IU hopes to cruise past Crusaders

The Big Ten's No. 1 offense heads into conference play next week when the Hoosiers play host to Northwestern in a three-game set at Sembower Field. But players must deal with the 6-8 Valparaiso Crusaders at 3 p.m. today at home.\nLed by junior second baseman Jay Brant's 12-game hitting streak, the Hoosiers enter the week at 13-5 with a .348 batting average that tops the Big Ten. Contributing to the league-leading offense has been junior first baseman Ryan Parker and junior left fielder Zach Boswell, who each ended their hitting streaks in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday at 15 and 10 games, respectively.\nIn the last nine games the Hoosiers were 7-2 with three Hoosiers setting the pace with a batting average better than .400. Brant leads the Big Ten hitting .442, and senior third basemen Corby Heckman and junior left fielder Zach Boswell each have averages above .430.\n"I think we've got a lot of momentum going in and everybody is real excited," Heckman said. "We are the most prepared for Big Ten play since I have been here at IU."\nThis past weekend IU split a doubleheader with Longwood University in Farmville, Va. In the first game, senior right fielder Joe Kemp went 4-for-5, tallying three RBIs, a pair of doubles and one run scored. Heckman added one RBI, one run and two hits for the Hoosiers as well. Brant and center fielder Reggie Watson each contributed two runs and two hits in the game.\nNot only did Brant extend his hitting streak to 12 games, but the Indianapolis native also captured his team leading 10th stolen base. His week's efforts earned him Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .567, going 17-30. Brant accumulated eight RBIs, scored 13 runs and stole four bases during the seven-game tournament in Bradenton, Fla., during spring break.\n"I think we are well-prepared because we played a lot of Big Ten caliber teams in Florida," Boswell said. "We just got to keep hitting the ball and throwing strikes and we'll be fine."\nAfter meeting in-state opponent Valparaiso today, IU will play a three-game match against Northwestern before traveling next weekend to Minneapolis to play Minnesota. \nDespite last year's sub-par 25-30 record including a 9-22 performance in conference play, the Hoosiers remain optimistic that this year will be different.\n"We are doing much better than we were last year because we are scoring a lot more runs and our pitching has stepped up for us all year," Watson said. "Everybody is feeling pretty high going into this weekend."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Andrew Shaffer at asshaffe@indiana.edu.