KIPP SCHUTZ

VITALS

Junior (redshirt sophomore), Evansville
6 feet 4, 195 pounds
Outfielder
No. 566 overall pick, selected by the Baltimore Orioles

THE SKINNY

Schutz actually only played two full seasons in Bloomington, after his freshman campaign was cut off after seven games by a shoulder injury. He established himself as a regular in the outfield as a redshirt freshman in 2008, hitting .317 with six home runs.

It was his 2009 campaign, however, in which Schutz most distinguished himself in an IU uniform. The left-handed slugger led the team with a .392 average and tied Evan Crawford for most starts in the outfield – 46. Those numbers earned Schutz plenty of praise, including a spot on the Big Ten All-Tournament team and a nod as a First Team All-Big Ten outfielder.

OF INTEREST

It’s a story that’s been told literally dozens of times, but it’s more trivia and fodder for front-porch talk than buzzworthy news anymore. Schutz, along with Eric Arnett, spent the end of the fall semester competing with the IU basketball team.

Arnett could not play in game action, per NCAA scholarship limit rules. But Schutz, who joined the team before Arnett, played in six games, scoring six points from the free-throw line in the process. Both Schutz and Arnett credited their time with the basketball team for helping them become better athletes.

LET’S DO IT AGAIN

Of the five Hoosiers taken in the draft’s first two days, Schutz is the only one with experience in the whole ordeal. More than just familiar with draft day, however, he got a small dose of deja vu the second time around – the team that drafted him in the round 19 in 2009, the Baltimore Orioles, also took him in the round 26 of the 2006 draft, when Schutz graduated high school.

Schutz said he was glad Baltimore selected him again because of his familiarity with the organization and some of the officials he talked to both in 2006 and now.