Club baseball to open season at Clemson

The IU club baseball team opens its season this weekend in Clemson, S.C., with a three-game series against the Clemson club team. \nThe Hoosiers are coming off a successful fall season in which the team went 8-3, including victories against Ohio State and Illinois, two teams ranked by the National Club Baseball Association. \nFirst-year grad student Matt Ostrega founded the team last school year, and as a player-coach led the team to a successful opening season. They finished second in the Great Lakes Region-South Division last spring, with a final division record of 11-5.\nThis season the team has a new coach, former IU varsity baseball coach Bob Morgan, who Ostrega said is bringing a new level of excitement and experience to the team.\n“(Morgan) has come in and brought his experience,” Ostrega said. “He is one of the best coaches in D-1 history. He’s excited about the season and excited to help the team out.”\nOstrega attributed much of the team’s improvement since last season to Morgan.\n“He gets the most out of us every practice,” he said. “Everyone is going hard, everyone is learning something new every practice. Overall, we are becoming better individual players and a better team.”\nThe Hoosiers appear ready to achieve more success this season, hoping to win the division and make the postseason. That goal will be a challenge with both Illinois and Ball State in the Hoosiers’ division.\n“Illinois is ranked number eight in the nation,” Ostrega said. “Ball State is another tough team. They finished right behind us last year.”\nThe Hoosiers will play 38 games this spring, and possibly more depending on whether they can make the postseason. But the main goal for this team is still just to have fun.\n“If we are winning then we are having fun,” Ostrega said. “Our team goals are to have fun, finish with a winning record and win the division and make the postseason. We want to get to the postseason and play for a chance to make the World Series in Florida.”