Notebook: Slegers to start

OMAHA, Neb. --- After giving up a late comeback to Mississippi State on Monday, the Hoosiers are faced with their first real win-or-go-home game of the season.

IU was in danger of losing the Big Ten Tournament to Nebraska, but had all but assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament by that point. As the Hoosiers prepare to take on Oregon State at 8:08 p.m. ET Wednesday in an elimination game, below are news and notes from Tuesday’s practice.

Slegers tasked with keeping Hoosiers’ season alive

Sophomore right-hander Aaron Slegers will start for the Hoosiers Wednesday, IU Coach Tracy Smith said.

Slegers will have to shake off some postseason cobwebs, as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year has struggled to go deep in games as of late.

Slegers lasted just 8.1 innings total over his last two starts. He allowed three earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings against Florida State on June 9, a game the Hoosiers won 11-6 to clinch the Tallahassee Super Regional and advance to Omaha.

“He needs to relax and pitch with something to prove,” Smith said. “I think that’s when he’s at his best is when he’s not in cruise control, he’s out there and he’s not worrying…but he should want something.

“…I mean it’s one of those where if he doesn’t have something to prove in this one, there’s something wrong. But we feel really good about it, I’m looking for good things out of him.”

Slegers has seemed to struggle with his command since shutting down Minnesota May 23 when he tossed seven innings of one-run ball.

“If he pounds the bottom of the strike zone like he has all year, he’ll have success,” sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “He’s going through a little slump just like a hitter would, and I feel like tomorrow is gonna be a great example of a pitcher snapping out of that slump.”

Slegers said he was too often falling behind in the count against the Seminoles and remains confident he can bounce back in IU’s biggest game of the year.

“Really good, feeling really confident about going out there, competing in the elimination game, keeping our season alive,” he said. “It’s exciting.”

Off-day competition helps with relaxation

Due to rain, IU was relegated to the indoor batting cages at Creighton’s Kitty Gaughan Pavilion for batting practice.  

To both stage a friendly competition and help relax his players, Smith put together a game between the starters and non-starters in which the loser had to pick up all of the balls from batting practice.

“Yea, I mean there’s a duel purpose there, but most importantly we always say in our program you try to create competition,” Smith said. “So kinda stagnant hitting in the cages today, a little boring, a little stale so we’re finishing up with a little competition.”

IU’s batting-practice pitchers propped up the top section of their protective netting, a small pocket the hitters were tasked with hitting. One point was awarded for hitting it off the bounce and two for doing so on the fly. Each squad took swings against a lefty and a righty, and then switched.

Justin Cureton got things going for the starters when he laced one off the pocket to give his side two points, and gave himself and emphatic chest pump.

Schwarber provided the “walk-off” with a bouncer of his own to give the starters a 4-3 win and force the non-starters to clean up the cages.

“Yea, we don’t like picking up balls,” he said. “We lost the last one and had to go pick up some sunflower seeds on the field, so it wasn’t too fun.”

Schwarber recognized how the game also helped he and his teammates relax ahead of Wednesday’s pivotal matchup.

“It’s just good fun and it’ll just get us to loosen up a bit,” he said. “I feel like we came out loose yesterday, we were doing what we needed to do…we had some mistakes, we just weren’t executing on our hitting yesterday, so I feel like that kind of stuff gets (our) mind off the game and more focused on just having fun.”

Smith looks for more production from Schwarber, DeMuth

On the whole, IU’s offense has struggled in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers have scored just six runs in two games, have struck out 27 times and have left 20 men on base.

Smith said IU needs to have better at bats from the entire lineup, but looked to Schwarber and junior third basemen Dustin DeMuth to lead the way.

“What I liked is they were generally upset that they lost,” Smith said. “I mean I think everyone knows now that we’re not just happy to be here, these guys expect to win.”

Schwarber, who is hitting .378 with a Big Ten-best 18 home runs and 54 RBI, has uncharacteristically had a hard time making contact. He is 3-for-10 and has scored two runs in the College World Series but has struck out six times, all coming in his last eight at-bats.

He said he was happy with his batting practice sessions Tuesday, though.

“It was good,” Schwarber said. “Staying on the ball a lot more and not pulling off. It’s just a little slump and I feel like I’m gonna pull out of it tomorrow.”

DeMuth, the No. 6 hitter, is hitless in seven CWS at-bats and has struck out three times.