Club baseball team ready for fall games

In spring 2005, graduate student Matt Ostrega lobbied the Club Sports Federation at IU to establish a club baseball team. And last fall, his dream came to fruition as the Hoosiers began their inaugural season.\n"Last year was a challenge," Ostrega said. "Everything we encountered as a program was brand new to us. From travel arrangements to umpires to fundraising and budgeting."\nBut despite having to learn such arrangements on the fly, the season was deemed a rousing success by IU players. And the Hoosiers are looking to have an even better year in their second season. The fall season kicks off this month.\nIU will start Sept. 23 against No. 8 Illinois. The season consists of 21 exhibition games and lasts until late October.\nOstrega is most excited about the upcoming spring season, which begins in mid-February at Clemson University. Ostrega also said the spring slate is much more intense since team records count. \n"We will travel our first three weekends leading up to spring break," Ostrega said. "We will play 45 games in the spring and hope that number increases as we hope to make a run into the post-season."\nIU finished four games behind Illinois in the southern division of the Great Lakes Region last spring. The winner of the division advances to the regional playoffs. The division also includes Ball State, Northwestern, Illinois, Loyola University-Chicago, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.\n"This year I really think we have a shot to take first and make the playoffs," said senior team member Tim Folker. \nTeam tryouts are at 2 p.m. Sept. 11 at Sembower Field. Men should bring $5 and a waiver form from the baseball offices in Assembly Hall. Interested players are encouraged to attend a call-out meeting at 8:30 tonight in the Student Recreational Sports Center auditorium.\nWith the season drawing close, Ostrega said he believes the Hoosiers might be on the verge of a breakout year. He also said the Hoosiers have a shot to overtake the Illini this season and maybe even qualify for the eight-team World Series in Bradenton, Fla.\n"The 2006-2007 season should be special," Ostrega said. "We have a great pool of talent at IU that we expect to come out for our tryouts in addition to our core group of returning players. I think we are going to have a very strong squad with depth at each position, especially pitching. We feel we have a strong chance at taking first this year"