Baseball bats look to stay hot on West Coast

The IU baseball team will play the Fresno State Bulldogs at 2:05 p.m. Friday in Fresno, Calif. Checking their bats on the plane could prove difficult as, lately, they’ve seemed to be bombs ready to explode.\nLast weekend, the Hoosiers (3-3) scored 31 runs in a three-game tournament where they earned two wins.\n“We are extremely happy with how we have been swinging our bats, and that has carried us to our three wins,” sophomore catcher Josh Phegley said.\nIn IU’s most recent game against Valparaiso, a 17-14 win, Phegely hit 5-for-5 and knocked in five runners as he hit for the cycle. He hits third in the batting order, which has seen the majority of its power come from the top-four spots.\nPhegley, junior center fielder Andrew Means, sophomore infielder Evan Crawford and freshman outfielder Kipp Schutz combined to hit 21-for-39 with 15 RBIs and 16 runs in the Hoosiers’ last two wins. \n“We are obviously pretty happy with our offense, just not our overall game,” Schutz said. “We still need to tighten up some areas.” \nIU coach Tracy Smith agreed with his outfielder, and said one of the areas his team needs to tighten is its poor pitching.\n“Offensively, we are right on pace, and hopefully it will continue,” Smith said, “but it’s still early and hopefully we will start see some more power. Now the pitching just has to catch up to where our offense is at.”\nSo far this season, the Hoosiers’ pitching staff has a combined 6.88 ERA, and in six games has seen 45 runners cross home.\nPhegley said the pitching staff’s problems are related to the team’s poor defense. So far, the Hoosier defense has had 12 errors.\n“(Some pitchers) are trying to do too much, maybe because our defense has been shaky, and that has reflected on our pitchers trying to be too perfect,” he said.\nWhile the Hoosiers wait for their defense to come around, Phegley said he has been telling whoever is pitching to “relax and do what you are supposed to do; know why we put you out there just get the job done.”\nThe pitcher whose task is to get the job done against the Bulldogs will be freshman Joey O’Gara, who is getting the first start of his Hoosier career. \nO’Gara has worked only one inning this season. In that inning, he faced four batters, striking out one while not letting up any hits.\nSmith talked about handing the ball off to such an inexperienced pitcher.\n“It’s time to take a look at other guys who have been practicing well,” Smith said. “I like how he has been moving the ball in and out and changing speeds. He’s not an overpowering guy, but I like how he has been working both sides of the plate.”\nPhegley is also confident about O’Gara getting the start.\n“He’s got good stuff,” he said of the 6-foot-5 right-hander. “He throws downhill because of his height. He keeps the ball down and away and has a lot of movement. All his pitches are deceiving at the plate. His only concern is leaving balls up in the zone and giving drivable pitches.”\nO’Gara and the Hoosiers will play the Bulldogs at 1:05 p.m tomorrow and Sunday afternoon. The games are in preparation for the Pepsi/JohnnyQuik Invitational, which the Bulldogs will host and IU will compete in March 10-15.