. It was an aesthetically pleasing piece of ice cream artwork. Like I said, I wasn’t too worried — this was ice cream.As I was downing the last couple bites of my banana split, I had time to reflect on my day of eating. Bloomington is home to many little places only local to this great city. Take a walk down Fourth Street and observe all the ethnic restaurants. Or right by College Mall there’s this little place called “Wendy’s” I think you’ll really enjoy.I had bested the banana split. Two out of three food challenges had been defeated by yours truly. It was a great experience, even though I won’t be hungry until May.Evan – 1, Hartzell’s – 0.
(04/14/14 6:11pm)
The not-so-simple challenge that was presented to me: three pancakes and Paxson’s Potatoes from Village Deli for brunch, the ‘‘Big Ugly’’ Challenge from Bub’s for dinner, and a banana split from Hartzell’s for dessert.
(04/14/14 3:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To say wide receiver Shane Wynn — known for being one of the more vocal players of the IU football team — was excited about his team’s win would be an understatement.Wynn was asked if the spring game win would give him bragging rights. He said he was already celebrating his victory before the clock hit zero.“I was talking on the field,” Wynn said with a laugh. “Before the game was even over, I was making them mad.”Wynn captained the Cream team in the annual spring football game. His 141 receiving yards led the Cream team to a 24-14 victory against the Crimson team in front of a crowd of 9,231 people Saturday in Memorial Stadium.Both quarterbacks, who will be juniors next fall, played on opposite teams. Nate Sudfeld led the Crimson team while Tre Roberson led a quick-strike Cream attack in windy conditions.“The wind was a factor, but this is the Midwest,” Roberson said. “You gotta be able to play in the wind.”Roberson said his favorite target was Wynn, who — thanks to Kofi Hughes and Ted Bolser graduating and Cody Latimer forgoing his senior season to enter the NFL draft — will be the only returning starting receiver this fall.Wynn, a 5-foot-7 speedster, was exclusively used in the slot receiver last season. During the offseason, the coaches challenged Wynn to play more on the outside of the formation. He said he’s still learning the nuances of being split out wide.“I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable,” Wynn said of playing outside. “They (the coaches) help me with a lot of plays. I know most of them, but I would say I’m about 85-percent comfortable outside. But I still know everything inside.”Roberson had 176 passing yards, meaning Wynn accounted for all but 35 of his quarterback’s yardage through the air. Roberson also added 66 rushing yards, including a read-option keeper that fooled everybody in the stadium.Roberson faked a handoff to tailback Tevin Coleman — who finished the day with 61 rushing yards on just three carries in limited action — and took off sprinting past the left side of the offensive line. Everybody on the Crimson defense was fooled, and Roberson ran 59 yards untouched for the touchdown.The play even fooled Roberson’s own offense.“Yeah, he tricked me,” Wynn said. “I was looking at the tailback and he had stopped. So I’m like, ‘Man, what is he doing?’ Then everybody started cheering and I’m like, ‘Man, Tre’s got the ball.’”Roberson and his counterpart Sudfeld — who went 29-40 for 273 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions — split time for the majority of the 2013 season. A starter is not likely to be announced any time in the 138 days before the team’s home opener against Indiana State Aug. 30.In the season opener last year against Indiana State, the starter was announced just two hours and 54 minutes before kickoff via the team’s official Twitter account.Wilson said he likes having two quarterbacks that play at a high level. The lack of having a solidified starter isn’t a problem in Wilson’s eyes.“I don’t know how you can get two quarterbacks on the field at the same time,” he said. “But they might be two of our best 11 guys on our team.”Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.
(04/08/14 4:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the second straight weekend, IU baseball swept a Big Ten foe on the road.Following up the dismantling of Ohio State last weekend, where the Hoosiers outhit the Buckeyes 42-19, the Hoosier bats picked up right where they left off against the Hawkeyes. IU (18-10, 8-1) beat Iowa (16-12, 3-6) in the final game of the series 5-3 thanks to a late game rally.“When we got our pitches to hit,” junior catcher Kyle Schwarber said, “we didn’t miss them.”In the first two games against Iowa, IU hit a total of eight home runs and never trailed. The Hoosiers outscored the Hawkeyes 20-6 in the first two games.The series was moved to a Saturday-Sunday-Monday format because of rain showers on Friday, giving IU the chance to sweep the Hawkeyes on Monday.In game three, IU’s offense was stagnant. Despite a solid combined outing from sophomores Will Coursen-Carr and Evan Bell, who threw a combined seven innings while giving up one run, the Hoosiers trailed Iowa 1-0 heading to the top of the eighth.But the dormant Hoosier bats came alive in the eighth.Junior preseason all-American Sam Travis recorded an RBI single to score one run, making it a 1-1 affair. After Scott Donley’s sacrifice bunt, Dustin DeMuth stepped up to bat. Iowa elected to intentionally walk DeMuth, and in the process snapped his 16-game hitting streak as the senior went 0-2 on the day with two walks.That left a pivotal opportunity for junior Brad Hartong — bases loaded, one out, tie game in the eighth inning. Hartong, a junior college transfer playing in his first year for the Hoosiers, said he was ready to make a play for this team. In the sixth inning the Hawkeyes had also intentionally walked DeMuth. Hartong grounded out when the Hawkeyes intentionally walked DeMuth, squandering the potential scoring opportunity.“I knew I just had to get a pitch elevated,” Hartong said. “Hopefully deep enough to get a sac fly or something.”Hartong sharply hit a curveball between the third baseman and the foul line. The stand up double for the Long Beach, Calif., native plated two runs, giving IU the 3-1 lead. IU would score twice more in the frame, pushing the lead to 5-1.IU Coach Tracy Smith said he “toyed around” with the idea of pinch-hitting for Hartong but ultimately left him in the game.“We let him in there to get the job done,” Smith said. “And he got it done.”In the bottom of the ninth, sophomore closer Scott Effross was having trouble putting the game away. He opened up the inning by giving up three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Effross then struck out the next batter looking for the key out. Iowa ended up scoring two in the frame, but it was not enough to prevent the Hoosier sweep.IU is currently riding a six-game winning streak, all on the road, and boast a plus 30 run differential in that span, but Smith said he isn’t content.“We still have better baseball left to play,” he said.
(04/04/14 3:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dozens of shirtless players danced around their coach.Junior catcher and preseason All-American Kyle Schwarber was the first to start dancing. He was rhythmically taking off his catcher’s gear and, eventually, his red IU shirt.He ran to IU Coach Tracy Smith along with a few other IU players. Immediately, the mosh pit began. The players then abandoned their head coach and ran to their assistant coaches. Dozens of players now jumped shirtless, an assistant coach at the center of the mosh pit.The scene died down, and the players dispersed, laughing. Smith had some questions.“What the hell was that?” Smith said to nobody in particular. “Somebody want to tell me what just happened? Is that, like, some Internet thing?”A video of the prank was later posted to the team’s official Twitter account. The April Fools’ joke the players executed on their coaches demonstrated the looseness the team has played with the past week. Leading into the series against Ohio State, Smith said his team had been pressing the whole season. The team was trying too hard, he said, and the subsequent results were not befitting a team ranked No. 3 in the Baseball America preseason poll.“It’s got us inconsistency,” Smith said of his team pressing too much. “So let’s just be who we are and get back to that.”IU swept Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, last weekend. The Hoosiers outscored the Buckeyes 21-7 and outhit them 42-19 in the three-game series.The No. 24 Hoosiers (15-10, 5-1) will try to replicate that success in Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend. IU will take on Iowa (16-9, 3-3) in another three-game Big Ten road stint.The series, originally to be played in a Friday-Saturday-Sunday format, has been pushed back to a Saturday-Sunday-Monday affair because of forecasts of rain Friday.The Hawkeyes have had mixed results this year. After taking two of three games from Nebraska — a team projected to finish second in the Big Ten in the preseason — the Hawkeyes lost three of four games, including a defeat against Bradley and two losses to Michigan.IU played Michigan in its first Big Ten series of the year. The Hoosiers came within a diving catch on the warning track of sweeping the Wolverines.The Hoosiers will try and stymie the efforts of Hawkeye pitcher Calvin Mathews. Mathews was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Monday after his performance against Michigan, in which he led Iowa to its only win in the series.Mathews threw a complete game, surrendering six hits and two runs. He struck out nine batters and walked none.He will be matched up against IU’s staff ace, senior Joey DeNato. DeNato is 5-1 this year with a 2.22 ERA. With his last start, DeNato now holds the record for most strikeouts in IU history.Sophomore Christian Morris will get the start Sunday. Junior Kyle Hart, who is the normal No. 2 starter, suffered a strained forearm in his last start against Ohio State and is out of the rotation this weekend. Monday’s starter has yet to be announced.
(04/01/14 1:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>All the students were looking at Kyle Hart when he walked into his chemistry class.Hart stands out from most students because of his 6-foot-5-inch frame. But this time he was drawing attention for walking into his C117 test half an hour late.“Everybody was just staring at me,” he said.He was tardy because earlier that afternoon he was busy shutting down the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats. Hart’s final line: 8 innings pitched, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. IU won 7-2 in front of a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd at Bart Kaufman Field. Hart said it was possibly the best he’s ever pitched at IU, but the test didn’t go as well.“That test actually went terrible,” he said. “I still had a ton of adrenaline going, so yeah, that was definitely not my best score.”The start against Kentucky was another peg in a historic month of March for Hart, where he has cemented himself as one of the Big Ten’s best pitchers. Before last week, Hart had won back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors and became one of the best starting pitchers in the conference. But his rise hasn’t come without adversity. Earlier this season, Hart started the year with two subpar outings and was subsequently demoted.After Hart’s start Feb. 22 against Utah — the Hoosiers lost in 15 innings — IU Coach Tracy Smith told Hart he was being taken off the weekend rotation.“You get what you deserve,” Smith said. “I know he’s a capable pitcher. But he was being tentative and a little unsure of himself.”Hart had thrown just four innings against Utah and lacked his usual control. In the previous start against Texas Tech, he was smacked all over the yard by the Red Raiders. His final line against Texas Tech was: 3 innings pitched, 2 hits, 5 earned runs, 5 walks and 1 strikeout.Smith added an ultimatum.“It was a little bit of a kick in the head for Skip to say to me, ‘Hey man, if you want to keep pitching, you’ll get a couple more opportunities. But you need to step it up,’” Hart said.Hart, who finished the 2013 season 8-2 with a 3.01 ERA and had the fourth-most wins in the Big Ten, was struggling. His ERA through two starts was 7.71.He was now the midweek starter and had to prove himself before returning to the weekend rotation.“I’m not trying to bash him or anything,” catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “But I think that gave him a good kick in the butt.”Upset with his performance, Hart went to his pitching coach, Brandon Higelin, and asked, “What the hell do I need to do?” This was new territory for Hart. He made almost every start last year as the Hoosiers’ No. 2 guy.He was walking batters and not locating his pitches. Hart talked to Higelin, Smith and his roommate, pitching staff ace Joey DeNato, on how to get better.He worked on keeping his weight back on the mound. It helps him keep his rhythm in sync and throw his pitches more consistently. Against Texas Tech in his first start, he was throwing the ball high in the zone. Against Utah in his second start, he was throwing the ball down in the zone.Now that he’s found that balance he has been one of the best pitchers in the Big Ten.“There’s nobody on this team that should doubt themselves,” Smith said. “Especially a guy like Kyle Hart. And I’m glad to see he’s thriving since those early starts. I would not hesitate to give him the ball against anyone, at any time.”In March the Cincinnati native threw 28.1 innings while boasting a 0.96 ERA. He went 3-0 and also added a save in a rare relief effort against Jacksonville.“It’s great to have him back,” Schwarber said. “It’s old him again.”In his last start against Ohio State, Hart came out to pitch the fifth inning. But after throwing a few warmup pitches he was surrounded by the coaching and training staff.Hart came out of the game due to a forearm strain. Smith said after the game he didn’t want to comment on the status of his pitcher, and he’ll be evaluated in the coming days.Hart said his dad, who is usually hard on him, has been texting him “good job” after several of his starts this month. But Hart isn’t content.“I still don’t feel like I’ve dominated yet,” Hart said. “I don’t mean to sound full of myself, but it needs to get better ... I’d like to get Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for 10 straight weeks.”
(03/31/14 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>COLUMBUS, Ohio – Coming into the weekend, IU and Ohio State were tied for the lead in the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes had the best overall record in the conference.The Hoosiers (15-10, 5-1) outhit the Buckeyes (16-10, 2-4) 42-19 during the weekend, en route to a three-game sweep of Ohio State.“We just went out with that demeanor of ‘We’re better then you,’” junior catcher Kyle Schwarber said.IU won 6-4 Friday behind senior pitcher Joey DeNato’s performance coupled with 15 Hoosier hits. DeNato threw seven innings and gave up just one earned run.Saturday’s game was rained out, sending the teams into a doubleheader in chilly conditions Sunday. IU outscored Ohio State 15-3 during the doubleheader. In game one, junior pitcher Kyle Hart — reigning back-to-back Big Ten Pitcher of the Week — came out before the fifth inning due to an injury.Hart would later be diagnosed with a strained forearm, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Sophomore Will Coursen-Carr was called on for relief.“I really had no idea what was going on,” Coursen-Carr said. “At that moment I was relaxed in the dugout. And then it was like, ‘Oh, I’m in.’”Despite the short notice, Coursen-Carr shutout the Buckeyes in his five innings of relief work. He native has struggled recently, and IU Coach Tracy Smith said he was impressed.“That’s huge,” Smith said. “At that time it was colder than the dickens. And to be sitting there, bundled up in jackets, having no idea you’re going into the game — I thought that was an outstanding job by him.”Smith said he didn’t want to comment about Hart’s status. He said he doesn’t know if the injury is serious or not, and Hart will be evaluated in the coming days.In game two of the double header, the Hoosier bats came alive again and the pitching stymied the Buckeyes.Starting pitcher Christian Morris’s line was 7.2 innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk and four strikeouts.“Kudos to him,” Schwarber said. “He did a hell of a job.”IU added 14 hits in support of Morris, including an inside-the-park home run by senior infielder Dustin DeMuth that scored two runs.The home run extended DeMuth’s hitting streak to 14 games. The Hoosier offense was strong all weekend. Schwarber went 6-for-12 during the series, leadoff man Casey Rodrigue scored in every game and designated hitter junior Scott Donley had five RBI.“We finally put it together for a weekend,” Smith said. “I don’t want to say I’m surprised on that because I’ve seen it before.”IU put together its finest weekend of the season thus far, Smith and the players said.Players said the mentality of the team was different.“We were aggressive, we were confident and a little bit arrogant,” Coursen-Carr said. “Arrogant in a good way, not a bad way.”
(03/28/14 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The last time IU and Ohio State played a weekend series, the Hoosiers were trying to accomplish a feat 81 years in the making.In the final Big Ten series of the season last May, IU was in contention with three other schools — including Ohio State — for the Big Ten crown.The Hoosiers took two of three game from the Buckeyes to capture their first outright Big Ten regular season championship since 1932.“I think everybody understands what this series means,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said.IU (12-10, 2-1) travels to Columbus, Ohio, for a rematch with Ohio State (16-7, 2-1) this weekend for a marquee three-game stint.“Our guys are smart — they know how to turn on a computer and read the Internet, and they see that Ohio State is hot,” Smith said.According to the coaches’ preseason predictions, both of these teams are expected to finish near the top of the conference. The Hoosiers were picked to win the Big Ten and Ohio State was predicted to finish third.Coming into the year ranked No. 3 in the preseason Baseball America poll, IU has struggled and is no longer ranked.“I tell the guys, you’ve seen the light, so it can’t get much worse,” Smith said.Smith said he expected the offense to make up for any shortcomings the pitching and fielding would have coming into the season. “It’s been totally reversed,” he said.The Hoosier pitching staff has been one of the Big Ten’s best. They lead the Big Ten in team ERA by more than .3 runs a game. But the offense has struggled compared to last year.Last season, IU led the Big Ten in batting average, on base percentage, slugging, hits, runs, doubles, home runs and total bases.This year, the Hoosiers have seen a drop off of almost two runs per game. They averaged 6.6 runs per game last year, compared to 4.5 this year.“We were one of the best offensive teams in the country and had guys coming back,” Smith said, pointing to a picture of preseason All-Americans Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis hanging on his office wall. “You’d never think we would be struggling the way we are offensively.”Meanwhile, 220 miles to the east, the Buckeyes are on a hot streak. Ohio State owns the best overall record in the conference and has won eight of their last nine games.They’ve been led by their pitching staff, which has kept opponents at a .248 batting average — a Big Ten best.Senior Joey DeNato, junior Kyle Hart — who’s won two straight Big Ten Pitcher of the Week awards — and sophomore Christian Morris are projected to start Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively for IU.The three Buckeye pitchers they’ll face are a combined 9-1 this year.“We’ve been pressing all year,” Smith said. “And look what pressing has got us. It’s got us inconsistency. So let’s just be who we are, and get back to that.”
(03/25/14 4:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I saw one writer on Twitter call it Bloody Monday.Transfer Monday. Exodus Monday. Deuces Monday. The Maddest Monday in March. Call it whatever you want, but when the dust settled Sunday, the IU men’s basketball program was reeling from the departure of several players due to transfers and a professional opportunity.To recap, IU lost freshman Noah Vonleh on Monday to the NBA and sophomore Jeremy Hollowell, redshirt sophomores Austin Etherington and Jonny Marlin to transfers. Other walk-ons such as Andrew Calomeris and Joe Fagan are also rumored to be on their way out.Vonleh’s departure is obviously the most impactful. He’ll most likely be a top-10 lottery pick in the NBA draft this upcoming June.I personally thought it would be beneficial for Vonleh to stay another year to develop and wait for this crop of great freshmen to go pro so he could go higher in next year’s draft — plus he turns 19 in August — but his decision makes complete sense.It will be cool to see him wear an NBA uniform next season. Vonleh’s decision to make millions of dollars playing basketball didn’t come as too much as a surprise to IU fans. It was well within the realm of possibility.Then came the transfers of Etherington and Hollowell. Both averaged more than 10 minutes a game. Etherington came back this year after tearing his ACL and provided some quality minutes.According to a press release, Etherington will graduate this spring, after three years, so he’ll be able to play for whatever school he decides to transfer to right away.Plus his departure means the recruiting class of 2011 — which was also my class, don’t worry guys I’m coming back for my senior season — has now completely left the program. Cody Zeller went to the NBA last year, Remy Abell transferred to Xavier and now Etherington will leave.Zeller’s departure was expected, but Abell and Etherington could have really helped this upcoming year.Hollowell is more of a sad story of unfilled potential. Billed as one of the premier players of “The Movement” recruiting class of 2012, he has never become the player IU fans thought he would become.His on-court effort has come under fire and he was benched for three games earlier this season for “focus issues.”OK, take a deep breath IU fans. This is a lot to digest.For IU to take a jump next year, the young core of Ferrell-Williams-Robinson-Davis will have to improve, Oladipo-style.Incoming freshmen five-star James Blackmon and four-star Rob Johnson will help mend the levee IU basketball is currently undergoing.It’s hard for any program to sustain success after three quality role players transfer — don’t forget about Luke Fischer — and a top-10 lottery pick leave in a single year.But here’s the problem: IU isn’t trying to sustain success. It’s trying to take a significant step up. This season was a disappointment in terms of fans’ expectations. Nobody was expecting a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament like last year’s bunch, but people expected this to be a tournament team.Not only did IU not qualify for the NCAA tournament, they couldn’t even qualify for the NIT.The development of Ferrell-Williams-Robinson-Davis, plus the additions of Blackmon and Johnson might be enough to get IU back to the same level they were this year with the departures of Vonleh, Sheehey, Gordon, Etherington, Howard and Etherington.But going 7-11 in the Big Ten isn’t good enough for IU fans.IU fans will expect a bounce back year. Instead of reading about what they can do to return to greatness in March, IU fans expect to be rooting for a team that’s dancing. All yesterday did was make the mountain to relevance steeper.
(03/14/14 2:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS - With just more than two minutes left in the game, IU still had a chance.The Hoosiers trailed Illinois 53-52. A contested Austin Etherington layup cut the deficit to just one with three minutes 13 seconds remaining. Illinois and IU traded missed jumpers, and the Illini had the ball with two minutes 31 seconds left.IU was originally in a man-to-man defense. Tom Crean and his assistants yelled out “two!” and held up two fingers. Crean wanted his team to switch to a 2-3 zone on the fly.But there was miscommunication. 6-foot Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell was trapped down low. 6-foot-10 Noah Vonleh was out on the top on the zone. Ferrell was defending another Illini player closer to the baseline. Vonleh was checking the man at the top of the key. “That was somebody else’s spot to be in,” Vonleh said after the game.That left a gaping hole on the left wing. Illini guard Tracy Abrams, who finished with a game-high 25 points, pumped-faked one pass to get Ferrell’s momentum going away from him and had plenty of time to set up the most important shot of the game — virtually unguarded.“It was a defensive mistake,” Crean said. “It’s something that we practiced. It was just a mistake. We didn’t get into that rotation as quick as we needed to. We’ve done it all year. I mean, we’ve played that kind of defense all year.” As Abrams’ three fell through the net, it served as the perfect microcosm for this IU season.IU had the talent to compete against Illinois, but silly mistakes like defensive miscommunications on the game’s most crucial play and committing 16 turnovers stymied the Hoosier attack.Abrams’ three spurred an 11-2 run by Illinois to close out the game and ended the Hoosier regular season. When the buzzer sounded, Illinois won 64-54.Shooting haunted the Hoosiers in the second stanza. In the first half IU went 6-for-10 from behind the arc. In the second half, the Hoosiers again shot 10 threes. But none went in.The leaders, the best players on this team, struggled. Ferrell and Vonleh combined to go 6-for-22 from the field for 20 points — six of which came from Ferrell free throws.Ferrell and Vonleh were the lynchpins IU needed to have success this season. Ferrell’s long-range shooting stretched the defense, and Vonleh was a rebound monster and a defensive enforcer in the paint, always challenging shots.But Vonleh hasn’t been the same lately. He sat out two games with foot inflammation. He hasn’t recorded double-digit rebounds in more than a month. He hasn’t scored in double digits since the loss at Wisconsin on Feb. 25.Is he hitting the freshman wall? Has he just been hurt for the last five games?“I don’t know if you ever see a proverbial wall where they just run up to it and smack it,” Crean said. “They can hide it pretty well. You can hide it with your practices and not going as long. But there’s no question that missing the games that he missed and those type of things bothered him.”To me, Vonleh hasn’t looked healthy. He lacks that explosiveness that was present in the beginning of the season. Not explosiveness in a conventional meaning, but Vonleh was always getting a hand on almost every ball that came into the paint. He was the Roy Hibbert for this IU team — the defensive anchor patrolling the middle of the lane.Maybe the load of carrying the team wore on him too much. Maybe the load of the other premiere player on this team, Ferrell, was too much to bear also.The last time Ferrell shot more than 50 percent from the field was Superbowl Sunday, on Feb. 2, when he lit the world on fire against Michigan.This team is Young with a capital “Y”. Troy Williams, Stanford Robinson, Devin Davis — these are all freshmen who needed their leaders to step up.Will Sheehey has stepped up. He has played with brilliant enthusiasm and efficiency. In the last five games he’s had 30, 19, 13, 17 and 13 points.But the overall team talent never coalesced into something sustainable this season. One day IU beats No. 10 Michigan by double digits, and the very next three games IU looses to Minnesota, Penn State and Purdue.This team could have been a darling of IU fans. One fans could’ve gotten behind. They could have been the tough, scrappy, athletic, hard-nosed kids who played great defense and left everything on the floor.IU fans will tell themselves it’ll be OK.Five-star recruit James Blackmon is coming; that’ll shore up the shooting troubles. This young crop of freshman will get a full summer to practice; they’ll get better. Hell, Vonleh might even come back to school, and IU could do some real damage next year.But until this current crop of players matures into a consistent unit, the expected success won’t happen.They had 32 games to figure it out, and couldn’t.Now let’s see if they can figure it out in the eight months leading into next season.ehoopfer@indiana.edu
(03/14/14 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU will play some Dirtbags this weekend.The No. 16 Hoosiers (8-6) travel to California to face the Long Beach State Dirtbags (8-7) in IU’s final non-conference series.IU was ranked No. 3 in preseason polls but started the year 2-5. They’ve turned it around by winning six of their last seven games, including knocking off two ranked opponents.“I think we’re starting to figure it out,” junior first baseman Sam Travis said. “Slowly.”IU comes into the series against Long Beach State fresh off a 7-2 home win against No. 20 Kentucky.Several players and IU Coach Tracy Smith said the win was important because of a lackluster showing the previous weekend.Despite beating Jacksonville in two of three games, Smith was not proud of how his team played.Smith said the team didn’t pay enough attention to what they needed to do, but addressed these issues after the games.Long Beach State also started the year 2-5 and has fought back to currently sit above .500. The Dirtbags boast wins against Arizona State and USC this year, and swept a two-game series against Arizona.The projected IU starters are senior Joey DeNato (3-1 with a 1.37 ERA) and sophomore Will Coursen-Carr (1-2 with a 4.12 ERA). Sunday’s starter has yet to be announced.In the first-ever meeting between the Dirtbags and Hoosiers at 9 p.m. March 14, Long Beach State will have a special promotion. Fans with moustaches, real or fake, will receive tickets for $5.The moustache-laden crowd will see DeNato, making a return to his home state, pitch against Long Beach State’s Nick Sabo. Sabo has gone 2-1 this year with a 1.67 ERA.Coursen-Carr will face Andrew Rohrbach, who is 2-1 this year with a 3.04 ERA, during the 5 p.m. game March 15.The Dirtbag pitcher and the Hoosier pitcher for March 16’s game at 4 p.m. have yet to be announced.This series will be the only time this season the Hoosiers venture to the Golden State. They’ll see a dramatic difference in the weather from what they’ve experienced at home.Just nine days after IU’s home opener against Xavier, where snow had to be removed from Bart Kaufman Field, IU will finish the series against Long Beach State Sunday with a projected high of 87 degrees.After the three-game stint in California, IU comes back for a home rematch against No. 17 Louisville before Michigan comes to Bloomington the following weekend.Smith stressed the importance of getting in sync during the non-conference portion of the schedule to gear up for Big Ten play.“If we have her nailed down by the time we start the conference, that’s kind of the purpose of what we’re doing,” Smith said.
(03/13/14 2:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Illinois and IU played one of the best games of their respective seasons on Dec. 31.Illinois squeaked out the win in overtime 83-80. Despite being outplayed in several areas, IU had several chances to win the game.The Hoosiers shot 41 percent compared to the Illini’s 45 percent. IU, in an eerie foreshadowing of things to come, had 23 turnovers compared to just 10 for Illinois.Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell went off for 30 points and four assists. But he also had six turnovers.IU lost, but Hoosier nation was feeling good about hanging tough despite a minus-13 turnover margin. My column title was even, “IU’s loss to Illinois is an encouraging one.”Fast forward 17 Big Ten games and the conference opener against Illinois would serve as a prelude of what to expect for the rest of the season: a frustrating mix of talent and inconsistency.IU (17-14, 7-11), the No. 8 seed, will face the No. 9 seed, Illinois (18-13, 7-11), in the first round of the Big Ten tournament in Bankers Life Fieldhouse at noon.The first game of the tournament features two teams that had disappointing seasons.IU, despite knocking off four ranked opponents, finished the year 7-11 in the Big Ten.Illinois also finished the year 7-11 but took a different journey. They had an eight game losing streak earlier in the season but have bounced back to win four of their last five.They come into Indianapolis play well. And the teams Illinois has beaten lately aren’t scrubs. They’ve knocked off Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan State and Iowa. Its only loss in the last five games was to Big Ten champion Michigan.Illinois strength is their defense. They rank third in the Big Ten in defensive efficiency according to kenpom.com. They also rank second in the Big Ten in steal percentage and forcing turnovers.In case you hadn’t noticed, IU has had some trouble holding onto the ball this year. They turn the ball over on 21.9 percent of their possessions in Big Ten play, the worst figure in the conference.So IU has a lot of turnovers, and Illinois is really good at forcing turnovers. This could spell disaster for the Hoosiers.The Illini’s offense has been woeful, though. In Big Ten play they average 60 points a game. Only Northwestern has a worse offense. And Illinois has shot 38.1 percent in conference play.Woof.The funny thing is — I think IU matches up better with Michigan then Illinois. IU has shown it can run with the high-flying offenses, but they have trouble grinding it out with the offensively challenged teams.It has been 72 days since that Big Ten opener where both teams scored in the 80s. That won’t happen again.Expect a grind-it-out type of affair. First one to 60 wins.IU squeaks by the Illini, and moves onto play Michigan on Friday. It won’t be pretty, but Illinois’ offense isn’t good enough to score enough points on the Hoosiers. Although IU might have 20-plus turnovers, Hoosier Nation will celebrate in Indianapolis.Prediction: IU 62, Illinois 58Evan Hoopfer is 13-8 in predictions this year.ehoopfer@indiana.edu
(03/11/14 3:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I don’t know if Noah Vonleh’s coming back.Your guess is as good as mine as to whether Vonleh will leave IU or go to the NBA.The question I can attempt to answer, though — should Vonleh go pro?No.I know this sounds crazy. I know it sounds crazy to leave millions of dollars on the table. I know it sounds crazy to gamble on the future and come back to college for another year when the threat of injury is always looming.I know all the reasons why I’m crazy. But hear me out — I think Vonleh would be better served if he came back to IU for his sophomore year. I’m not saying this for selfish reasons of wanting to watch him play or wanting IU to be better. I genuinely think it’s what is best for Vonleh.Whenever I think of Vonleh, the name Blake Griffin comes to mind. Griffin had a spectacular freshman year at Oklahoma. He averaged 15 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes per game. He was named first team All-Big 12.He was slated to be a top lottery pick in the NBA draft. So he went pro, right?No. Griffin came back for his sophomore season and lit the world on fire. He averaged 23 points, 14 rebounds in 33 minutes. He was the No. 1 pick in the draft the next year.Griffin had the chance to be a top 10 lottery pick, but he opted to come back for his sophomore season. He improved, and he was ultimately better served for coming back to school.Vonleh will make a lot of money someday in the NBA. But the IU program has proven it can develop players — just Google the name Oladipo. So if Vonleh has the work ethic — and it sure seems like it — he will get better. He’ll improve his footwork in the post and develop that dangerous David West/Lamarcus Aldridge/Chris Bosh 18-footer.Vonleh will get better. And all the top players ahead of him will leave. Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Dante Exum, Marcus Smart — these guys will probably go pro.With all those guys gone, suddenly the race for the No. 1 pick in 2015 becomes wide open. Sure, the freshman crop coming in next year will be in contention for the No. 1 pick, but Vonleh, as long he continues to get better, will be the frontrunner.And here’s the kicker — Vonleh turns 19 in August. That’s right, he’s been tearing up the Big Ten as an 18-year-old. So even if he decides to come back and enter the draft next year, he would still be a teenager.If Vonleh comes back, the development of these young freshmen plus the addition of 5-star guard James Blackmon Jr. will give IU a legit shot of making a deep run come March.Being on a good team and getting national exposure is also a plus for Vonleh’s future draft stock.If Vonleh decides to leave IU, I can’t blame him. If I were in his situation — don’t worry, IU fans, I’m coming back for my senior season, it turns out there’s not a big demand for 5-foot-9 slow guys in the NBA — I might even leave and take the millions.Whatever he chooses, I wish him the best. It was a pleasure to watch him this year.But Vonleh should come back. Not for Crean. Not for his teammates. Not for Hoosier Nation.But for himself.ehoopfer@indiana.edu@EvanHoopfer
(03/09/14 2:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Back on Jan. 22, I had a master plan for IU basketball to succeed for the rest of the year.IU had just hung tough with then-No. 3 Michigan State, losing by five points. I said IU Coach Tom Crean should lie to his team, and tell his players every opponent left on their schedule is ranked.For whatever reason, IU played better against good teams this year.The same thing happened Saturday. IU (17-14, 7-11) went mano-a-mano with No. 12 Michigan (23-7, 15-3), falling 84-80 in a hotly-contested battle. The Hoosiers had a legitimate shot to beat the Big Ten champions, as they have with several other ranked teams this year.When looking at data versus ranked teams, you can decide if you want to use the most current rankings or what the teams were ranked at the time of the game.I’m using what the team was ranked at the time, because it helps play into the mindset of the IU players leading into the matchup.Having said that, IU is 4-4 in the Big Ten against ranked teams. Against non-ranked conference teams IU is 3-7.All four of those victories — No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan, No. 20 Iowa and No. 22 Ohio State — came in Assembly Hall. The only loss in Assembly Hall against No. 5 Michigan State.Besides that Spartan loss, the Hoosiers are 4-1 at home against ranked teams.That same team finished the year 17-14 and 7-11 in the Big Ten.These two things shouldn’t go together. When looking at the Hoosiers’ record without any context, it would appear they were a below-average to bad team.It’s hard to explain a below-average to bad team being .500 against ranked competition.There could be any number of reasons. Maybe the youth of IU get up for the big game and their talent reaches their potential. Maybe Assembly Hall is just a natural-born giant killer. Which, by the way, would be a great nickname for the stadium. If I were an IU fan I’d buy a shirt that said, “Assembly Hall — Giant Killer.”Anyway, the fact that IU plays better against ranked competition ultimately makes them a good team.Or a bad team.Or somewhere in between.I don’t know. My head hurts.The inconsistency has been infuriating to IU fans. They’ve seen the potential this supremely talented team has. And then the team gets blown out by Purdue.I chose to view this as a plus for IU’s future. This season is in the books. Barring an improbable Big Ten tournament crown, IU won’t go dancing.But like I said before, this team is laden with young talent that will only get better. Stan Robinson, Troy Williams, Devin Davis — these are all players that have shown promise this year and could be significant contributors to an a higher echelon team in the future.I think IU will be giant killers again next season.It’s weird to think IU’s 2014-15 season could depend on if the Hoosiers can take care of business against the Northwesterns, Purdues and Penn States of the world.IU has the talent to hang with the big boys.Now they need the focus to beat teams without a number in front of their name. ehoopfer@indiana.edu@EvanHoopfer
(03/07/14 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This IU season has been like an all-too-predictable movie starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant.The Hoosiers get up for the big games when teams have a number in front of their name — like No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 10 Michigan, No. 20 Iowa and No. 22 Ohio State — and come out flat against teams they arguably have equal or a greater amount of talent than — Northwestern, Penn State and twice, Nebraska.Expect to see a repeat episode from a previous edition of this IU basketball season Saturday.When IU (17-14, 7-11) travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to play the Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverines (22-7, 14-3) at 6 p.m. Saturday, IU fans have seen this particular scenario play out before this season.IU knocked off then-No. 3 Wisconsin at home. Then IU traveled to the Kohl Center and fell in the rematch after Wisconsin scored 50 second-half points.So with the help of an excellent Assembly Hall crowd, IU knocked off a Big Ten giant. But away from home, the young Hoosiers were overmatched.Expect more of the same against Michigan. In the first go-round with these teams, Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell donned a Superman cape and played out of his mind on both ends of the floor.He was 7-for-8 from behind the arc, and made Wolverine star Nik Stauskas a complete non-factor — Stauskas scored one basket. It was a virtuoso performance that made me write an “Ode to Yogi Ferrell” column after the game.But both the Wolverines and Hoosiers are different teams. Michigan is really, really good, in case you haven’t noticed. The Wolverines eviscerated Illinois for the Big Ten crown in their last game. In the Hoosiers’ last game, they put together a poor performance against Nebraska on senior night.Michigan is too good. But most of all, IU won’t have the comfort of playing in Assembly Hall.The only chance IU has is if Michigan takes its foot off the gas pedal because it already clinched the Big Ten crown. But I don’t see this Wolverine team doing that.College basketball isn’t like professional sports. You don’t sit your players or alter your mindset when you clinch a postseason berth. Michigan is still playing for a high seed come dancing time.They won’t let this inconsistent Hoosier team get in their way.Expect to see Michigan Coach John Beilein make adjustments to slow down Ferrell. The sophomore point guard won’t get to wear his Superman cape for a second time around.Plus, throw in the foot injury for Noah Vonleh, and who knows if IU will even have the proper horses to compete against the Wolverines. Even though a horse would probably beat a Wolverine in a fight, these Hoosiers will be maimed by Michigan.IU ends their regular season on a two-game skid as they look to make a miracle run in the Big Ten tournament next week.Prediction: Michigan 78, IU 67Evan Hoopfer is 12-8 in predictions this year.
(03/07/14 4:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Joey DeNato was having the game of his life.On June 15, 2013, IU was playing Louisville in IU’s first ever College World Series. Through seven innings, DeNato had given up no runs and IU led 2-0.Now it was the bullpen’s turn. That’s what everybody thought, except DeNato and IU Coach Tracy Smith. Matt Chess was DeNato’s high school coach at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. When DeNato texted him that he was starting against Louisville a few days prior, Chess wanted no distractions. He drove two hours north to Palm Desert and watched the game on ESPN at a friend’s house to get away from everything.Upon the conclusion of the seventh, Chess said “‘Atta boy,” and switched the television to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. DeNato, he thought, was done.Joey’s mother, Amy DeNato, also thought her son was done. Amy is always a nervous wreck when her son pitches. When she and her husband, Steve DeNato, listen to Joey’s games on the radio — they still live in California, so they only see about half of Joey’s games in person — she has to leave the room because of nerves. She makes Steve tell her what happened afterward.One time when Joey pitched in high school, Amy was taking pictures but she had to stop. Her hands were shaking too badly to hold the camera.When she sees her son pitch in person the nerves are worse, she said. That’s why she made herself the team’s “unofficial” photographer. The distraction helps calm her nerves.But she had never seen her son pitch in this type of atmosphere. Thousands of people in the stands all had their eyes on her and Steve’s only child. At the end of the seventh inning, she kept looking over to the bullpen to see who Smith had warming up to replace her son.It was empty.Nobody was coming to relieve Joey. This was his game.“I just wanted him to be done pitching,” Amy said with a laugh, recalling the nerves.Despite throwing 115 pitches through seven innings, in the bottom of the eighth Joey trotted back out to the mound.DeNato didn’t even talk to Smith before the inning. In fact, the two never spoke the whole game. “I was just going in and out of the dugout,” he said.He wasn’t supposed to be out there. He had thrown too many pitches.But nothing about DeNato’s journey to that mound was conventional. DeNato wasn’t supposed to be the winningest pitcher in San Diego high school history. DeNato wasn’t supposed to be an ace pitcher in Division I baseball. The pitcher who lacked elite size and velocity on his fastball was overlooked by California colleges. He was overlooked by the MLB, which didn’t draft him last year despite his 10-2 record.For more reasons than his pitch count, Joey DeNato wasn’t supposed to be on that mound in the eighth inning in the College World Series.***When DeNato came to Torrey Pines High School as a freshman, he was among a group of seniors.The first thing Chess thought when he saw DeNato was, “He’s a little guy.”DeNato is listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds on the IU roster. But he was significantly skinner when he was 14. Chess had heard good things about DeNato, and his plan was to start him on junior varsity each week and then pitch relief for varsity. “We already had three solid starters,” Chess said.But DeNato kept getting better. After the game when everybody was leaving, he would run the stairs of the stadium and do his crazy workout, Chess said.Chess said he had to give DeNato a chance on varsity.It was the playoffs. Torrey Pines was playing Poway High School in the semifinal game. Poway beat Torrey Pines the previous season, ending Torrey Pines’ year. The staff ace had already pitched, so Chess couldn’t pitch him again against Poway.Chess had a choice: go with his No. 2 starter Jerrud Sabourin — who went on to play at IU — or his No. 3 starter Kevin Vance — who is now in the Chicago White Sox farm system — or freshman Joey DeNato.He went with the little guy.When Chess asked DeNato if he wanted to pitch, DeNato was too nervous to even speak. DeNato had only started one game earlier that year.But Poway had trouble hitting against DeNato. So to distract Poway, Torrey Pines used Vance, the No. 3 starter, as a decoy in the bullpen before the game began. When DeNato started, it was a surprise to everyone. Chess had made a deal with the frightened DeNato.“I said, ‘Just get me around the lineup one time. Just get me around the lineup one time and I’ll put Jared or Kevin in,’” Chess said.DeNato ended up throwing a complete game. Torrey Pines won 6-2.***Even though DeNato had cemented himself as one of the premier pitchers in Southern California, he wasn’t getting interest from local schools.“Out west,” Amy DeNato said, “They like those players that are over 6-feet and throw about 100 miles an hour,” DeNato, standing at 5-foot-10, has a fastball around 85-89 miles an hour. He wasn’t a flamethrower but rather a craftsman, Chess said.But the craftsman had no offers that interested him until IU. Hoosier Coach Tracy Smith went to see DeNato pitch in person. IU and the DeNato family were in talks about how big a scholarship Joey would get and Smith told Joey if he wanted more scholarship money, he needed to strike out more people.“And then he goes out and punches out 14 guys,” Smith said. To Smith, it showed the competitive nature that Joey possessed.“It was pretty much the best game that Joey pitched that I saw,” Chess said. “Other then the game last year against Louisville.”Then it was Joey’s turn to visit Smith and his program. Steve DeNato and his son decided to visit IU in January. Steve remembers it being bitter cold.“I played devil’s advocate and said, ‘Well Joe, you know its cold back there,’” Steve said. “He’s been in Michigan for a weekend. So he’s been cold for two days and then came back to California.”The two stayed at the Biddle Hotel. The next morning Steve made his son get out of the car and scrape the ice off the windshield. He wanted to make sure this was what his son wanted.“He never blinked,” Steve said.***DeNato went 7-3 in both his freshman and sophomore year at IU. He had a 2.80 and 3.22 ERA each years, respectively.But his junior year, the ace broke out. He finished 10-2 with a 2.52 ERA. DeNato finished with more than double the amount of strikeouts than walks given up.Smith gave DeNato the nod against Louisville in the College World Series. DeNato had given IU seven strong innings and then everybody thought DeNato’s 115-pitch performance would go down as a gem in Hoosier lore.But it was more then a gem. DeNato went through the eighth inning unscathed.Chess had flipped the channel back to the IU-Louisville game to check the score. He was shocked to see DeNato still pitching.“I was like, ‘What is this? Is this replay? What’s going on?’” Chess said.Once again, to everybody’s amazement, DeNato trotted back out to the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning. He had to finish the masterpiece he had spent eight innings crafting.Six pitches later, DeNato, the guy nobody thought would amount to much of anything, finished the complete-game shutout in the College World Series. His final line: 9 innings pitched, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts on 136 pitches.His mom was just glad it was over. “I can’t even describe how I felt,” Amy said.His father, watching from the stands, felt relief as IU right fielder Will Nolden caught the fly ball to end the game.“I can’t imagine that experience ever being matched,” he said. “I know it’s imprinted on his life forever. And I know it’s the same for Amy and I also.”When the team bus arrived at the hotel, Hoosier players filed into the lobby like a parade, Joey said. Amy and Steve stood waiting to meet their son who had overcome all the doubt to shine on the biggest stage in IU baseball’s 118-year history.They were at a loss for words.“What do you say, ‘nice game?’” Steve said. “It seems like anything you could say would be an understatement.”They don’t remember the exact conversation. They just remember being with their son.“When I talk about it, I start getting choked up,” Amy said. “It was one of the most amazing moments in our life.”***DeNato saw three of his teammates selected in the MLB Draft last year. Not him, though.“He’s probably not the sexiest guy from the professional perspective,” Smith said. He always jokes with DeNato and calls him everything from 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-5. “But the guy just wins. I look for him to get his chance professionally.”Chess said he wouldn’t be surprised to see DeNato make it big-time.“An organization that wants to win would have a kid like that on their team,” he said.By the time DeNato graduates, he could be the most decorated pitcher in IU history. So far in his senior season DeNato is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings pitched. IU is 3-0 in games he starts and 1-4 when he doesn’t.“Joey’s been phenomenal,” his catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “Joey’s Joey. I’ve said it for three years now, Joey’s gonna be Joey.”In his last outing he faced a familiar foe: Louisville. He went 7 innings, gave up 5 hits and 0 earned runs. This time he only threw 97 pitches en route to a 6-2 IU win.Even though Joey wasn’t pitching, when the Cardinals tallied a run in the ninth to make it a four-run game, Amy was a ball of nerves.Steve took a picture on his cell phone of Amy on the floor with her hands over her head. He sent it to Joey after the game.“She was basically in the fetal position,” Joey said. “It was pretty funny.”The MLB draft falls on June 5, 6 and 7 this year. DeNato will wait, and hope, for his name to be called.“He’s really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of athlete,” Chess said. “I’ve never had another kid like Joe.”