IU confident in at-large bid chances
Apr 12, 2011 11:07 pmThe IU baseball team has passed the midway point of the 2011 season, and coach Tracy Smith has his eyes set on playing deep into the summer.
The IU baseball team has passed the midway point of the 2011 season, and coach Tracy Smith has his eyes set on playing deep into the summer.
Down to a final out with the bases loaded and trailing by three runs,
the IU baseball team stood on the cusp of losing its first Big Ten
series at home Sunday.
IU center fielder T.C. Knipp stepped to the plate.
Looking to rebound from a mistake-laden 6-1 loss to Miami (Ohio) on
Tuesday, the IU baseball team will take on Ohio State in a weekend
series beginning Friday at
Sembower Field.
Three IU errors and five hit batsmen told the story as IU (18-10) lost 6-1 to Miami (Ohio) (14-14) Tuesday in Oxford, Ohio.
The IU baseball team now can settle into a normal weekly routine.
As the IU baseball team (18-9, 2-1) left Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday after taking two out of three games from the Michigan Wolverines (7-18, 1-2), skipper Tracy Smith saw a different Hoosiers team.
The IU baseball team leads the Big Ten in team fielding and stands third in the conference in team pitching.
The IU baseball team scheduled Wednesday’s game against Shawnee State to get in some extra work before opening Big Ten play.
However, the Hoosiers got a lot more than they bargained for.
Getting off to fast starts is one of the points of emphasis for the IU
baseball team, as it stands two days away from its Big Ten opener
against Michigan.
The Hoosiers (15-8) took a step in that direction Tuesday with a
four-run, four-hit opening frame in a 7-3 win against Division II
Northern Kentucky (12-9) at Sembower Field.
As the Big Ten portion of the Hoosiers’ season looms, IU coach Tracy Smith worked two extra midweek home games into the schedule beforehand, the first of which comes at 3:05 p.m. today against Northern Kentucky.
Amid frigid temperatures and sunny skies at Sembower Field, the IU (14-8) baseball team split two games Sunday with the Evansville Purple Aces (11-8).
IU’s home opener is at 1:05 p.m. Sunday against Evansville, but only as the finale in a three-game series with the Purple Aces.
When the IU baseball team’s bus pulled into the Ball State’s Ball
Diamond parking lot 25 minutes prior to the first pitch Wednesday
afternoon, IU coach Tracy Smith made sure any excuse for a lack of
preparation would be left on the bus.
Unfortunately for Ball State (2-17), junior pitcher Drew Leininger did not stay on that bus.
IU (12-7) needs to carry its improved hitting back into the normal routine of the season, starting with a matchup against Ball State at 3 p.m. today in Muncie.
The IU baseball team couldn’t put the total package together in Florida for eight games in eight days and finished with a 5-3 record.
As many IU students head to Florida next week for no work and all play, the baseball team will be playing a rigourous schedule with eight games in eight days beginning Saturday.
TERRE HAUTE — The IU baseball team’s offense put it together Wednesday.
The Hoosiers followed up 10 hits with solid base running — including a
steal home in a two-run sixth inning — to earn a 6-4 victory against
Indiana State at Bob Warn Field.
One of the early bright spots for the Hoosiers’ offense has been senior outfielder Wes Wilson.
Two wins and a loss in the Tennessee Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., saw the Hoosiers
(6-4) earn at least nine hits in each contest, but the run discrepancy in the differing outcomes was clear.
In a season that stretches 56 games over four months, IU baseball coach Tracy Smith said he knew he would be forced to change his weekend pitching rotation at some point during the year.
Solutions by The State News