Hoosiers finish with win, two losses in weekend tourney at Southern Indiana

This weekend, while most baseball fans watched the Detroit Tigers sweep the Oakland A's, the IU club baseball team competed at Southern Indiana in a tournament made up of the 10 top club teams from the Great Lakes Region conference.\nEven though it was a preseason tournament, the Hoosiers still wanted to leave as champions, and each team was eager to get its season off to a good start.\nIU club baseball President Matt Ostrega said the team played as if the season were already in full swing.\n"It was a great tournament with some quality teams," said Ostrega. "A couple of our games had a playoff atmosphere because they were very close."\nIU played three games, competing against Miami University of Ohio, Ohio State and Ohio University. The Hoosiers finished 1-2 for the weekend after slow starts against Miami and Ohio that eventually led to losses.\n"I think we came out a little flat and didn't get some energy until it was too late," said Ostrega. "Unfortunately, we made too many mental mistakes on the base paths, as well as too many physical errors on defense."\nIU played No. 12 Miami in its first taste of action in the preseason. A few crucial errors helped the Redhawks score four runs early. However, the Hoosiers began to chip away at the lead in the fourth inning and scored twice to cut the lead in half. But the Hoosiers' success was short lived, as relief pitcher Adam Myers gave up four consecutive hits to Miami's top four hitters. The Hoosiers went on to lose 7-5.\nThe Ohio State contest was a different ball game, as the Hoosiers raced out to a 2-0 lead and grabbed another run in the third inning to push the lead to 3-0. But after a few costly errors, the game quickly turned, as the Buckeyes scored four times in the fourth inning. Senior Ostrega managed to get a single down the third base line, scoring runners who were on second and third to give the Hoosiers a 5-4 lead. IU later added an insurance run to win 6-4.\nIn their third game against Ohio, the Hoosiers played hard but caught some tough breaks that included two diving catches with runners in scoring position and a catch over the fence to rob a three-run homer off the bat of junior shortstop Erik Pedersen. A win against the Bobcats would have put IU in the championship bracket, but the Hoosiers went to lose 12-1.\nThe Hoosiers wanted more success from the tournament but are optimistic about the upcoming season, pitcher Sam Brashler said. Brashler said the absence of some players may have caused a problem in the team's chemistry.\n"I expect more from this team, and I still do," Brashler said. "We were missing some of our best players this weekend and made some mistakes that may have changed the outcomes of our two loses."\nFamily issues and untimely midterms cost the Hoosiers a couple of key players who might have helped out during their two losses in the tournament.\nThough the tournament results weren't precisely what the club expected, the Hoosiers gained much from the trip. \nClub baseball Vice President Adam Perlman said the experience will be beneficial because the team developed the determination it will take for them to get things done when their offense isn't clicking on all cylinders during the season. Perlman also said the team will have to sharpen up to have success during the season in the tough South Division of the NCBA Great Lakes Region.