IU hits the road to face Buckeyes

Following Tuesday’s 9-7 loss to Indiana State, IU baseball coach Tracy Smith expressed concern not that his team had lost, but how it lost.\n“I think we’ve got some questions to be answered and I’m not so sure how much of it is ability,” Smith said after the game. “That’s the part that’s so disconcerting for me is that I felt like we didn’t even want to win today’s game.”\nAgainst the Sycamores, a combination of wild pitches, defensive miscues and base running errors killed IU’s chances to claim the home win.\n“That’s beyond me, but it’s not like we’re going to throw in the towel,” Smith added. “We’ve still got a major part of our Big Ten season left to go, but boy, do we have some problems to fix if we’re going to be in the middle of it.”\nHoping to get back on track after Tuesday’s defeat, the Hoosiers will start a four-game set Friday at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are coming off a four-game sweep at the hands of Big Ten leader Michigan (8-0) \nlast weekend.\nAs the conference season nears the halfway point, IU knows it must start putting wins together if it wants any chance to get into the Big Ten tournament. The six teams with the best conference records make it to the postseason tournament.\nIn its three series so far, IU has dropped three of four games to Michigan State and Purdue while splitting with Northwestern. This weekend’s games have some extra incentive for the Hoosiers since Ohio State is two slots ahead of them in the standings.\nIU currently sits at 4-8 in ninth place, while the Buckeyes post a 4-6 mark in seventh. \n“We can’t keep giving everybody three out of four games or splitting,” freshman catcher Josh Phegley said. “We’ve got to take some series and hang with it. To stay in the race, we’ve got to win some ball games.”\nPhegley is coming off a 2-for-3 performance Tuesday with one \nrun scored.\nHeading into this weekend’s games, the Hoosiers have lost five of their last six games, but the lineup has started to put runs on the board in recent weeks after struggling early. Sophomore center fielder Andrew Means thinks good hitting is contagious.\n“Early in the season, we were struggling big time,” Means said. “All we had was pitching, and we weren’t hitting the ball very well. It’s all about momentum. Somebody gets a hit and then the rest of the team follows.” \nThe offense is coming around at just the right time as the Hoosiers ready themselves for a high-powered Buckeyes team hitting .326. Ohio State boasts eight players hitting over .300 in its everyday lineup.\n“That’s a typical Ohio State team,” Smith said. “They always swing the bat and put pressure on you that way.” \nAnd while Tuesday’s loss was tough to handle for the Hoosiers, Smith remains confident his team will come around.\n“At some point, players play,” Smith said. “Good players make good plays. It’s the simple things, and it comes down to execution. The responsibility is on me, and we will fix it.”\nFirst pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.