Hoosiers prepare for DePauw

For the second time this season, the baseball team will square off against an opponent that has less time on the field. The Hoosiers will play Division III DePauw 3 p.m. Tuesday at Sembower Field for their second home game of the 2001 season. \nDePauw has played twice this season, sweeping Goshen in a double-header Monday. This will be the Tigers' third game in three days, and the Hoosiers fifth game in as many days. DePauw was listed as the favorite to capture the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference crown.\n"Our expectations are to play as hard and as well as we possibly can, and that's the only thing we have control over, so that's our focus -- to play as hard and as well as we possibly can," coach Bob Morgan said.\nSophomore left fielder Mark Calkins will be one of the Hoosiers who will lead the offensive attack. This is his first year in a Hoosier uniform after being redshirted his freshman year and transferring from the Citadel. Calkins is one of three players who have started every game this season. He is batting .344 with 11 runs, seven hits and one home run.\n"I've been working hard the past two years, and we have a great freshman class," Calkins said. "(We've) got a lot of good pitching, and I think we're really young. But I think that we're going to prove a lot of people wrong and turn some heads this year."\n At the start of the season, IU could sympathize with DePauw's situation. Going into the team's opening series against Furman, IU had been out of Mellencamp Pavilion to practice twice. At the time, Morgan said he was worried about how his team was going to perform.\n"We've only been outside maybe two days at the most, and that's really on our field so we're looking out at this as some kind of measuring stick to see where we're at because we've been basically inside," Morgan said before the Furman series.\nAlthough DePauw had a better result in its opening series than the Hoosiers, senior right fielder Blake St. Clair said he understands what the Tigers are going through in this opening week.\n"Coming into the first game, it's hard not to (get anxious). That comes with experience," St. Clair said. "You just get more relaxed with each year as you progress with a little bit of mental maturity, but being that this is our first time out, it's going to be tough to avoid those feelings. But you just have to overcome it and go out and play the best you can."\nSenior pitcher David Ferris said those early game emotions tend to go away sooner than one can imagine.\n"Maybe for a pitch or two, but once the buzz wears off, the better team is going to win," Ferris said.\nThis is the first game in the Hoosiers' six-game homestand before the team heads to Homestead, Fla., for their spring break. Morgan said he is looking to strengthen his pitching staff during the homestand so the team can have a winning record to Florida.\n"We want to be very aggressive and try to set the tempo of the game," Morgan said. "How the game is going to be played starts (on) the mound."\nDespite the sub-par start, Calkins said he feels the team's confidence level continues to remain high.\n"Everyone has confidence right now, and we work as hard as anyone in the country. There's no reason why we shouldn't be confident going in," Calkins said. "But still, we've just got to play the type of baseball we're capable of playing"