Hoosiers get break from Big Ten play

The IU baseball team gets a break from Big Ten competition as it travels to Miami (Ohio) to take on the RedHawks in a mid-week game Wednesday in Oxford, Ohio.\nThe Hoosiers are coming off a one-for-four weekend against Northwestern. Miami is fresh off a four-game sweep of Mid-American Conference rival Buffalo, improving its record to 19-17. The RedHawks also have victories against Kentucky and Cincinnati.\nIU holds a 32-24 record against Miami, with the Hoosiers winning 16-9 in the last meeting. In the meeting before that, Miami thumped IU 29-6.\nWhile the Hoosiers' record hasn't been improving, the pitching staff has. Pitching coach Jeff Calcaterra said it's important for the pitchers to keep the same mindset no matter who the competition is.\n"With as many experiences (as) they (have) been able to get so far this year, I think that with each and every experience (the pitchers are) going to get better," Calcaterra said. "They are going to know when and where to throw the ball and how to make adjustments as the game goes on." \nAlthough the Hoosiers haven't played the RedHawks since 1999, Calcaterra said that doesn't change the way a pitcher performs in the game. \n"When we go into a ballgame where we don't know too much about our opponent as far as their offensive weaknesses and strengths, we just go pitch to our strengths and then adapt according to who's on the mound, how we're performing and what their offensive strengths are," Calcaterra said. "We'll learn that as the game goes on."\nFreshman left-hander Chris Behrens said if the pitching staff doesn't get things accomplished, it makes for a long game.\n"If we got off of our game plan and we don't get the runs, then we're going to be hurting," Behrens said.\nLeading the attack on the IU pitching staff for the RedHawks will be outfielder Jason Knoedler, who is batting .429 with nine doubles, six home runs and 23 RBIs. Knoedler's counterpart is IU senior Blake St. Clair, the only player who has started every game for the Hoosiers and is batting .372 with 10 doubles, six home runs and 43 RBIs. \n"Coming off a tough series like the one we just had last weekend, it would be really good to come out and have a good game offensively, defensively and also get some pitching to get us on a roll going into this weekend," St. Clair said. \nRedshirt sophomore Nick Evans is second on the team in batting average with a .365 mark in 31 games this season. He said the team needs to come out and play hard to get a win.\n"No question we were disappointed," Evans said of the three losses to Northwestern. "We played hard and played pretty well this weekend, but we've got to sharpen our game a little bit starting (today). I think (today) it's going to be important for us to come right back out and get right back on the horse, so to speak, and start getting after it"