IU tries to end 3-game skid against Indiana State at home

Wednesday's match-up between IU and Indiana State at Sembower Field will not only be a duel between players, but between coaches as well. \nIn 21 seasons with IU, head coach Bob Morgan has accumulated 1,059 career wins, putting him No. 11 among the winningest active coaches in Division I baseball. In 30 seasons as ISU head coach, Bob Warn has accumulated 1,032 victories putting him No. 13 on the same list. \nIU enters the game with a record of 15-9 after dropping three of four games at home against Northwestern during the weekend. The 8-7 loss Monday was the third in a row for the Hoosiers and their longest losing streak so far this season. IU finished its first Big Ten series 1-3 despite junior centerfielder Reggie Watson batting 11-for-19 with a .579 average and sophomore infielder Josh Richardson going 9-for-16, tallying .562. \n"We need to just play our game and get back to where we were at," Richardson said. "(Indiana State) is a good ball club and they should give us a good game." \nCurrently, three Hoosiers have a batting average above .400. Senior third baseman Corby Heckman's .429 average barely trails junior second baseman Jay Brant's .437 average. Junior left fielder Zach Boswell rounds up the IU .400 club with a .414 average so far this season. \nBoswell hit his fourth homerun of the season on Monday and wrapped up the afternoon 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one run while Brant extended his hitting streak to a Hoosier-high 18 games in 2005. \nComing off its third straight loss, IU will need more than its offense to win games. \n"We need to play some good defense," Watson said. That and the pitching need to be back to where it was before this (past) weekend." \nIn the second game of the Hoosier season, IU and Indiana State faced off in a close match that ended when ISU pitcher Jason Murray hit Heckman with bases loaded resulting in Brant walking 90 feet to home and victory. A three-run, seventh inning at the Service Academy Classic in Millington, Tenn., gave the Hoosiers the momentum they needed to beat the Sycamores. \n"We beat (Indiana State) earlier in the year," Morgan said. "We're not playing as well as we had been before. We're not as disciplined as we should be." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Andrew Shaffer at asshaffe@indiana.edu.