Reigning Big Ten champs show up for weekend series

The Hoosiers will take on Big Ten conference rival Minnesota this weekend in a four-game series starting Friday. \nThe Golden Gophers are the defending conference champions and were picked to win again this year. Yet, so far, the Hoosiers lead all Big Ten teams with 18 overall wins. \nIU comes into the series 18-9 with a .306 team batting average, good for second in the Big Ten. Senior shortstop Seth Bynum leads the conference in hitting with a .424 average. \nThe team plays eight four-game series in conference play, weekends IU coach Bob Morgan described as battles. Last weekend, the Hoosiers split their opening series against Northwestern 2-2. \nAlthough the Golden Gophers are the defending champions, the IU players are looking at the games as just another series in which they need to pick up some victories. \n"Of course it is important to beat them, but it really isn't more important than beating any other Big Ten team," senior outfielder Reggie Watson said. "We just have to come out and play hard the whole weekend. We have been hitting well, and we need to keep swinging the bats."\nSenior David Hughes agreed with Watson, saying this weekend is just another set of conference games and they are going to keep playing the way they have been\n"They were champs last year, but we are not going to change anything that we have been doing," Hughes said. "We are just going to concentrate on solid team hitting and good pitching, nothing really special."\nIn winning the conference title last year, the Golden Gophers went 40-22 overall and 24-6 in Big Ten play. They had four pitchers with an ERA under four, including 10-game winner Glen Perkins, with a 2.91 ERA. On the offensive end, the team graduated its top hitter, Luke Appert, who led the team with a .373 average. \nAlthough the team did lose some players to graduation, Morgan knows the Gophers are still a dominant team in all aspects of the game. \n"They are perennially at the top of the conference; they have a good pitching staff; they are good defensively and aggressive offensively," Morgan said. "It is another big series. It doesn't matter who you beat in the Big Ten, just as long as you get the victory, so we will have to play well in every facet of the game."\nTraveling to Chicago to participate in their first Big Ten game, the Hoosiers started their top two pitchers in the first two games. Sophomore Josh Lewis pitched well, giving up only two runs, but was out-dueled by Northwestern's J.A. Happ. In the second game, senior Nick Vitielliss took the mound for IU and picked up the victory. \nFriday, the Hoosiers will stick with this same rotation, with Lewis going the first game, and Vitielliss the second. In the third game, junior Brian Lortz is the projected starter, and the game four hurler has yet to be announced. \nThe first pitch of the series is set for 3 p.m. Friday at Sembower Field and ends with the fourth game at noon Sunday. \n-- Contact staff writer Alex Witteveld at pawittev@indiana.edu.