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(04/18/08 4:02am)
After dropping its last five contests, the IU baseball team (15-18) will head east Friday as it battles conference foe Penn State (11-21).\nIU coach Tracy Smith said he doesn’t know where his team ranks in the Big Ten and doesn’t want to know.\nThis is understandable as his team will carry a 4-8 conference record into the four-game series and is currently knotted with the Nittany Lions and Iowa for last place in the Big Ten.\n“We are going to turn this around and be firing on all cylinders,” Smith said. “My preference is if we are going to be playing our best baseball, I’d like it to be as we head into the Big Ten Tournament.”\nOnly the top six teams get into the conference tournament, and it starts May 21, so the Hoosiers need to break their losing streak soon.\nWith a team ERA at 6.04, many of the Hoosiers’ losses have come because of poor pitching. But after letting up 47 runs to the Hawkeyes last weekend, the Cream and Crimson allowed only five runs each in the team’s two midweek outings.\n“The staff as a whole has been struggling the last couple weeks and we really weren’t sure what was going on,” said sophomore pitcher Chris Squires, who worked two scoreless innings during Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to Ball State. “Lately, with Lousiville (Tuesday) night and Ball State (Wednesday), it seems like we are pitching a lot better.”\nThe announced starting pitcher for Friday’s game, sophomore Matt Bashore, hopes to leave the pitching woes well behind the Hoosiers for their next game.\nThe left-hander has been the team’s ace all season. After getting banged up in a hitters-friendly, windy battle against Iowa where he surrendered seven earned runs, Bashore’s ERA stands 2.72, still good for fourth in the Big Ten.\nSupporting Bashore will be one of the top-hitting offenses in the Big Ten with a conference-leading batting average at .329, the most hits at 372 and the second-most runs scored with 223.\nLately, the offense has sputtered, however, scoring only six runs in the last two games when it averages more than that a game.\n“We’ll be fine,” junior outfielder Chris Hervey said after Wednesday’s contest, a game in which the Hoosiers grounded into five double plays. “Our offense is good enough. We aren’t going to score 13 runs a game, but pitching has been coming around so six should be good enough.”\nThe Hoosiers will look to piece together both their hitting and pitching to earn a win for the first time in five games when their first of four games at Penn State starts at 6:35 p.m. Friday.
(04/17/08 4:59am)
Amazing defense from visiting Ball State subdued the IU baseball team’s normally strong offense Wednesday at Sembower Field. The Cardinals turned five double plays and held the Hoosiers to two runs on nine hits.\n“I don’t think that I have ever been in a game where we have hit into five double plays,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “You can do everything right – hit a ball hard – but once it leaves your bat, you are totally out of control of it.”\nWith the 5-2 non-conference loss, the Hoosiers fell to 15-18 on the year and now are on a five-game losing skid. \nA changeup from usual on their losing streak saw the Hoosier pitching staff, instead of their bats, excel Wednesday. The Cream and Crimson used five pitchers but kept an explosive Cardinal offense (21-11), boasting 55 home runs this season, in check.\nThe strongest performance on the mound came from sophomore Chris Squires, who allowed only one hit and struck out four in two innings of work.\n“I felt like I had nothing to lose,” said Squires, who came on in relief in the eighth. “I just used this as an opportunity today to go out there and say, ‘Hey, let’s just get these guys out, let’s go in, try and get a hit and not think about anything else.’” \nAgainst a strong Ball State team, the bullpen only allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings, a far cry from the team’s 6.04 earned run average.\nSmith says he loves baseball because “it is so unpredictable – so cruel.”\nThe cruelty he was referring to was his staff pitching well but getting no offensive help.\nLetting up five runs Wednesday and another five Tuesday against Louisville, the Hoosiers’ pitching is coming around after letting up 47 in a four game series with Iowa last weekend.\nBut the five double plays and the sudden dysfunction of his offense frustrates the third-year coach since the same bats led the Big Ten entering Wednesday’s game in batting average at .330 and runs scored at 221.\n“You hit, you hit, you hit and the pitchers don’t shut anybody down,” Smith said. “So you say, ‘Darnit pitchers, shut somebody down.’ And then when you do you don’t (hit).”\nJunior designated hitter Chris Hervey chalked up the double plays to baseball’s randomness and said he didn’t think it would happen again.\nThe Hoosiers will now travel east to Big Ten foe Penn State for a four-game series beginning Friday at 6:35 p.m. \nIU and the Nittany Lions both have 4-8 conference records and are tied with Iowa at the bottom of the division. Squires said wins on the road in the Big Ten are always hard to come by, but that his team is better and wins this weekend would be very valuable in moving out of last place.\nSmith said he refuses to check where his team’s conference record has them ranked and agrees with Squires that this weekend will be important.\n“I refuse to give up on this team, and they know they are going to win some games,” he said. “Five double plays are evidence of that, it can’t get any worse.”
(04/14/08 4:26am)
Pitching and defense again proved to be the Achilles heel of the IU baseball team as it dropped three of four games to Iowa this weekend.\nWith the losses, the Hoosiers fell to 4-8 in the Big Ten (12-18 overall), and their goal at making the Big Ten Tournament seems in jeopardy at the halfway point of the season.\nOn Friday, IU won in a dramatic ninth inning comeback in a game the team thought would set the tone for the series.\nDown 12-9 in the eighth, the Hoosiers mounted their comeback by plating two runs on two hits. \nSophomore catcher Josh Phegley singled in sophomore second baseman Evan Crawford to knot the game in the ninth, and then junior left fielder Chris Hervey drove in Phegley three batters later to give IU the 13-12 win.\n“It’s funny,” Hervey said after his hit. “Right in the beginning of the inning, I turned to (junior outfielder) Trevor McConnell and said, ‘Hey Trev, I’m going to win it this inning.’ And he said, ‘OK, OK Herv.’”\nAfter the win, Hervey said last year’s team would not have won the game, and this year’s team never thinks it is out of a game.\nIU did fight in the next three games, scoring 26 runs, but allowed a total of 35 runs and two Iowa comebacks as the team dropped its second Big Ten series in a row.\n“The positive is the resiliency offensively and how to come back and getting ourselves in a position to win,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “But it doesn’t matter if you don’t pitch or play defense. And we have hit a two-week stretch where we haven’t done that.”\nAfter IU used five pitchers in the seven- inning 13-10 loss in the cap of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Hoosiers needed some consistency on the mound Sunday.\nThat consistency came in the form of senior pitcher Doug Fleenor who allowed five runs through seven innings, keeping the contest all square before giving up two more in the eighth, a deficit the Hoosiers did not overcome.\nThough he lost, Smith was pleased with Fleenor’s performance as he completed eight innings while walking only two.\n“Doug, today, did a pretty good job,” Smith said. “He battled. He pitched. He was focused. I didn’t see any hesitation on his part, but we just didn’t make the plays behind him.”\nBehind Fleenor, IU committed five errors.\nThe Hoosiers now find themselves tied in last place in the Big Ten halfway through their season, but Smith remained optimistic, pointing out there is still plenty of time left.\n“We seem to be getting our game in bits and pieces,” he said. “We swing it, but we don’t pitch it, and if we pitch it, then we don’t play defense. But it’s like I told the guys, we have five weeks left in the Big Ten. There is still a lot of baseball.”\nIU returns to action Tuesday as the team travels to Louisville and take on the Cardinals at 6 p.m.
(04/09/08 3:27am)
The IU baseball team is hoping to settle itself defensively today against Miami (Ohio) after it allowed 18 runs against Illinois \non Monday.\nIU’s pitching staff was abysmal in the series finale against Big Ten foe Illinois. The Hoosiers sent the tandem of sophomore Eric Arnett and freshman Jarrett Casey to the mound, and the two combined to surrender 18 hits, 18 runs and six walks. They also threw three wild pitches and struck out only four in nine innings.\n“I don’t care how many runs we score or how well ... we play defensively.” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “It doesn’t matter because if we don’t pitch well, it’s going to be tough.”\nSmith used only two pitchers to try to quell the Illini bats Monday because he said he wasn’t sure what his bullpen is going to do.\n“(I have told the pitchers) they got to grow up,” he said. “It is time to realize that we brought you here for a reason: because we think you are good, and it’s time to start believing in yourself.”\nOf the 18 runs put up on the Hoosiers, 11 were earned, as the defense behind the mound did not play its best, committing seven errors. But Smith was hesitant to blame the errors on his team’s poor pitching.\n“I remember being a position player; you always wanted a guy on the mound you were confident in, who was going to get after it, get moving and be around the strike zone,” Smith said. “It’s easier to play behind a guy like that, but I don’t think it makes a difference in whether you make an error or not.” \nSenior Doug Fleenor is the pitcher who will battle Miami (Ohio).\nFleenor’s last start came April 2 against the Redhawks at Sembower Field.\nIn the contest, he threw six strong innings allowing only one earned run, one walk and recording five strikeouts in a 5-2 IU win.\nWhile pitching and defense has been slacking, IU’s offense has not, which will play in Fleenor’s favor.\nIn the four games against the Illini last weekend, the Hoosiers scored 27 runs on 47 hits. \n“I don’t think scoring runs will be our problem,” Smith said. “I like the way the guys are approaching their (at-bats) and how they are going about their business offensively.” \nInstrumental to IU’s offense and defense is junior center fielder Andrew Means, who will miss his second game in a row because of an injury to his right wrist. Means hurt his wrist while stealing home in the first game of a doubleheader against the Illini on Sunday.\n“We are going to see how he feels towards the weekend, but we aren’t going to play him (today),” Smith said.\nThe first pitch from Oxford, Ohio, is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on iuhoosiers.com.
(04/08/08 1:56pm)
Pitching and defensive woes proved fatal for the IU baseball team Monday, as they dropped the finale of a four-game series with Illinois, 18-8.\nThe Hoosier offense had another strong performance in the contest, but was trumped by the Illini’s nine-run fourth inning. \nIn the inning, the Hoosiers (14-12, 3-5) faced 15 Illinois (17-8, 6-2 Big Ten) batters, walking three, allowing two to reach on errors and throwing three wild pitches. In total, the Hoosiers finished the nine-inning game with seven errors.\n“The errors are a part of it, but when we continue to give up big inning after big inning, that’s a concern for me,” IU coach Tracy Smith said.\nPitching problems have become the theme of the first half of IU’s season. Smith equates the issues with his pitching staff’s mental toughness.\nHe said when his pitchers face adversity they need to know “it’s not the end of the world. All they have to be focusing on then is there next pitch.” \nOn Sunday, Smith pulled sophomore starting pitcher Chris Squires in the second inning of the doubleheader’s nightcap after letting the first two Illini batters reach base and letting up a run in the previous inning.On Monday, Smith let sophomore starter Eric Arnett struggle through three and two-thirds innings, allowing 11 runs with only five of them earned, before pulling him.\n“We probably stayed with our starter too long today, but that’s a result of not being consistent out of the pen,” he said. “At some point, you would like to know what it’s going to be, good or bad, so you have some idea of which way to go.” \nSophomore pitcher Jarrett Casey came in for Arnett and finished the game, letting in seven more runs, six of them earned. \n“I think we are very, very immature on the mound right now,” Smith said. “It’s not about ability, because we are throwing the ball 90-some miles an hour. I’d love to say, ‘Hey, it’s just a fluke, it’s just this game,’ but it has become a tendency here lately.”\nThe tandem of Arnett and Casey combined to walk six Illinois batters, allowing 11 earned runs. \nIf pitching struggles weren’t enough, junior center fielder Andrew Means missed his first game of the season Monday with a wrist injury. Smith said the injury was sustained in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader when Means stole home successfully in the first inning. Despite the injury, Means played through both of Sunday’s games.\nSmith said the team is running tests on Means’ wrist and does not know when he will return. Means was in the dugout Monday but not in uniform, and had a brace on his right wrist.\nThe Hoosiers return to action Wednesday in Oxford, Ohio, as they take on Miami of Ohio at 6 p.m.
(04/03/08 5:18am)
A sunny Wednesday afternoon yielded an ugly, hard-fought baseball contest at Sembower Field. \nThe IU baseball team (13-9) defeated Miami of Ohio (6-18) 5-2, calling on its defense and pitching as the afternoon air cooled the Hoosier bats.\nIU senior Doug Fleenor started and got the win for the Hoosiers, pitching six solid innings and allowing only one hit and one earned run while striking out five.\n“Things were working well today,” Fleenor said. “All of my pitches were working, and when that happens, it is going to be a pretty good day.”\nIn only his fourth appearance this season, junior left-hander Joe Vicini pitched two solid innings, allowing only one hit and surrendering one walk.\n“I give Joe a ton of credit,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “He hadn’t been out there much, and he kept his focus and pounded the strike zone.”\nSophomore Chris Squires pitched his first inning since getting roughed up in Minnesota on Sunday when he gave up four runs on five hits in only 1 2/3 innings pitched.\nSquires seemed to have put his poor performance behind him as he worked a flawless ninth, retiring the side and earning his third save of \nthe season.\n“If you followed the game at all, the Sunday game at Minnesota, Squires struggled a little,” Smith said. “But I was proud of him for getting right back out there and attacking the strike zone. I thought he was very sharp today.”\nIU broke the game open in the bottom half of the fourth. The inning saw three Hoosiers cross home and was highlighted by an RBI bunt single by senior shortstop David Trager and a hustle play by sophomore second baseman Evan Crawford that beat what would have been an inning-ending double play, allowing the last of the Hoosier runs in the frame.\nBut by game’s end, the Hoosiers had stranded 10 runners as the Miami pitching staff teamed up to walk four batters on top of beaning six Hoosier batters. \n“Today wasn’t a great offensive day for us, and I think games like that are going to happen where we won’t swing the bat well,” Trager said. “I think our pitchers really stepped up and got a good start and good relief pitching. Those are the type of games we are going to have to win to do some damage in the Big Ten.”\nHighlighting the team’s defensive effort was junior center fielder Andrew Means, who made two diving catches on the day. The first came in the seventh inning as he nearly took out a teammate, sophomore Chris Hervey, in left field. \nThen in the eighth, Means bailed out freshman right fielder Kipp Schutz who threw his hand in the air during a fly ball hit in his direction, signaling he lost the ball in the sun.\n“It was good from a coaching stand point to see us win with pitching and defense,” Smith said. “Andrew Means was phenomenal in center field, and we took care of the baseball – with the exception of a double-play. Sometimes you have to win games like that, and it was good to see.”\nThe Hoosiers have their Big Ten home opener at 3 p.m. Friday as they host Illinois in the first meeting of a four-\ngame series.
(03/31/08 4:38am)
A ninth-inning surge on Sunday secured a Big Ten series split for the IU baseball team at Minnesota against the Golden Gophers.\nWith the split, IU’s record moves to 12-9 on the season and 2-2 in the Big Ten.\nThe Hoosiers drove in five runs in a knotted ninth inning on Sunday to put away the Golden Gophers at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.\n“They were a pretty good team and splitting on the road is good for any weekend,” sophomore catcher Josh Phegley said. “We are showing that we are not the IU of old, that we are going to compete in the Big Ten.”\nThe rally started with junior center fielder Andrew Means lacing a single to right field then swiping second for his 13th stolen base of the year. The next two batters reached base on walks, which set up a two-run double for freshman right fielder Kipp Schutz. \nThe Hoosiers tacked on three more runs to take an 8-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.\nThe Gophers made the game dramatic, however, as they added four runs to bring the game within one. But senior right-hander Chris McCombs took the mound and got the last batter out for the save, his second of the season.\n“I was glad to come in and be able to put the game away,” McCombs said. “It was huge for us to come back after two losses and pick up those \ntwo wins.”\nOn Friday, the Hoosiers’ four-game win streak ended abruptly after they fell to the Gophers 10-2. The majority of Minnesota’s runs came in the second as they crossed six runs in an inning that saw 14 Minnesota batters come to the plate.\nIU coach Tracy Smith did not start the team’s ace, sophomore left-hander Matt Bashore, because Bashore was sore and Smith wanted to be careful with his pitcher so early in the season.\n“We threw in some other guys and kind of got it handed to us,” he said. “But I don’t think our confidence wavered at all because we didn’t have our big gun on the mound.”\nSaturday saw the Hoosiers take the nightcap of a double-header. \nIn the first game, IU faltered once more after a four-run third inning propelled the Gophers to a 5-4 victory.\n“From our prospective it was like we gift-wrapped one for them,” Smith said. “We made some base running mistakes that ultimately cost us\nthe game.”\nThough the Hoosiers took the defeat, Phegely said looking up at a one-run loss on the scoreboard showed the team they could contend with Minnesota, who McCombs said is traditionally one of the best three teams in the Big Ten. \nDown two games to none, IU had to dig in if they were going to salvage the series. \nIt was Phegley who stepped-up for the Hoosiers as his three-run blast well into the outfield seats at the Metrodome carried IU to an 8-3 win.\n“The pitcher fell behind 3-1, so I knew he had to throw something pretty straight,” Phegley said about his home run. “He threw it right where I expected him to throw it.”\nThe 3-1 pitch landed 30 rows deep in the outfield, said IU Assistant Media Relations Director Matt Brady, who called the game over the Internet on iuhoosiers.com.\nAltogether, Smith was happy with his team’s weekend, despite dropping the first two games.\n“When you lose the first two on the road in the Metrodome, you can roll over and die and take your beating for the weekend,” he said. “But these guys didn’t do that. They battled back and played two solid games. I think we grew up over this weekend.”\nAfter the split, the Hoosiers will be back in action as they host Miami (Ohio) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Bloomington.
(03/28/08 4:21am)
Standing Thursday in Mellencamp Pavilion, IU coach Tracy Smith recited a 3-year-old memory.\n“I remember it was in here,” Smith said. “He came in and was like, ‘Coach, I played some baseball in high school and I would like to try out.’”\nSo the coach gave the freshman a chance. The team was running 60-yard dashes, and Smith said he wanted to see if the recruit could run.\n“And then he beat Reggie Watson and Jay Brandt, who were our two really fast guys on the team,” Smith said. “So I said, ‘All right, I think we might have a spot for you.’”\nThree years later, that freshman has morphed into junior center fielder Andrew Means. \nMeans, who came to IU to play football, approached Smith in Mellencamp Pavilion after sitting out his freshman football season because of a shoulder injury he sustained in practice.\n“I had some down time to think about my freshman year and not being able to make a name for myself,” the Avon Lake, Ohio, native recalled. “I decided to approach coach Smith about playing, and here we are now. Obviously, it was a good decision.”\nIn Memorial Stadium, Means is the starting wideout for the Hoosiers. He caught 48 passes for 559 yards last season, third- and second-most on the team, respectively.\nBut on the diamond of Sembower Field, Means is an imposing center fielder and lead-off man. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, he is built for the rigors of a college football season.\n“We called him ‘the minotaur,’” Smith said. “Half man with the bull upper body. Yes, he is a minotaur.”\nFreshman outfielder Kipp Schutz said he did not think of his friend as a minotaur, but rather as something less imposing. \n“You look at him, he’s a big tough guy, but he is really just like a little teddy bear,” Schutz said. “I always tell him that because he is always singing or something in the locker room.”\nMeans said Schutz’s assessment was probably because his personality differs from his stature.\n“For those people that know me, they know I am a teddy bear on the inside,” he said. “For those that don’t know me, all they see is the big, strong, muscle pictures online. Deep down I am just a nice kid trying to lead these kids to a Big Ten championship.”\nSmith was unsure at first about Schutz’s \ndescription.\n“Kipp called him a teddy bear?” Smith asked. “I guess, I guess he is a big, muscular teddy bear.”\nSmith said Means is so aggressive that the Hoosiers’ coach is nervous for opposing teams’ catchers. The coach recalled a story about him barreling to home plate without being sent earlier this year.\n“He about (trucked a catcher) on his own out in California,” he said. “Thank God the throw was wild. They showed the replay on the news and it looked like it was going to be a violent collision. The guy taking the throw knows there is a base runner coming, because Andrew plays hard and slides hard.”\nAs of Tuesday, “the teddy bear” ranked first or second in the Big Ten in five different offensive categories, leading the conference with 30 hits, 24 runs scored and four triples. He is also a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases.\n“He is obviously a great athlete, but from last year to this year he has improved a lot,” Schutz said. “When I am out in right field, basically I have to cover only the balls that are right at me because he catches everything to my right. It’s easy to play out there with him.”\nMeans’ teammates named him a captain at the beginning of workouts, though he missed a majority of those workouts because of football.\nSmith said Means was named captain because he leads by example.\n“The kids respect a guy when they see a guy that eats right, sleeps right and studies right,” he said. “He does everything the right way and has a way of connecting with teammates even though he doesn’t get to see them as much.”\nMeans and his Hoosiers begin conference play Friday night in Minnesota, and with Means and the rest of the talent around the team, Smith said he was confident in his team’s ability to compete.
(03/24/08 4:56am)
IU freshman right fielder Kipp Schutz’s monstrous two-run home run yesterday in a snowy fifth inning secured going to weekend sweep for the IU baseball team (9-7) against IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne (2-13-1).\nIU now has a four-game winning streak going into a midweek contest against Xavier before starting Big Ten play against Minnesota next weekend. \nBoth games this weekend were played without IU coach Tracy Smith because he served a two-game suspension for a benches-clearing incident in Fresno, Calif., on March 12, which Smith called a “philosophical disagreement.”\nPitching coach Ty Neal took over managing duties for \nthe weekend.\n“I think me being around the game enough, (Smith) trusts me when he is away to manage the games, and it is sort of a guilty pleasure,” Neal said. “I enjoy getting to coach the games.”\nIn IPFW’s half of the fifth inning yesterday, the Hoosiers found themselves up 1-0 but saw the Mastodons threatening with men on the corners and no outs. But IU starting pitcher junior Tyler Tufts was determined to get out of the inning without a blemish. \nTufts stormed off the mound to cut off a Mastodon squeeze bunt, and instead of settling for the safe play at first, he threw home to sophomore catcher Josh Phegley who blocked the plate, holding IPFW scoreless.\n“Tufts was very good today,” Neal said. “We can’t control what happens behind us, can’t control what the hitter does or what the umpires do, but we can control what we do, and that is fielding our position.”\nNow with runners on second and first, the next IPFW batter grounded out to Tufts, who began a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the jam.\nSchutz said the great defense in the top half of the fifth enlivened the whole team, which was evident as junior center fielder Andrew Means launched a triple over the Mastodon center fielder’s head in the bottom half of the inning. Means scored on the next at-bat when sophomore second baseman Evan Crawford flew out to center field.\nPhegley laced a single, and then Schutz’s towering home run to right-center put the Hoosiers up for good as they would go on to win 4-2.\nOn Saturday, sophomore pitcher Matt Bashore turned in a solid performance, striking out nine batters and allowing only two runs while walking four.\n“Bashore was obviously good, not as good as he usually is, but did a good job battling,” Neal said. \nBut IU found itself down in the bottom half of the ninth. After a Mastodon reliever walked in the game-tying run, Means extended his hitting streak to 13 games as he drove in the game-winning run in the Hoosiers’ home opener.\n“It was a tough day at the plate for me,” Means said. “But I just wanted to get the win for this team and get us going in the right direction.”\nThe Hoosiers’ four-game win streak will be tested by Xavier, which comes to Bloomington at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
(03/21/08 4:59am)
Soon, the roar of men’s college basketball will be replaced with the sharp pings of aluminum bats reverberating around the north side of campus.\nBaseball season is coming to Bloomington.\nThe IU baseball team has already played 14 games this season, but all of them have been on the road.\nSaturday, the Hoosiers (7-7) will open up Sembower Field for their first home game of the season against the IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne Mastodons (2-11-1).\nSophomore first baseman Jerrud Sabourin hadn’t heard of the Mastodons before transferring to IU this summer from the University of Arizona, but said he is looking forward to the matchup.\nThe left-handed player has been a great addition to IU’s predominantly right-handed batting order. Sabourin is hitting .388 with four doubles, a home run and 11 RBIs, which ties him for second most on the team.\nSabourin will start for the 13th time this season Saturday, but will be making his home debut at Sembower Field.\n“I’m excited for that reason,” he said. “Hopefully, we will come out playing some good baseball.”\nLately, the Hoosiers have been doing just that, winning four of their last five contests.\nWith a week’s rest after a midweek game was washed out, the Hoosiers will use their ace, sophomore hurler Matt Bashore.\nIn Bashore’s last start he struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven shutout innings. The performance earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, and the right to be the first Hoosier to take the mound at home.\n“(Starting Saturday) is something I have been fighting for the whole season,” he said. “It’s a real honor.”\nBashore said being named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week was a goal he had set for himself this season. \nOther goals he said he wanted for himself were to give his team a chance to win every game he started, have an ERA under 2.00 and have a ratio of one or less walks to every five hits allowed.\nIn his four starts to date, Bashore has an ERA of 1.42 and leads the Big Ten in strikeouts with 32.\nWith Bashore on the mound and Sabourin at first, the Hoosiers will try and put the big freeze on the Mastodons at 3 p.m. Saturday. IU coach Tracy Smith said he hopes his team will focus on themselves rather than on their opponents.\n“Our contest is really against us, and coming out and playing good baseball and taking care of the baseball,” he said. \nSo far this season, the Hoosiers have committed the second most errors in the Big Ten with 30.\n“It’s no secret we have not played solid defense up this point, and I have made that a point of emphasis,” Smith said. “I hope that we continue to swing the bats the way we have, but the biggest thing is just taking care of the ball.”
(03/19/08 4:25am)
Fresh off of a third-place finish in a spring break tournament, the IU baseball team (7-7) will carry it’s momentum to Evansville today as they battle the Evansville Purple Aces.\nThe last time the two clubs met was last year on April 10. The Purple Aces tore into the Hoosier pitching as IU used six different hurlers in an 8-1 defeat.\nBut pitching is a stronger part of this year’s squad. After a tough start to the season defensively, where sophomore catcher Josh Phegley said he thought Hoosier pitchers were forcing their pitches, IU has only allowed six runs in its last two games.\n“Our pitching (has improved), just in responding to adversity after an error,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “We did a much better job of shutting down the big inning.”\nOne such pitcher who has responded to adversity is lefty sophomore Matt Bashore. \nBashore was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week yesterday. The award came on the heels of 12-strikeout performance against Portland on Friday, as IU beat the Pilots 7-0.\nBashore’s dominant shutout of Portland was not without the adversity Smith talked about.\nWith three men on-base, no outs and the Flyers’ top-three hitters coming up, Bashore turned up his game. He sent the next three batters back to the bench, all on strikeouts.\nAnother pitcher who has stepped up for IU this season is freshman Kyle Leiendecker, who will get the start against Evansville today.\nIn his last start against Pepsi/Johnny Quik tournament host Fresno State, Leiendecker moved to 3-0 on the season. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, only allowing three hits. \n“I just went out there and threw strikes,” he said. “I was just putting it out there in the strike zone and they were hitting it, but (not scoring).”\nWhile the Hoosiers are seeing a resurgence in their pitching, the defense has still suffered. Through its 14 games, IU has accumulated 30 errors, but Leiendecker said he has not noticed them when he starts.\n“I think the (defense is) behind me every time,” he said. “They don’t make errors when I’m on the mound.”\nSmith said the errors are attributed lapses in concentration and he now has a defensive lineup set. This is promising for the Hoosiers, because when IU has made less than two errors in a game, they are 4-1. On the flip side of that statistic, however, when they make two or more errors their record plummets to an abysmal 3-6.\nToday’s game against the Purple Aces is IU’s third attempt to put together a three-game win streak, which they have yet to do. \nThe Hoosiers’ hopes of continuing their streak could be helped by another one. Evansville is currently riding a six-game losing streak as the Purple Aces have put together a disappointing 1-15 season record. \nIU and Evansville will square off at 4 p.m today.
(03/18/08 8:20am)
IU President Michael McRobbie took the first step toward finding a new IU men’s basketball coach yesterday when he announced the appointment of a 10-member committee that will conduct a nationwide search.\nHarry Gonso, an attorney with the Indianapolis-based law firm Ice Miller, will chair the committee.\nIce Miller was the legal counsel to the University’s internal investigation of former IU coach Kelvin Sampson. The firm’s report detailed the use of three-way phone calls by the IU men’s basketball team’s coaching staff, which led to assistant coach Rob Senderoff’s resignation. Sampson and the University agreed to a buyout settlement Feb. 22 after an NCAA investigation. \nGonso is a former IU board of trustees member and chaired two presidential searches in his 18 years with the board.\nMcRobbie said in a statement yesterday that Gonso is the ideal choice to chair the committee for IU because “he has a deep appreciation for both our academic mission and our athletic traditions.”\n“Harry shares my determination to find a coach who will lead our men’s basketball program in a manner that reflects Indiana University’s tradition and values,” McRobbie said.\nGonso quarterbacked the 1968 IU football team to the Rose Bowl and was named an Academic All-American and an All-Big Ten football player.\n“I am grateful to President McRobbie for placing this trust with me,” Gonso said in the statement. “I think he has put together a very strong search committee and I am confident we will carry out this task quickly and successfully.”\nGonso will head a committee that includes Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan and former IU men’s soccer coach Jerry Yeagley, among others.\nAccording to the statement, the committee will conduct its nationwide search without public comment until a decision is announced.\nIU interim coach Dan Dakich will lead the No. 8 seeded Hoosiers this Friday when they battle No. 9 Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.\nMcRobbie declined to offer any additional comments on the timing of the announcement.
(03/07/08 5:18am)
The IU baseball team will play the Fresno State Bulldogs at 2:05 p.m. Friday in Fresno, Calif. Checking their bats on the plane could prove difficult as, lately, they’ve seemed to be bombs ready to explode.\nLast weekend, the Hoosiers (3-3) scored 31 runs in a three-game tournament where they earned two wins.\n“We are extremely happy with how we have been swinging our bats, and that has carried us to our three wins,” sophomore catcher Josh Phegley said.\nIn IU’s most recent game against Valparaiso, a 17-14 win, Phegely hit 5-for-5 and knocked in five runners as he hit for the cycle. He hits third in the batting order, which has seen the majority of its power come from the top-four spots.\nPhegley, junior center fielder Andrew Means, sophomore infielder Evan Crawford and freshman outfielder Kipp Schutz combined to hit 21-for-39 with 15 RBIs and 16 runs in the Hoosiers’ last two wins. \n“We are obviously pretty happy with our offense, just not our overall game,” Schutz said. “We still need to tighten up some areas.” \nIU coach Tracy Smith agreed with his outfielder, and said one of the areas his team needs to tighten is its poor pitching.\n“Offensively, we are right on pace, and hopefully it will continue,” Smith said, “but it’s still early and hopefully we will start see some more power. Now the pitching just has to catch up to where our offense is at.”\nSo far this season, the Hoosiers’ pitching staff has a combined 6.88 ERA, and in six games has seen 45 runners cross home.\nPhegley said the pitching staff’s problems are related to the team’s poor defense. So far, the Hoosier defense has had 12 errors.\n“(Some pitchers) are trying to do too much, maybe because our defense has been shaky, and that has reflected on our pitchers trying to be too perfect,” he said.\nWhile the Hoosiers wait for their defense to come around, Phegley said he has been telling whoever is pitching to “relax and do what you are supposed to do; know why we put you out there just get the job done.”\nThe pitcher whose task is to get the job done against the Bulldogs will be freshman Joey O’Gara, who is getting the first start of his Hoosier career. \nO’Gara has worked only one inning this season. In that inning, he faced four batters, striking out one while not letting up any hits.\nSmith talked about handing the ball off to such an inexperienced pitcher.\n“It’s time to take a look at other guys who have been practicing well,” Smith said. “I like how he has been moving the ball in and out and changing speeds. He’s not an overpowering guy, but I like how he has been working both sides of the plate.”\nPhegley is also confident about O’Gara getting the start.\n“He’s got good stuff,” he said of the 6-foot-5 right-hander. “He throws downhill because of his height. He keeps the ball down and away and has a lot of movement. All his pitches are deceiving at the plate. His only concern is leaving balls up in the zone and giving drivable pitches.”\nO’Gara and the Hoosiers will play the Bulldogs at 1:05 p.m tomorrow and Sunday afternoon. The games are in preparation for the Pepsi/JohnnyQuik Invitational, which the Bulldogs will host and IU will compete in March 10-15.
(03/03/08 5:56am)
Behind an explosive offense, the Hoosier baseball team won two of its three games at the Austin Peay Invitational this weekend in Clarksville, Tenn. \nIU scored 31 runs over three games, more than half of which came yesterday against Valparaiso in a 17-14 win.\nHitting out of the cleanup spot, sophomore catcher Josh Phegley went 5-for-5 and hit for the cycle in the victory over the Crusaders. It was the first cycle by an IU player since 2005.\n“It was the first time I had ever done it, but I didn’t really think about it much,” Phegley said after the game. “I caught a couple of breaks, but I was picking the ball up really well out of the pitcher’s release.”\nIU crossed six runners in the third to take a 9-3 advantage, but Valparaiso responded with seven runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead.\nIn the fifth, Phegley knocked in his fourth and fifth RBIs of the day as IU notched five runs to take the lead to 14-10, a lead which they would hang on to for the rest of the contest.\nOn Friday, the Hoosiers were crushed by the Illinois State Redbirds 12-5.\nJunior center fielder Andrew Means had three hits, including a pair of triples, and sophomore infielder Michael Early had two RBIs. But the Hoosiers could not match the firepower of \nthe Redbirds.\nWith the score knotted at five runs apiece in the sixth inning, Illinois State gathered six consecutive base hits and a walk, taking the lead for the final time in a game which already saw the Hoosiers come back to even the score twice. \nIllinois State then notched the final two runs of the contest in the seventh.\nIU sophomore pitcher Matt Bashore watched as the Hoosiers used five pitchers in the contest, trying to cool down the Redbird bats.\n“They really swung the bat well,” he said. “You have to give it \nto them.”\nBehind Bashore, the Hoosiers rallied back on Saturday, beating tournament host Austin Peay State 9-1. \nThe southpaw pitched six innings of shutout baseball, allowing four hits and three walks, while striking out five.\n“It felt good (to get the win)” Bashore said. “But it was frustrating walking three guys and getting my pitch count up.”\nBashore’s season ERA now stands at .083, as IU let up the fewest amount of runs in a game this season.\nIU coach Tracy Smith said Bashore is talented because he can cover up his team’s mistakes, and that makes him “one of the best around.” \nSenior pitcher Chris McCombs and sophomore pitcher Chris Squires combined for three innings in relief with five strikeouts, allowing only one hit and one walk a piece. Squires struck out the side in the ninth to close out the game. \nOn the offensive side, Means added three more hits to his weekend total, as the Hoosiers’ top four hitters combined to go 10-for-18 at the plate with seven runs scored and seven RBIs.\nIU lived and died by its top four hitters this weekend. Phegley, Means, sophomore infielder Evan Crawford and freshman outfielder Kipp Schutz hit for a combined 5-for-18 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the Hoosiers’ loss to Illinois State. But the four hit 21-for-39 with 15 RBIs and 16 runs during the next two victories. \n“The top four hitters are obviously going to be the ones who carry us consistently, but we are looking for the rest of the lineup to hit well also so we can put teams away,” Phegley said.\nWith the two wins this weekend, the Hoosiers’ record stands at 3-3, and Smith has the apprehensions of a coach whose team has a record over .500.\n“I don’t think we have played particularly good baseball, even this weekend,” he said. “One positive is that we haven’t played well but have still managed to win. I guess that is our silver lining.”\nThe team’s next contest will be Wednesday against Indiana State at 3 p.m.
(02/22/08 8:34am)
The IU baseball team is looking to improve on a mediocre 2007 campaign which saw the Hoosiers struggle to a 19-35 overall record.\nIU opens their season tonight against the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. The Tigers come into the weekend series featuring 10 returning players with starting experience and supported by 20 freshmen who make up the nation’s top recruiting class, according to Collegiate Baseball Magazine. \n“We put this series on the schedule because our preparation is for the Big Ten and playing in the postseason,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “And I think it’s very important that we expose our kids to this type of environment, which arguably is one of the best college baseball environments in the country.”\nIU junior outfielder Andrew Means discussed how a tough road matchup against LSU will help the Hoosiers.\n“It helps us gauge exactly where we are, going south to face a good baseball team, a team that has obviously been able to practice outside,” Means said.\nSouthern teams like LSU have been traditionally able to start practicing before teams living in colder climates could. But the NCAA implemented a Feb. 1 universal start date for college teams to begin practicing to level the playing field. \nThe later start doesn’t affect the Hoosiers, as their first series is usually played around Feb. 1. In 2007, the team opened their season Feb. 23, but this weekend will mark the latest start to an LSU baseball season since 1985.\nSince Feb. 1, the Tigers have been practicing outdoors under the Louisiana sun. This could provide an advantage for LSU, as the Hoosiers have been playing pop flies off of the ceiling in the John Mellencamp Pavilion and have yet to practice outside. \nSophomore infielder Evan Crawford said he was ready to get outside and play, and it will be that yearning the team believes will nullify any advantage LSU gets from practicing outdoors.\n“People say we are probably at a disadvantage because we haven’t been outside yet, but I feel that’s going to play for us even more because we are anxious just to get outside and play,” he said. “There might be a little bit of adjusting that people have to make, but really you just let your instincts take over.”\nThe biggest change for IU this season will not be on the field. The 2007 campaign saw the Hoosiers field one of the youngest teams in the NCAA with 19 freshmen and six sophomores. This season, the Hoosiers return six starting-position players and nine of its 12 pitchers.\nThe biggest change, Smith said, will be the new level of experience these younger players will have. He said the growing pains from a year ago will pay off for his team this season.\n“They are new guys and I can’t wait to see them out there now, a year older, a year stronger, a year more experienced and a year more confident,” \nhe said.\nThe series will begin at 7 p.m. tonight and continue on Saturday and Sunday. Right-handed junior Tyler Tufts will get the first start for the Hoosiers. All IU’s baseball games will broadcast live and are available free of charge on iuhoosiers.com.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
Given the album title Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige is surprisingly natural on her latest disc, affirming her grown-woman status with positive lyrics that would make Oprah proud. Gone, however, are the days of more daring work with the likes of Jay-Z and Nas — which earned Mary her reputation as queen to Hova's king — replaced instead by tracks with Ludacris, the go-to guy for bland rap verses about curvature of the flesh, and Usher, who's always sure to make the over-35 and under-14 demographics go crazy.\nEven though she's lost contact with emcees over the years, her Rolodex is still full of top-notch producers, who give Growing Pains a modern feel, even if Mary herself refuses to adapt her style. The album starts off strong with three catchy tracks, spearheaded by the triumphant "Work That," where Mary uses the hook "work with what you got" as an anthem for being happy with your body. A reference to her ascent from the streets of Yonkers, N.Y., "Just Fine" is another guilty pleasure that could make even Toby Keith sing along while flossing in his pick-up.\nAfter a strong start, though, Growing Pains quickly loses steam. All the tracks are woven together by slick transitions, which makes the fairly homogeneous record sound even more like a polished chunk of nutrition-free pop sugar. Aside from a couple of standouts, like the Neptunes-produced funk fest "Till The Morning," the last 13 tracks are uneventful.\nLyrically, it doesn't appear Ms. Blige has matured much since middle school. If I had a dime for every time M.J.B. used "sunshine" and "rain" to refer to happiness and sadness on Growing Pains, I'd have enough money to buy the whole album on iTunes. Listen to her colorlessly describe love: "And it feels like joy, and it feels like pain / And it feels like sunshine, and it feels like rain." \nNo, it won't expand your mind, but Growing Pains, to borrow a phrase from Mary herself, is just fine.
(12/07/07 3:25am)
As applications for the new Bloomington New Technology High School begin to arrive, the debate about where the school should be located rages on.\nThe Monroe County Community School Corporation plans for New Tech to take over part of the first floor at Bloomington High School South. This option was selected over the school using part of Bloomington North or giving the school a separate stand-alone facility primarily for financial reasons.\nHowever, not everyone at South is pleased with the decision to move New Tech into the first floor of the school.\nSteve Smith, a U.S. history teacher at South, said he is opposed to New Tech moving into South. He said he thinks New Tech’s advantages could be provided by the district’s existing high schools if they changed certain aspects of their curriculum.\n“We will have displaced members,” said Smith, who could lose the room in which he has taught for the last 10 years.\nSo far, the new school will accept only students at 100, according to New Tech principal Alan Veach.\nThe new school will be licensed by the New Technology Foundation, which built its first New Tech school in Napa, Calif., in 1996. The foundation has established 35 schools nationwide, including three in Indiana already.\nNew Tech will be a public school without tuition. If it receives more than the maximum number of applicants, the school will have a lottery system for selecting its first class of 100 students.\nAs New Tech welcomes students in the fall, the social studies department at South will settle into different classrooms, possibly separated from one another throughout the school, Smith said.\n“Does that make a difference? Probably not, but it would be more convenient to be grouped together,” Smith said. “And it would be nice to keep the uniformity we currently have.”\nVeach, who is currently an assistant principal at South, said teachers might be moved around, but they will not have to travel throughout the day. He also said small class sizes are crucial to New Tech’s curriculum and could not be replicated in a large high school.\nVeach said the Monroe County Community School Corporation chose to put New Tech in South primarily for financial reasons, but he remains confident his school will get its own building.\n“I think it’s more of just a sense of fiscal responsibility,” he said. “And a couple of board members wanted to make sure we got a good facility, and they think that the one we proposed was not appropriate and that is why we have been instructed to keep looking.”\nSouth journalism teacher Kathleen Mills said if New Tech is unable to find a different home by 2009, it may have to take more space in South. Threatened spaces include the rooms for South’s two student publications, The Gothic, its yearbook, and The Optimist, its newspaper.\nMills said she thought New Tech could be valuable for students who are not currently engaged in school, but thinks New Tech needs its own building.\nBy relying more on students’ choices and not having bells or passing periods, South junior Rosalyn Stenberg said that New Tech’s idea of an adult environment would be disruptive in the disciplined environment at South.\nVeach said New Tech has been in the planning stages for two years, and while the building plans are difficult, the rest of New Tech is moving along fast.
(11/29/07 5:00am)
Tool front man Maynard James Keenan has referred to his second side-project Puscifer in many ways. He has called Puscifer a "playground for the various voices in my head", where "there are no clear or discernable goals." It serves as "an island of misfit ideas" where his "Id, Ego, and Anima all come together to exchange cookie recipes." Basically, Puscifer is Maynard's vehicle for making music without the expectations that come with being the front man of two successful metal bands, Tool and A Perfect Circle. On V is for Vagina, listeners find Maynard exploring some of his other musical ideas (while remaining perverse as ever). \nThe album opens with single "Queen B," an ode to the voluptuous, horned figure that adorns the album cover. The song roams over synthetic samples and vocal hums as Maynard raps, something that may surprise a few of his listeners.\n"Drunk With Power" finds an animated Maynard channeling his inner Tom Waits, with this dark carnival number of all things cacophony and of strange ambient sound. Animating his voice, Maynard sings about the role one in heat takes while waiting for his queen to come home.\n"Momma Sed" is the runaway highlight of the album. Written with Tim Cummerford and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, and featuring the acoustic and vocal stylings of Ainjel Emme, "Momma Sed" is driven by a catchy acoustic riff on top of a steady backbeat. A thundering Wurlitzer ushers in the chorus, with Emme's backing vocals complementing Maynard's low singing.\nConsidering the careful work and planning that has gone into Tool albums, this album may come as novelty to some listeners. V is for Vagina does offer different sonic textures than Tool and APC. It's a nice change, but the album doesn't come off as carefree as Maynard wants his listeners to believe. Maynard generally sounds hushed throughout, as he doesn't really let his voice loose like he has in his other bands. The music is generally good, but the range of dynamics doesn't stretch much. There are a couple songs that stagger, as the previous mixes of "Rev 22:20" and "The Undertaker" seemed to have more life on the "Underworld" soundtracks than they do here. Nonetheless, Maynard James Keenan has developed a loyal following, and his fans should enjoy this offering from his latest side project.
(11/26/07 3:17am)
Unlucky loss number seven kept the IU women’s soccer team from advancing to the round of eight in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers’ season ended with a 13-7-3 record on a rainy Sunday in Bloomington as they fell to the Duke Blue Devils 2-0. \nDuke’s (10-5-7) first score came in the 41st minute, right before the end of the first half, which IU coach Mick Lyon said is one of the worst times in a game to allow a goal.\n“Four minutes before halftime is never a good time to concede a goal,” Lyon said. “You always look to say that the five minutes before the end of the period and at the start of the period is the prime time to not give up a goal.”\nBlue Devil sophomore midfielder C.J. Ludemann got a free kick just outside the box after an IU penalty. She took the kick five yards from the 18-yard box and placed the ball right in front of Hoosier goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth.\nHollandsworth attempted to punch the ball out of the box only to see it immediately headed back in by Duke sophomore forward KayAnne Gummersall. The goal was Gummersall’s first of the season.\nHaving to make a comeback in a match was nothing new for the Hoosier team that made seven of them during the season.\n“We had a really good attitude this year,” sophomore forward Kristin Arnold said. “There were a lot of games that we came out down and games in overtime, but we always knew that we could win every game that we played.”\nWhile attempting to tie the contest to start the second half, IU had two stellar opportunities within a minute of each other. \nIn the 52nd minute, IU played a through-ball to streaking senior forward Lindsay McCarthy, but the pass was just out of reach as Duke senior goalkeeper Allison Lipsher punched out the ball before McCarthy could gather it.\nShortly after Lipsher’s save, the ball ended up at the feet of Arnold, the Hoosiers’ leading scorer.\nArnold’s shot barely missed the post to the right.\nTen minutes later in the 63rd minute, Duke’s Ludemann earned her second assist of the contest as she found teammate Elisabeth Redmond open on the right side of the box for the final score.\nRedmond blasted a shot that both Hoosier sophomore defender Kelly Lawrence and Hollandsworth touched, but it still had enough strength to punch the back of the net.\nThe Blue Devils will move on to face Notre Dame in the fourth round of the NCAA tournament. It will be the program’s third trip to the round of eight.\n“It’s the third, but first since 1994,” Duke coach Robbie Church said. “For us to be on the road for the third straight and to be able to fight through this weather and a very good IU team is great.”\nAfter the loss, Hoosier team members remained in high spirits as they remembered that they had accomplished what no other IU women’s soccer team had ever done: They got to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.\nThe Hoosiers’ regular season was highlighted by an upset win at home against then-No. 13 USC. The win was part of a 13-game unbeaten streak which included an undefeated record at home – 9-0-1 – before Sunday’s loss.\nAnd with 22 members of this year’s team returning next year, including top-scorer Arnold and All-Big Ten freshman team honoree Hollandsworth, the Hoosiers are looking for an even stronger run next year.\nBut some, such as senior midfielder Katy Stewart, were just happy to be on the team that started it all.\n“This team has come very far in four years, and I am really proud to be on the group that is making the history here,” she said. “I think (the seniors) have a lot of talent below us. Being a senior on this team has been really exciting for me because I have had a lot of support, and I know these girls are going to do well in the next three or four years. It’s just great to be a senior on the team that is starting the run.”
(11/19/07 4:58am)
WEST LAFAYETTE – The IU women’s soccer team will be heading to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament after advancing past rival and sectional host Purdue 4-3 on penalty kicks Nov. 18.\nThrough 110 minutes of play, neither IU nor Purdue could manage a goal in what became a physical and dramatic match with fans and coaches yelling at each other and crunching tackles on the pitch. The contest was so heated that IU gathered five yellow cards by game’s end.\n“It was an awesome atmosphere, very loud and entertaining,” IU coach Mick Lyon said. “But it’s disappointing when players are getting hurt and fans are yelling negative things at them. People should be applauding both teams for what they are doing; they are doing something amazing.”\nIU only managed four shots on goal, significantly less than Purdue’s eight, which were all turned away by freshman goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth.\nHollandsworth ended the day with those eight stops and a shutout while having to ignore a loud Boilermaker student section no more than 10 \nyards away.\n“I just realized that, even though their energy was negative, that I needed to use it and feed off it and turn it into something positive,” Hollandsworth said.\nThe Hoosiers’ best opportunity came in the 73rd minute, when sophomore forward Kristin Arnold blasted a shot to the upper right corner of the goal that Purdue sophomore keeper Jenny Bradfisch deflected away at the last second to keep the match scoreless. It would remain there until it had to be decided with penalty kicks. \nDown 1-0 after the first round of shots, Hollandsworth came up with a tremendous deflection off of Purdue senior midfielder Jordyn Schaffer’s blast to the right side of the goal.\nThen, with three consecutive conversions from sophomore midfielders Kelly Lawrence and Christie Kotynski, as well as freshman defender Susan Swepston, the Hoosiers found themselves tied at three with an opportunity to win the game, and their leading scorer, Arnold, at the stripe. \n“I looked at Kelly Lawrence before I took it and told her that I had no idea what side I was going to,” Arnold said. “Right away, I saw Jenny (Bradfisch) – who was my teammate over the summer on our club team – had guessed the right direction, but luckily I struck it high. If it wasn’t high, then she would have gotten it.”\nThe goal advanced IU to the round of sixteen for the first time in program history.\n“It’s amazing, especially after losing to them 7-0, and just to get to go to the (round of 16) for the first time ever is amazing,” Arnold said.\nMaking the advancement all the more sweet was that it was coach Mick \nLyon’s birthday.\n“I don’t know what’s better,” Lyon said.\nHe went on to say it has always been his goal as a coach and a player in the NCAA to have his season go beyond his birthday, because that would mean his team would do well in to the postseason.\n“It’s huge for the program,” Lyon said. “Everyone knows about the men’s team battling for championships, but I’ve had people tell me they didn’t know we had a women’s team. So it’s a huge statement.”\nIU will play Duke in the next round of the tournament, which will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.