Hoosiers prepare for final Big Ten tune-up at Butler

The IU baseball team travels to Indianapolis to face Butler University today with the momentum of a three-game win streak behind it, after sweeping the University of Hartford. The sweep marked the Hoosiers' first home games of the season. \nToday's 3 p.m. contest with 8-12 Butler is the first game of an 11-game road trip. IU won't return to the confines of Sembower Field until April 14. Today's game also provides a final opportunity for the 7-10 Hoosiers to fine-tune their play before the Big Ten season begins this weekend with a four-game set at Michigan State.\n"I've been telling our guys all along that our season starts this weekend when Big Ten play begins," said head coach Tracy Smith.\nSenior Jay Brant agreed with his coach's sentiments.\n"This is our last chance to smooth out some of the bumps and have everything moving in the right direction before the Big Ten season starts," Brant said.\nSenior southpaw Adam Poole will take the mound for IU against the Bulldogs. Poole will be opposed by Butler lefty Craig Costello. Costello is 1-2 with an 8.71 ERA, while Poole has pitched just 1/3 of an inning on the season. \nWhile Poole is today's starter, Smith said he doesn't expect to use him deep in the game. \n"We're going to primarily rest our starting pitchers and give some guys a chance who haven't had a lot of opportunities to stake a claim for some more innings out of the bullpen," Smith said. "I anticipate Butler will be taking the same approach."\nIU is 82-27 all-time against Butler, and the Hoosiers have won four of the last six meetings, including a 4-0 victory in March of 2004, the last time IU played at Bulldog Park. \n"Of course we want to beat in-state teams, but we try to de-emphasize the opponent, because the real opponent is us," Smith said. "I do caution the guys that the other in-state schools will be gunning for us because of who we are."\nFor some Hoosier players, such as Brant and junior Matt Saba, the trip to Indianapolis is a homecoming. \n"I enjoy going home to play," said Brant, a graduate of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis. "The park is only a few minutes from my house, so it's always a lot of fun to play in Indy." \nWhile the Hoosiers are riding their first winning streak of the season, sophomore Tad Reida said he believes the momentum is positive, but they still have work to do.\n"It's nice to have some momentum going, but we have to take care of business still and stay strong," Reida said. "If we play to win and not play scared, the results will always take care of themselves."\nAlthough IU did sweep Hartford last weekend, each game was tight, and the Hoosiers left several runners in scoring position, a facet Smith said he would like to see improved before they face Michigan State this weekend. \n"We need to have better situational hitting," Smith said. "We could have lost all three of those games, so we need to use these mid-week games as prep and confidence builders for this weekend"