Hoosiers host Minnesota in final series of season

One thing is certain for the IU baseball team heading into its final series of the 2007 season: They are not about to quit. \n“It’s about playing hard and making sure guys understand, developmentally, that you still work on things and go about your business as an athlete,” IU coach Tracy Smith said. “You don’t quit – you just keep playing.”\nAfter their midweek game at Valparaiso was canceled because of severe thunderstorms, the Hoosiers will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a four-game series at Sembower Field, beginning Friday at 3 p.m.\nIU, having lost of 20 of its last 24 games, may not have anything to play for during the postseason, but that is not the case for Minnesota. \nThe Golden Gophers (36-12, 16-7) still have a chance to clinch the regular season conference title. If they are successful, they will then host the upcoming Big Ten tournament. \nKeeping Minnesota from achieving that goal this weekend may be motivation enough for Smith. \n“The challenge, if you will, is that you don’t want someone doing a (celebratory) pile on our field,” he said.\nSmith added that winning the final series of the season would help carry some momentum into next season for IU’s very young team.\nThe Hoosiers (17-33, 6-21) have featured freshman starters at many key positions.\nFreshman Evan Crawford hit at the top of the order and received most of the second-base playing time this season before he was moved to shortstop a few weeks ago.\nAlso a freshman, Sterling Mack has played a great deal in the outfield.\nIn addition, freshman Josh Phegley has done the bulk of the catching for a pitching staff that has featured even more freshmen, led by Matt Bashore and a host of others. \nDespite inconsistencies and a losing record, Smith said he is pleased with how such a big group of freshmen has come along throughout the season. \n“Sometimes we have four or six freshman on the diamond, and this league is too good for that,” he said. “I’ve been pleased with the progress they have made. The last couple weeks we’ve seen guys settle in and we’ve gotten a realistic look at what we have going forward.” \nTwo freshmen will start on the mound this weekend. \nSophomore Tyler Tufts (3-8, 3.78 ERA) is expected to start Friday, followed by Bashore (4-6 4.23 ERA) and junior Chris McCombs (1-3 4.35 ERA) in Saturday’s doubleheader. \nFreshman Jason Ferrell (3-4, 5.93 ERA) will toe the rubber for Sunday’s series finale. \nThe starting lineup should look similar to the way it has been throughout the last few weeks. Smith said, however, that he has made a decision to play some of the younger players that haven’t received as much playing time. \nSunday is also senior day. The lineup may look a little different as IU salutes its four seniors: Ben Greenspan, Michael Nilles, Keith Haas and Josh Richardson.\nMoving into the offseason after this weekend’s series, Smith still wants his team to play hard because losing can’t become a habit, he said. \n“You try to guard against losing becoming acceptable,” he said. “You try to make sure the guys coming back next year know this isn’t what we expect.”