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(03/08/14 10:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The offense came alive today for the IU baseball team as they beat the Jacksonville Dolphins 9-2, improving to 6-6 on the season. Behind 13 hits, including three each from junior second baseman Casey Rodrigue and senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth. Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber and senior designated hitter Scott Donley both had two hits. Donley knocked a double and had three RBIs, while Rodrigue, junior first baseman Sam Travis, freshman outfielder Craig Dedelow, and junior outfielder Will Nolden all had one RBI. Sophomore Will Coursen-Carr was the starting pitcher for the Hoosiers and went 3 2/3 innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits. Sophomore Scott Effross pitched 4 1/3 innings in relief giving up no runs on four hits and got the win. Freshman Thomas Belcher, a Jacksonville native, got his first collegiate action when he closed out the Dolphins in the ninth. IU will play Jacksonville again tomorrow at noon to determine the winner of the series. Andrew Vailliencourt
(03/08/14 2:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the first of a three-game series, the IU baseball team fell to Jacksonville 4-3 on Friday. Both teams scratched across a run in the first inning, with junior second baseman Casey Rodrigue scoring the Hoosiers’ run on an RBI fielder’s choice by junior outfielder Ricky Alfonso. After Jacksonville responded with runs in each of the first two frames, junior catcher Kyle Schwarber knotted the score with a home run deep over the right field fence, his second of the season. An RBI single from Sam Travis allowed Schwarber to score again in the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome the Dolphins’ strong fifth-inning performance. In that inning, a throwing error and two doubles scored two Jacksonville runs. Senior left-hander Joey DeNato started on the mound for IU, giving up three runs on four hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked five in the 101-pitch performance.The two teams will face off again tomorrow at 2 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Will Coursen Carr is expected to start for the Hoosiers.Alden Woods
(03/07/14 6:23pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior closer Ryan Halstead will undergo season ending surgery. He has the most saves in IU history with 23.Last season the 6-foot-5 senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calf. recorded 11 single season saves, another IU record.Halstead was drafted in the 26th round of the MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins last year, but opted to come back to IU for his senior season.It is unknown yet if Halstead will receive a medical redshirt. IU Coach Tracy Smith said via Twitter, “Ryan Halstead is a strong individual. It’s a set back for him for sure, but something tells me this won’t be the last time you hear his name.”Halstead injured his knee in the eighth inning with two outs in the Hoosiers’ last game against the Xavier Musketeers. Halstead went to field a ball barehanded, and that’s when the injury took place.IU plays its next game today against Jacksonville University at 6:30 p.m. in Jacksonville, Fla.Evan Hoopfer
(03/07/14 6:22pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber was named the to midseason watch list for the Johnny Bench Award. Each season, the honor is bestowed upon the nation’s best catcher.So far this season, Schwarber is batting .317 with a .404 on base percentage. He has 13 hits – six of them being for extra bases. All of these figures are team highs for IU.The 6-foot, 240 pound catcher, who was recently made the leadoff hitter, also leads the Hoosiers in runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage.Schwarber was named the best catcher in Division-I baseball by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in December when he was tabbed as a first team All-America by NCBWA.He was also named a first team All-American by Perfect Game, and was second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.Schwarber is one of 72 catchers to be named to the list. The three semifinalists will be announced on June 3, with the winner announced on June 26.Evan Hoopfer
(03/07/14 4:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Joey DeNato was having the game of his life.On June 15, 2013, IU was playing Louisville in IU’s first ever College World Series. Through seven innings, DeNato had given up no runs and IU led 2-0.Now it was the bullpen’s turn. That’s what everybody thought, except DeNato and IU Coach Tracy Smith. Matt Chess was DeNato’s high school coach at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. When DeNato texted him that he was starting against Louisville a few days prior, Chess wanted no distractions. He drove two hours north to Palm Desert and watched the game on ESPN at a friend’s house to get away from everything.Upon the conclusion of the seventh, Chess said “‘Atta boy,” and switched the television to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. DeNato, he thought, was done.Joey’s mother, Amy DeNato, also thought her son was done. Amy is always a nervous wreck when her son pitches. When she and her husband, Steve DeNato, listen to Joey’s games on the radio — they still live in California, so they only see about half of Joey’s games in person — she has to leave the room because of nerves. She makes Steve tell her what happened afterward.One time when Joey pitched in high school, Amy was taking pictures but she had to stop. Her hands were shaking too badly to hold the camera.When she sees her son pitch in person the nerves are worse, she said. That’s why she made herself the team’s “unofficial” photographer. The distraction helps calm her nerves.But she had never seen her son pitch in this type of atmosphere. Thousands of people in the stands all had their eyes on her and Steve’s only child. At the end of the seventh inning, she kept looking over to the bullpen to see who Smith had warming up to replace her son.It was empty.Nobody was coming to relieve Joey. This was his game.“I just wanted him to be done pitching,” Amy said with a laugh, recalling the nerves.Despite throwing 115 pitches through seven innings, in the bottom of the eighth Joey trotted back out to the mound.DeNato didn’t even talk to Smith before the inning. In fact, the two never spoke the whole game. “I was just going in and out of the dugout,” he said.He wasn’t supposed to be out there. He had thrown too many pitches.But nothing about DeNato’s journey to that mound was conventional. DeNato wasn’t supposed to be the winningest pitcher in San Diego high school history. DeNato wasn’t supposed to be an ace pitcher in Division I baseball. The pitcher who lacked elite size and velocity on his fastball was overlooked by California colleges. He was overlooked by the MLB, which didn’t draft him last year despite his 10-2 record.For more reasons than his pitch count, Joey DeNato wasn’t supposed to be on that mound in the eighth inning in the College World Series.***When DeNato came to Torrey Pines High School as a freshman, he was among a group of seniors.The first thing Chess thought when he saw DeNato was, “He’s a little guy.”DeNato is listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds on the IU roster. But he was significantly skinner when he was 14. Chess had heard good things about DeNato, and his plan was to start him on junior varsity each week and then pitch relief for varsity. “We already had three solid starters,” Chess said.But DeNato kept getting better. After the game when everybody was leaving, he would run the stairs of the stadium and do his crazy workout, Chess said.Chess said he had to give DeNato a chance on varsity.It was the playoffs. Torrey Pines was playing Poway High School in the semifinal game. Poway beat Torrey Pines the previous season, ending Torrey Pines’ year. The staff ace had already pitched, so Chess couldn’t pitch him again against Poway.Chess had a choice: go with his No. 2 starter Jerrud Sabourin — who went on to play at IU — or his No. 3 starter Kevin Vance — who is now in the Chicago White Sox farm system — or freshman Joey DeNato.He went with the little guy.When Chess asked DeNato if he wanted to pitch, DeNato was too nervous to even speak. DeNato had only started one game earlier that year.But Poway had trouble hitting against DeNato. So to distract Poway, Torrey Pines used Vance, the No. 3 starter, as a decoy in the bullpen before the game began. When DeNato started, it was a surprise to everyone. Chess had made a deal with the frightened DeNato.“I said, ‘Just get me around the lineup one time. Just get me around the lineup one time and I’ll put Jared or Kevin in,’” Chess said.DeNato ended up throwing a complete game. Torrey Pines won 6-2.***Even though DeNato had cemented himself as one of the premier pitchers in Southern California, he wasn’t getting interest from local schools.“Out west,” Amy DeNato said, “They like those players that are over 6-feet and throw about 100 miles an hour,” DeNato, standing at 5-foot-10, has a fastball around 85-89 miles an hour. He wasn’t a flamethrower but rather a craftsman, Chess said.But the craftsman had no offers that interested him until IU. Hoosier Coach Tracy Smith went to see DeNato pitch in person. IU and the DeNato family were in talks about how big a scholarship Joey would get and Smith told Joey if he wanted more scholarship money, he needed to strike out more people.“And then he goes out and punches out 14 guys,” Smith said. To Smith, it showed the competitive nature that Joey possessed.“It was pretty much the best game that Joey pitched that I saw,” Chess said. “Other then the game last year against Louisville.”Then it was Joey’s turn to visit Smith and his program. Steve DeNato and his son decided to visit IU in January. Steve remembers it being bitter cold.“I played devil’s advocate and said, ‘Well Joe, you know its cold back there,’” Steve said. “He’s been in Michigan for a weekend. So he’s been cold for two days and then came back to California.”The two stayed at the Biddle Hotel. The next morning Steve made his son get out of the car and scrape the ice off the windshield. He wanted to make sure this was what his son wanted.“He never blinked,” Steve said.***DeNato went 7-3 in both his freshman and sophomore year at IU. He had a 2.80 and 3.22 ERA each years, respectively.But his junior year, the ace broke out. He finished 10-2 with a 2.52 ERA. DeNato finished with more than double the amount of strikeouts than walks given up.Smith gave DeNato the nod against Louisville in the College World Series. DeNato had given IU seven strong innings and then everybody thought DeNato’s 115-pitch performance would go down as a gem in Hoosier lore.But it was more then a gem. DeNato went through the eighth inning unscathed.Chess had flipped the channel back to the IU-Louisville game to check the score. He was shocked to see DeNato still pitching.“I was like, ‘What is this? Is this replay? What’s going on?’” Chess said.Once again, to everybody’s amazement, DeNato trotted back out to the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning. He had to finish the masterpiece he had spent eight innings crafting.Six pitches later, DeNato, the guy nobody thought would amount to much of anything, finished the complete-game shutout in the College World Series. His final line: 9 innings pitched, 4 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts on 136 pitches.His mom was just glad it was over. “I can’t even describe how I felt,” Amy said.His father, watching from the stands, felt relief as IU right fielder Will Nolden caught the fly ball to end the game.“I can’t imagine that experience ever being matched,” he said. “I know it’s imprinted on his life forever. And I know it’s the same for Amy and I also.”When the team bus arrived at the hotel, Hoosier players filed into the lobby like a parade, Joey said. Amy and Steve stood waiting to meet their son who had overcome all the doubt to shine on the biggest stage in IU baseball’s 118-year history.They were at a loss for words.“What do you say, ‘nice game?’” Steve said. “It seems like anything you could say would be an understatement.”They don’t remember the exact conversation. They just remember being with their son.“When I talk about it, I start getting choked up,” Amy said. “It was one of the most amazing moments in our life.”***DeNato saw three of his teammates selected in the MLB Draft last year. Not him, though.“He’s probably not the sexiest guy from the professional perspective,” Smith said. He always jokes with DeNato and calls him everything from 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-5. “But the guy just wins. I look for him to get his chance professionally.”Chess said he wouldn’t be surprised to see DeNato make it big-time.“An organization that wants to win would have a kid like that on their team,” he said.By the time DeNato graduates, he could be the most decorated pitcher in IU history. So far in his senior season DeNato is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings pitched. IU is 3-0 in games he starts and 1-4 when he doesn’t.“Joey’s been phenomenal,” his catcher Kyle Schwarber said. “Joey’s Joey. I’ve said it for three years now, Joey’s gonna be Joey.”In his last outing he faced a familiar foe: Louisville. He went 7 innings, gave up 5 hits and 0 earned runs. This time he only threw 97 pitches en route to a 6-2 IU win.Even though Joey wasn’t pitching, when the Cardinals tallied a run in the ninth to make it a four-run game, Amy was a ball of nerves.Steve took a picture on his cell phone of Amy on the floor with her hands over her head. He sent it to Joey after the game.“She was basically in the fetal position,” Joey said. “It was pretty funny.”The MLB draft falls on June 5, 6 and 7 this year. DeNato will wait, and hope, for his name to be called.“He’s really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of athlete,” Chess said. “I’ve never had another kid like Joe.”
(03/07/14 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite seeing his team shake off a string of early-season losses with three consecutive wins, IU Coach Tracy Smith said he still has yet to see a complete performance from his squad.“I still don’t think we’re firing on all cylinders,” Smith said. “I’d still like to see us play a little bit better than what we’re doing. More competitive at-bats for the lineup all the way through.”The No. 17 Hoosiers, who started the season 2-5 before rattling off victories against Toledo, No. 19 Louisville and Xavier, will put their newly acquired .500 record on the line with a three-game series against Jacksonville (3-7) in Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend.Their resurgence has been powered by a series of strong pitching performances that have allowed opponents to score only six runs in the past three games after giving up 5.4 runs per game in 2014’s opening seven contests.Smith will give the ball to senior Joey DeNato and sophomores Will Coursen-Carr and Christian Morris to continue the Hoosiers’ pitching success.It will be the third different group of weekend starters for IU as Smith looks to solidify the rotation.“We’re going to try to start getting it set,” he said.The Hoosiers will be bolstered by the full return of senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth, who missed two games with a hamstring injury before playing a full nine innings during Wednesday’s win against Xavier.DeMuth, a 2013 third-team All-American, is one of only two Hoosiers batting over .300 this season. He has bat from the No. 6 position in Smith’s new-look lineup, which features junior catcher Kyle Schwarber in the leadoff position the first time in his career and junior first baseman Sam Travis hitting third.Slotting in between the two Hoosier sluggers has been junior Casey Rodrigue, who said he has settled into a rhythm at the plate.“Yeah, I feel very comfortable at the plate,” he said. “My approach right now is not to try and do too much. I’m just getting up there ... get on base for the big bats in our lineup with Travis, DeMuth and Schwarber.”In Jacksonville, the Hoosier lineup will be tested by the Dolphins’ rotation of left-hander Josh Baker and right-handers Alex McRae and Justin Russell, who have allowed 16 runs in 47 combined innings this season.Smith, who said he would take his first look at the Dolphins on Thursday, said his team has stayed focused despite faltering early in the season.“We’re a mature team, just trusting the guys,” he said. “We battled back to .500 now, but we got a lot of questions early on, about ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Nothing’s wrong with us.“They hit, they do well,” Smith said. “We just weren’t hitting. So we’re going to keep being who we are, and I’m going to trust in the players and hopefully they trust in what we’re doing. If we do that, we’ll come out on the winning side more than not.”
(03/06/14 5:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the seventh inning of Wednesday’s home baseball opener, the Hoosiers were able to push across two runs after maintaining a scoreless first six frames. Sophomore shortstop Nick Ramos hit a sacrifice fly to drive in freshman outfielder Craig Dedelow and, two batters later, junior Casey Rodrigue doubled to drive in junior Tim O’Conner, giving IU a 2-0 lead.It was enough for the victory as the Hoosier bullpen was able to finish off the Musketeers, solidifying a 2-1 win. No. 17 IU improved to 5-5 on the season, while Xavier fell to 5-4.The win didn’t come without sacrifice, however. IU lost senior closer Ryan Halstead to an injury in the eighth inning. Attempting to field a ball hit to the left side of the mound, Halstead reached down with his bare hand, but twisted his knee and fell to the turf.“It’d be a terrible loss,” Kyle Hart, junior starting pitcher said. “I hope to God that he’s alright because I can’t imagine not having him in the dugout, and I know everyone else feels the same.”Halstead screamed out in pain and was attended to by training staff before being helped onto a cart and taken off the field. IU Coach Tracy Smith said you could hear a pin drop in the dugout, and Hart echoed him.“I walked into (the dugout) and it was like a morgue,” Hart said.Junior Luke Harrison closed out the game in Halstead’s place. Hart said that Harrison was running down to the bullpen to warm up when Halstead went down but Smith yelled at him to warm up on the field.“That was unbelievable,” Hart said. “That’s what we got on this team, a bunch of competitors.” Hart started on the mound for IU, and went seven innings, giving up no runs on four hits with three strikeouts.“My curveball was working a lot better than usual,” Hart said. “Usually I’m more fastball changeup — changeup wasn’t there. That was not my best today. Usually I don’t walk people, I don’t know why I’ve been doing that this year, I have some things to work on these next couple days.” He was matched by Xavier’s starting pitcher Trent Astle who went five scoreless innings and gave up just two hits, striking out two.In order to play the game, the Hoosiers and the grounds crew staff had to shovel off loads of snow. Smith stressed the importance of this game by talking about Xavier’s high seating in the national Ratings Percentage Index, and that this was an important game to play for numerous reasons.“This was a game we needed to play,” Smith said. “Not just because you want to play because you’re a competitor, but implications of RPI.”Smith says he was proud of the way the team got ready for the game, but also voiced his displeasure with the offense.“Frustrating is an understatement,” Smith said. “It’s tough. The competitive part of you wants to say we’ve got to be so much better than that, but the reality of it is it’s 20-something degrees outside, and tough hitting conditions.”
(03/05/14 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Today IU baseball will play Xavier (5-3) in their home opener at 4:05 p.m.The No. 17 Hoosiers improved to 4-5 this past weekend after knocking off Toledo and then-No. 20 Louisville. IU was led by junior catcher Kyle Schwarber who batted leadoff for the first time in his career.“I liked it,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “I thought it brought a little more flexibility to our lineup.”IU will start junior left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart against the Musketeers. Hart is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA this season. He pitched the ninth inning on Saturday against Toledo, sealing the win.Smith said the idea behind using Hart against Toledo was just to get him in a game since there were only two games during the weekend.“Reading all the weather reports back home, we’re not really sure if we’re going to get Wednesday’s game in,” Smith said. “So it was an opportunity to get our pitcher some work.”Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Eric Stiene will take the mound for Xavier. It will be his first start of the season. He has pitched six innings this year and has yet to give up a run while holding batters to a .158 average.Xavier has also beaten Toldeo this season and has a notable win against No. 21 North Carolina. The team beat Dayton 16-1 on Saturday.Smith said it’s important for them to get out to a lead early like they did Saturday.“We haven’t had that luxury,” Smith said. “We’ve been chasing most of the time, so your pitchers are going to throw differently when they have a lead.”IU is led by Schwarber, who is batting .342 with one home run, six RBIs, three doubles and two triples. Junior first baseman Sam Travis is batting .278 with seven RBIs, three extra-base hits and three steals.Senior third baseman Dustin DeMuth, who was drafted in the eighth round by the Minnesota Twins last summer but came back to school, was out Saturday dealing with a hamstring injury. Smith said he is day-to-day.The Musketeers are coached by Scott Googins, who is in his ninth year at the helm. He is 235-236 at Xavier.Xavier is led by senior left fielder Vinny Nittoli, who is batting .360 with two home runs and seven RBIs, and sophomore catcher Daniel Rizzie, who is batting .355 with two home runs and six RBIs.The Musketeers have eight players batting more than .300, four of which are starters. They are batting .295 as a team, good for second in the Big East Conference.Senior pitcher Joey DeNato said the Hoosiers will not overlook any opponent.“Every game is a big game for us,” DeNato said.
(03/03/14 8:13pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday, marking the second time Schwarber has won the award in his career.He shared the award with Illinois’ Ryan Nagle.He bat leadoff for the first time in his career this weekend, and led the Hoosiers to two wins against Toledo and No. 19 Louisville.The catcher recorded four hits, three RBI and scored five runs in the Hoosiers' two victories.Schwarber hit .571 in the doubleheader, and against Louisville he reached base on each of his five appearances at the plate, which included going 2-for-2, drawing two walks and being hit by a pitch.It marks the first time since former Hoosier shortstop Michael Basil on May 20, 2013, that an IU player has won Big Ten Player of the Week.The Middletown, Ohio, native currently leads the Big Ten in slugging percentage at .605 and is tied for first in total bases with 23 on the year.Evan Hoopfer
(03/03/14 5:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — From the first pitch Saturday, things went well for the IU baseball team. The No. 17 Hoosiers beat Toledo 8-3 and No. 20 Louisville 6-2 during a doubleheader in Louisville, Ky.On the first pitch of the morning, 6-foot, 240-pound junior catcher Kyle Schwarber, who played left field against Toledo, hit a deep fly ball to left field that went for a ground rule double. It was the first time Schwarber had ever led off on any team, he said, but he went a combined 4-for-7 with a double, triple, three RBIs, five runs, two walks and a hit by pitch, totaling seven appearances on base.“It was kind of a numbers move by skip,” Schwarber said. “It’s working out for us. People are getting pitches to hit now, and we are going to be more active on the bases.”IU struck early and often, getting out to a 4-0 lead against the Rockets and a 3-0 lead against the Cardinals. Starting pitcher Will Coursen-Carr improved to 1-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.94, and fellow starting pitcher Joey DeNato went to 3-0 with a .47 ERA, as the only run he allowed against Louisville was unearned.“Because of the way we started, this was a very important game for us and we treated it that way,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “We don’t have a lot of opportunities outside of conference to play quality ranked opponents like this.”DeNato pitched seven innings and gave up one unearned run on five hits, three walks and four strikeouts. The Hoosiers have yet to lose with him on the mound.“That’s what makes him so special,” Smith said. “He’s able to change up his pitches, he doesn’t get rattled and he just competes his rear end off.”IU ran a double steal during the ninth inning against Louisville, with junior first baseman Sam Travis on first and Schwarber on third. The Cardinals’ catcher threw to second, allowing Schwarber to slide in safely at home and give the Hoosiers their sixth run.“I don’t know if a lot of guys knew that was going on,” DeNato said. “I know the signs, so I knew it was going to happen. I was expecting it, but it definitely set the tone in that last inning for us to kind of shut it down.”Against Toledo, the Hoosiers scored first as Schwarber came in on an error during the first inning, followed by a two-run double by senior Scott Donley during the third inning. IU earned a single run during the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Nick Ramos. During the seventh inning, Schwarber tripled in Ramos, and then scored on a single by junior Casey Rodrigue. Travis then doubled Rodrigue in, and soon after scored on a sacrifice fly from freshman Craig Dedelow.During the afternoon game against Louisville, Schwarber scored on a fielder’s choice during the first inning. The Hoosiers scored twice more during the second inning thanks to a Schwarber double, and tacked on a fourth run during the third inning on a Dedelow single. Travis singled in a run in the seventh inning before the double steal took place in the ninth inning.“We needed something like this to boost our spirits up,” Schwarber said. “Play a ranked opponent like them and come out and beat them like we did last year, and it’s going to be a big confidence boost as we go on in the season.”
(02/28/14 12:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After two rough weekends in a row, the IU baseball team heads to Louisville, Ky., where it will take on the Toledo Rockets and Louisville Cardinals.The No. 17 Hoosiers team (2-5) has lost its last two games, falling to Utah in 15 innings and then No. 2 Oregon State, after beating Washington in the first game of the Big Ten-Pac-12 challenge.“What bothers me is losing,” IU Head Coach Tracy Smith said. “You hate losing. That’s been a tough part to rationalize in your mind because you look at it at the end of the day, we’re playing pretty decent baseball.”IU will get its chance to get back on track at 11 a.m. Saturday when they take on Toledo (2-3). Sophomore left-handed pitcher Will Coursen-Carr, who is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA, will be on the mound for the Hoosiers against senior right-handed pitcher Cameron Palmer, who is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA on the year.Coursen-Carr, who took the loss against Oregon State, has taken the role as the second starter for the Hoosiers and has impressed the coaching staff.“He has pitched well enough,” Smith said. “His stuff is some of the better stuff we have, and for him to be effective he needs to be in the zone, but, yeah, we are kind of rewarding him for what he’s done.”Smith said a team goal for the year was to host a regional game, and the way to accomplish that is by winning non-conference games.“We better not overlook the Rockets,” he said. “Last I looked Toledo is a non-conference opponent, so we don’t overlook anybody. This is a mature group.”At 2:30 p.m. Saturday IU will take on No. 20 Louisville (6-2), a team the Hoosiers took three of four from last year, including in the College World Series. Senior left-handed pitcher Joey DeNato takes the hill for IU with a 2-0 record and an ERA of .75. He will face sophomore right-hander Kyle Funkhouser, who is 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA.The Hoosiers are 2-0 this season when DeNato starts, but 0-5 when someone else pitches. “He is just so competitive,” Smith said. “He controls the running game, he locates his pitches extremely well, and he competes his tail off.” Both Smith and junior catcher Kyle Schwarber said they think Louisville is one of the program’s biggest rivals.“(Louisville) is a great measuring stick,” Smith said. “They’re a very quality opponent, not just locally but on a national scene, and they’re going to be comparable if not better than a lot of the opponents we’ll face in the Big Ten.”A key player who has stepped up this season is redshirt freshman relief pitcher Jake Kelzer. Smith said he hopes he can become a solid option to go to in the middle innings to bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen and should make an appearance again this weekend.Originally a two-sport athlete, Kelzer dropped swimming to focus on baseball, saying it was too hard to do two collegiate sports.“I feel like all the training that I’ve done up to this point has put me in a good spot,” Kelzer said. “Our pitching coach has really put me in a good position and taught me a lot.”The Hoosier’s offense hasn’t gotten to the point they would like yet, as nobody is batting over .300, but Schwarber said he isn’t worried yet.“We just really need to stick with our plan,” Schwarber said. “It’s tough, but we’ll push through it, relax and play Indiana baseball. Luckily, it’s the beginning of the year that these things are happening.”@AndrewVcourt
(02/24/14 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU had trouble getting off the field with two outs this past weekend.“You get an out away, and it seems like every little mistake we make, teams are capitalizing,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said.The struggles continued for the Hoosiers, going 1-2 in the PAC-12 Big Ten challenge to fall to 2-5 on the year.“You’ve got to dig your way out,” Smith said. “And not panic and press. The more you press, the more difficult the results.”On Friday, IU throttled Washington 8-2. Both the pitching and the defense were proficient. Senior pitcher Joey DeNato went six innings and gave up just one earned run. Junior catcher Kyle Schwarber went 4-for-5 with three RBI.This year, the Hoosiers are 2-0 when DeNato starts and subsequently 0-5 when he doesn’t.IU fell 5-4 Saturday during a 15-inning game against Utah that lasted more than four and a half hours.The game was back and forth, featuring five lead changes. In the 13th inning, IU took a 4-3 lead and the Utes were down to their final out. But freshman Jake Kelzer couldn’t get the save, as Cory Hunt recorded an RBI single on the first pitch he saw to tie up the game.In the 15th inning, it was again Hunt at the plate with two outs. And once again, Hunt came through with the RBI single, this time on a 1-and-1 count, to score the winning run.“That was frustrating,” sophomore pitcher Will Coursen-Carr said of the loss. “We fought hard.”Schwarber and junior first baseman Sam Travis finished the game a combined 2-for-13 in the game.The next day against No. 2 Oregon State, the team that ended IU’s season last year in the College World Series, the Hoosiers were trailing just 2-1 in the seventh-inning stretch.Once again, it was two-out woes for the cream and crimson. This time the damage happened in the bottom of the seventh.After Coursen-Carr got two outs, he was pulled. He went 6.2 innings and struck out six. He gave up five runs but only two were earned.“I would say a B-minus,” he said when asked to grade himself.After Coursen-Carr came out, that’s when the wheels fell off.With two outs, Oregon State managed to score six runs to put the game out of reach. All six runs were unearned also.“Yeah it sucked,” Coursen-Carr said. “But that’s baseball.”The Beavers 8-1 victory dropped IU to a 2-5 record this year.Despite starting the season No. 3 in the preseason poll and opening the year 2-5, both Coursen-Carr and Smith said the team isn’t worried or anxious.“It’s a proven offensive team,” Smith said. “They’re the same human beings that we’ve had in uniform for the last couple years. We know they’re going to hit.”Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.
(02/21/14 4:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite an opening weekend that has the IU baseball team already embroiled in a three-game losing streak, IU Coach Tracy Smith said he sees no reason to worry about his team heading into a three-game slate this weekend. As part of the inaugural Big Ten-Pac 12 Challenge, No. 10 IU will square off with Washington, Utah and No. 2 Oregon State on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Hoosiers’ ninth-year coach said his team’s inability to practice outside due to a particularly harsh Indiana weather led to some early-season rust that was difficult to shake off.“It’s a tendency early in the season, when you come outside for the first time, we’re going to be a little wild fright, you’re going to be jumpy,” Smith said.“I think our guys were just that — were a little jumpy at the plate. I don’t like losing, certainly, but I’m not too worried about it.”The Hoosiers are projected to start three left-handers during the weekend — reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and senior Joey DeNato, junior Kyle Hart and sophomore Will Coursen-Carr.Smith said he will look to see more consistency from a pitching staff that allowed 16 walks to Texas Tech last weekend.“I thought we were a little sloppy from the sense of just the consistency of strikes,” he said. “I think we had 15 walks or something on the weekend. A little sloppy on the mound.” In that season-opening series in Lubbock, Tex., IU’s nationally-hyped offense sputtered, scratching across only eight runs after putting 6.7 runs per game on the scoreboard last season.The No. 2 through No. 5 hitters in IU’s lineup — a group that includes preseason All-American juniors Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis — were held to 11-60 throughout the weekend, a .183 batting average. Smith said IU’s offensive struggles don’t concern him, as the team was able to practice outside only once in the preseason.“I’m not worried about us offensively, it’s one of those things,” he said. “I think we’ve got to get more time outside, get in a rhythm a little bit, but this team’s going to hit, so I’m not worried about them.”Looming over the weekend’s first two games is Oregon State, who knocked IU out of the College World Series in 2013.As the nation’s No. 2 team, the Beavers are the most highly-ranked opponent on the Hoosiers’ 2014 schedule. Smith said he won’t focus on the matchup.“I think right now, our whole focus needs to be on Indiana and getting Indiana right and put together our good at-bats every time to the plate and our pitchers throwing strikes, not walking people,” he said. He said the Hoosiers’ leadership will not allow their slow start to the season to affect them.“Our guys are a confident group. It’s four baseball games, which is not going to change how we feel about that,” Smith said. “We’re just going to go out and keep going and doing what we do. “I think if we do that, we concentrate on that and not worry about the other stuff, that at the end of the day we’ll be on the winning side of the ledger probably a lot more than the losing side.”Follow reporter Alden Woods on Twitter @acw9293.
(02/21/14 4:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Then-freshman shortstop Nick Ramos’ ground ball rolled toward third base. The throw reached first before Ramos, recording the final out of the game.The out also secured the final out of the best baseball season in IU history.Oregon State beat IU 1-0 last year in an ultimate pitchers’ duel in the College World Series, ending the historic run.“It will definitely be in the back of our minds,” senior pitcher Brian Korte said.No. 10 IU (1-3) will get another shot at No. 2 Oregon State (4-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Surprise, Ariz.“It’ll be nice to see them again,” Korte said.The Oregon State program has been a baseball powerhouse. Ever since Coach Pat Casey took charge in 1995, the Beavers have had just two losing seasons. In 2006 and 2007, Oregon State was the national champion.This year appears to be no different. In all the major polls, Oregon State is ranked in the top four in the nation.In the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, the Beavers are No. 1. This could be the best team the Hoosiers face all year, IU Coach Tracy Smith said.“Unless they come up with a team that’s (ranked) .5,” Smith joked. “Yeah, it doesn’t get any better than that.”Smith seems to be leaning toward sophomore Will Coursen-Carr for the start Sunday. He said he wouldn’t save senior ace Joey DeNato for Sunday because the Beavers are just another opponent and shouldn’t be treated as special.In his first start of the season against Texas Tech, Coursen-Carr gave up five earned runs in 4.1 innings.“The schedule is to do Coursen-Carr on Sunday,” Smith said. “But if we have to bring him in Friday or Saturday then we’ll definitely do that.”Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.
(02/19/14 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior starting pitcher Joey DeNato won co-Big Ten Pitcher of the week after his outing during the weekend against Texas Tech.The lefty shares the award with Ohio State’s Ryan Riga. It is the third time DeNato has won the award.DeNato gave up only three hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts throughout six shut innings, picking up the win in the Hoosiers 1-0 victory against the Red Raiders in their first game of the season.He needed just 66 pitches and faced the minimum number of batters in five of the six innings on Friday. The win was his 25th, good for third all time in IU baseball history.Last season, DeNato went 10-2 with a 2.52 ERA, leading the team in wins en route to the College World Series, where he threw a complete game against Louisville. His 10 wins and 87 strikeouts were both tops in the Big Ten. He also was named second-team all Big Ten.He first won the award in 2011 during his freshman season and won the award for a second time in 2012 during his sophomore campaign.The No. 10 Hoosiers (1-3) will take on Washington, Utah and No. 2 Oregon State in Arizona this weekend in the Big Ten Pac 12 challenge.— Andrew Vailliencourt
(02/17/14 4:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On the first pitch of the season, leadoff hitter Will Nolden hit a double that took one hop before hitting the right field wall.Kyle Schwarber then grounded out to the shortstop but advanced Nolden to third. The next batter, Sam Travis, hit a high fly ball to center field.It allowed Nolden to tag up and when he crossed home on the sac fly to give IU the 1-0 lead in the first inning. It was the only scoring that took place.IU won the season opener 1-0 against Texas Tech.The next 27 innings were very different.IU was outscored 23-7 in the final three games. The Red Raiders took three of four from the Hoosiers to open up the year.“I kind of thought this team needed a little bit of a reality check,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said. “We’re had a long offseason of everybody telling us of how good we are.”Last year IU never dipped below .500.This year the Hoosiers will have to dig themselves out of an early hole as they start the year 1-3.“There’s no excuses,” Smith said. “We got beat. We got beat in every facet of the game ... I hope this serves as a wakeup call for all of us that it’s not going to be easy.”Both the offense and the pitching struggled in Lubbock, Texas. Senior ace Joey DeNato was the lone Hoosier starting pitcher to slow down the Red Raider attack.DeNato went six innings Friday, giving up three hits and no runs.The rest of the starting pitchers struggled. Junior Kyle Hart, along with sophomores Christian Morris and Will Coursen-Carr, recorded the three losses.They combined to give up 16 hits, 12 earned runs and nine walks in 12 innings pitched.Hart, who went 8-2 last year with a 3.01 ERA, gave up a grand slam in game two of the series. Because of his poor first start, Hart’s ERA stands at 15.0 on the year.“That was an unusual outing for him,” Smith said.Because it’s still early in the season, Smith said the starting rotation will be revisited and evaluated often.The Hoosier offense wasn’t much better.The much-ballyhooed unit scored just eight runs in 36 innings, averaging only two a game.“We had some immature at-bats,” Smith said.He said since it was one of the first times playing outside, players tend to get out in front of the ball and never make adjustments.“Guys are a little jumpy,” he added.Next weekend IU will participate in the PAC-12 challenge, which includes playing No. 2 Oregon State. The Beavers ended the Hoosiers season last year in the College World Series.“Next week it’s not going to get any easier,” Smith said.Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.
(02/14/14 5:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 120 days, the eight best college baseball teams in United States will compete in Omaha, Neb., for the right to call themselves national champions.The IU baseball team was among those eight teams last season, and will be doing everything in its power to return to Omaha come June.The No. 3 Hoosiers will play 52 regular season games, plus additional contests in the Big Ten Tournament, and potentially the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Super-Regionals.The journey to Omaha begins Friday when IU travels to Lubbock, Texas, to face off against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 3 p.m.The road trip is a four-game series that begins 3 p.m. Friday, continues with a doubleheader with games at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, and finishes Sunday.Coming so close to a national title last year helped IU Coach Tracy Smith and his team realize what it takes to win it all.“It’s tough to talk about a national championship, it’s tough to talk about Omaha if you haven’t been there,” Smith said. “This group from the end of last year, they said we have some unfinished business to do. And that’s their goal at this point.”The preseason expectations are unprecedented for IU and for the Big Ten conference. Before last season, the Hoosiers had never been ranked in the polls. They finished the year ranked No. 7 by Baseball America and were slotted No. 3 in the magazine’s preseason poll.The last Big Ten team to be ranked this high was the 1988 Michigan Wolverines, 26 years ago. One thing is clear for this IU team: it’s a national title or bust.Smith recalled reading what junior first basemen Sam Travis had written down for his season goals. Smith asked his players to reflect on several different topics. Travis’ answers were simple.“Team goals:” Win National Championship“Individual goals:” Win National Championship“Describe the Culture we want at IU baseball:” Carry ourselves as a National Championship caliber team.“What are some potential distractions, and how do we eliminate these distractions?” No distractions.When IU suits up for the first time this season, senior Joey DeNato will throw the first pitch for the Hoosiers. The California native was the ace last year for IU and had a 10-2 record with a 2.52 ERA.DeNato is third in IU history for career wins with 24. He needs just seven more to be the sole owner of the record.Pitching on Saturday for IU will be junior Kyle Hart and then sophomore Christian Morris. Hart was the second starter for IU last year, too, and finished the year 8-2 with a 3.01 ERA.Morris saw limited action, going 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA. The Sunday starter has yet to be announced.Last season, Texas Tech went 26-30 and 9-15 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders finished eighth out of nine Big 12 teams.Smith jested with reporters on why the IU baseball program chose to open up their season in Lubbock.“I guess everybody likes to say that’s Bob Knight country, isn’t it?” Smith said while smiling. “Actually I didn’t think about that until just now. But that didn’t go into our decision, I’m joking.”Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer
(02/11/14 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s Feb. 6, eight days before the 2014 season starts, and Kyle Schwarber can’t miss.The 6-foot, 240-pound All-American sits low in his stance. He bends his knees and locks his eyes on the pitcher ahead of him.He exhales. His eyes narrow. And he waits.As each pitch approaches, the junior catcher coils his upper body, ready to unleash what has been called the most powerful swing in college baseball.When the lobbed pitches reach the plate, Schwarber sets the chain in motion. First, a fluid movement, working from the ground up, then ending in the sharp ping that rings throughout the building.It is a steady cycle: pitch, swing, ping, back to the crouch.The season has yet to begin — instead of battling with an opposing pitcher at Bart Kaufman Field, Schwarber takes his swings under a protective cage inside John Mellencamp Pavilion.None of that matters to him. He is locked in.Each pitch is met with the same intensity and controlled violence of the last, and each ball careens through the cold air, whizzing past the pitcher’s head with the same fear-inducing velocity.Even in batting practice, this repetition is a comfort zone.“You’re in there, you’re locked into that at-bat, that moment,” Schwarber said. For others, Schwarber’s swing is something to be marveled at, an exercise in muscle memory that could lead IU baseball to its second College World Series in two years and make him a surefire first-round draft pick in June.For one of the country’s top collegiate hitters, it’s just another day at work.***It was the spring 2010, and Kyle Schwarber couldn’t be missed.At the urging of Assistant Coach Fred Nori, who coached in Schwarber’s native Middletown, Ohio, for almost a decade, IU Coach Tracy Smith made the three-hour drive from Bloomington to Middletown to see a high school catcher play. It was Schwarber.“Coach Nori kind of dropped the beat on Coach Smith about me, so he came out and watched me play a game,” Schwarber said.On the mound for Schwarber’s opposition that day was left-hander Joel Bender, who was drafted later that year by the Cincinnati Reds.For the left-handed Schwarber, the matchup was not ideal.He hit three home runs anyway, securing a scholarship offer from Smith on the drive back from the game.“I was playing a pretty quality left-hander, and had some success, hit a couple home runs off of him,” Schwarber said. “I gave (Smith) a call after the game, and he offered me there. It’s kind of like a dream school for me, and I couldn’t be more happy with my choice.”Apart from the quick-trigger offer from Smith, Schwarber was mostly overlooked by the country’s top baseball powers while mashing pitches at Middletown High School.He batted .474 his senior season, adding eight home runs and 11 stolen bases. The recruiting world didn’t notice.He was named Middletown’s team MVP four consecutive years, collecting Co-Player of the Year honors in the Greater Miami Conference in 2011. The country’s top baseball institutions yawned.Now, two seasons into a career that has him on pace to shatter a handful of IU records, Schwarber said being glanced over as a recruit has not bothered him.“It doesn’t really play a factor,” he said. “You come to college, you want to be a mature player, you want to be able to take that next step to get to the majors, get to the big leagues.“That’s what we do here. We want mature guys. Take them in as boys, make them into men.”***Major League Baseball scouts and prospect rankings agree — Kyle Schwarber can’t miss.Perfect Game USA ranked him the No. 7 college prospect in the 2014 MLB Draft, calling him “one of the best all around hitters in recent years in college ball.”He is Baseball America’s No. 16 college prospect, collecting preseason Big Ten Player of the Year and first team All-America honors.“Schwarber has a strong case as college baseball’s best hitter and most powerful slugger,” the publication’s Big Ten preview reads.He is as sure a prospect as any to come through the IU pipeline, boasting raw power and an ability to stay patient at the plate and wait for a pitch he likes.His statistics emphasize that plate discipline: 72 walks against only 61 strikeouts in 465 at-bats.That patience and ability to select pitches is a point of pride, he said.“You’re in there battling your butt off, trying to get a pitch to handle,” he said. “I really pound myself on not missing my pitch. I feel like I’m going to get one pitch an at-bat, and I’m going to take advantage of that pitch.”For two seasons, Schwarber has done exactly that — taken any advantage he can find and turned it into a mistake for the opposing pitcher.In his 121 collegiate games, Schwarber has simply dominated at the plate, hitting .333 with 26 home runs and 101 runs batted in during his two seasons.After leading IU to its first College World Series appearance last season — hitting .366 and 18 home runs in the process — he became the Hoosiers’ sixth-ever first team All-American and was selected as the country’s best catcher by Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.Should he continue at his current statistical pace for two more seasons, Schwarber will threaten almost every IU offensive record: 52 home runs would be the most in program history; his 310 hits would rank No. 2 all-time; 202 RBI would place him No. 3, as would 232 runs scored.If he eschews whichever MLB club calls his name in this summer’s draft and plays four seasons in Bloomington, Schwarber will almost inevitably become one of IU’s greatest players, should he avoid the minor injuries that have cropped up throughout his time at IU.Individually, he is well-decorated. With just two seasons behind him, Schwarber has already collected more accolades and honors than all but a handful of IU’s greatest all-time players. Despite that success, his goal remains singular and team-oriented.Return to the College World Series. Win a national championship.“What I’m more focused on right now is getting to Omaha and leading the team,” he said. “That’s my main goal. All that’s goody-good for everyone else to read, but I don’t take that stuff to heart. Right now it’s 100 percent Omaha and how to get there.”***Due to his abilities with a bat in his hands, Kyle Schwarber has been described as a “can’t-miss” prospect.His prowess behind the plate lags behind that bevy of offensive weapons. It’s a discrepancy both Smith and coaches from USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, who Schwarber played for after the 2013 season, have worked to erase.“We were very honest with him, and I don’t see the players they’re seeing all the way across the country, but I think Kyle’s a good defensive catcher,” Smith said. “Is he one of the best in the country? I don’t know. But he did play for the best amateur team in the country this last summer, and they did say at the end of the summer he did a fine job when he caught.”With just 14 career errors and a .979 fielding percentage to their credit, Schwarber’s defensive numbers are average for a college catcher, though he expressed a renewed dedication to his work behind the plate.“I feel 20 times better,” he said. “I really want to put emphasis on it. I feel a lot better throwing the ball, a lot better blocking, handling the pitching staff. I feel like’s it’s going to be good to have me back there.”In practice, Schwarber is reserved, preferring to lead his teammates by setting the standard for dedication and showing off his skill set, forgoing a brash, loud approach.Exemplary of this was a batting practice session before the 2013 season, one of the Hoosiers’ first at then-brand new Bart Kaufman Field. When his turn came, Schwarber quietly stepped into the batter’s box, settled into that ever-recognizable crouch, and took his swings.One baseball left the stadium. Then another. Ball after ball rocketed over the outfield fence, leaving the small crowd of Hoosier teammates that had gathered to look on in awe, mouths agape.When his time in the cage ended, Schwarber stepped out and joined his teammates, refusing to acknowledge the show he had just given.Now, as IU prepares to enter a season with higher expectations than any in program history, those teammates will look to him as the head of a leadership corps that has the College World Series in its sights.To deliver on those intentions would be to answer a cloud of questions that swirl around the All-American.Can he stay healthy? Is he good enough defensively? Will the skills transition to the next level? Are the Hoosiers’ goals reachable?To provide an answer to those questions and make another deep tournament run, only one thing is certain.Kyle Schwarber can’t miss.Follow baseball reporter Alden Woods on Twitter @acw9293.
(02/11/14 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Coming off of last year’s monumental improvement and trip to the College World Series in Omaha, the IU baseball team now faces what may be the highest expectations in team history. Luckily for them, according to various media outlets and scouts, the Hoosiers have several players with professional talent who will lead them this season. Last June, the Hoosiers had three players drafted in the MLB draft, all by the Minnesota Twins. Pitcher Aaron Slegers went in the fifth round at pick No. 140, third baseman Dustin DeMuth went in the eighth round at pick No. 230 and closer Ryan Halstead went in the 26th round at pick No. 770.Both DeMuth and Halstead declined to sign with the Twins and chose to return to IU in hopes of winning a national championship. They join catcher Kyle Schwarber, first baseman Sam Travis and pitcher Joey DeNato as players likely to be drafted come June.Kyle SchwarberThe lefty hit .366 with 18 home runs and 54 RBIs last season, his home run total good for third in the country. He is a first round pick from every notable college baseball site, including Baseball America, Scouting Baseball, SB Nation and Bleacher Report. Baseball America ranked him the No. 16 college prospect, SB Nation had him No. 28 overall of all prospects and Scouting Baseball ranked him No. 14. Early mock drafts have Schwarber being taken in the 16-26 range in the first round.Sam TravisFollowing Schwarber is the other “Bash Brother,” Travis. Last season he hit .316 with 10 home runs and 57 RBIs. He was ranked the No. 50 college prospect by Baseball America and No. 56 overall by SB Nation. He could go as high as the second round, or as low as the fifth.Dustin DeMuthDeMuth was drafted by the Minnesota Twins, but decided to return to IU for his senior season. Last season he hit .377 with five home runs, 24 doubles and 41 RBI’s. He was rated the No. 96 college prospect by Baseball America and ranked No. 238 of all prospects. He is projected to be a pick in the fifth through ninth rounds.Ryan HalsteadAlso deciding to return for his senior season was Halstead, who has the IU record for saves with 22. Last season he had a 2.89 ERA and 11 saves and limited batters to an average of .189. He was not ranked in the top 100 college players by Baseball America, or among SB Nation’s top 300 overall prospects. He was, however, selected in the 26th round last year by the Twins. He was also drafted in the 36th round out of high school by the Houston Astros, but turned them down to play at IU.Joey DeNatoDeNato, who is also a senior, is the top returning starting pitcher for the Hoosiers. Last season, he went 10-2 with a 2.52 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 103.2 innings. He was not drafted last year, but with an opportunity to build on his resume this season at the top of the rotation, he may be drafted this year. He was not ranked in either list. — Andrew Vailliencourt
(02/11/14 4:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last season was the best year in the history of IU baseball. And a year of many firsts.It was the first time IU had ever been ranked in the polls. The Hoosiers finished the year ranked No. 7 by Baseball America.It was the first year of Bart Kaufman Field.It was the first time IU advanced to the College World Series.This season, the Hoosiers will try for another first: win the College World Series.It would be the first time a Big Ten team has been national champion since Ohio State won in 1966.The Hoosiers won’t be sneaking up on anybody this year. They open up the year ranked No. 3 by Baseball America with expectations of winning the national title, IU Coach Tracy Smith said.“This group — from the end of last year — they said we have some unfinished business to do,” he said.Last year’s Bad Luck Even though IU finished the season with 49 wins (no other Big Ten team had more than 35), they were the second-unluckiest team in the conference.The Pythagorean Theorem of Baseball is an equation developed by baseball statistics pioneer Bill James.The theorem, which uses elements of the Pythagorean Theorem, is used to calculate how many games a team should have won compared to how games it actually won.The equation uses runs scored and runs allowed. It is designed to be a better indicator of how a team truly performed than standard wins and losses.Consider the following example.Team A wins three games by close scores of 5-4, 3-2 and 2-0. Their win record is 3-0.Team B wins two games by big scores of 11-2 and 6-0. But they also lose a close game 4-3. So their win record is 2-1.If one were to look only at the teams’ overall win/loss records, one might say Team A is better because of its better record.But, in actuality, Team B is a more dominant team and was “unlucky” in one game, losing a close battle.The Pythagorean Theorem of Baseball takes into account how a team did — not based on the standard win/loss records — but a more specific focus on how the team actually played.Last year IU won 49 games. But, according to the PTB, IU should have won 51.7 games.So the team had a PTB number of +2.7, meaning they should have won 2.7 more games than they actually did.Only one other team in the Big Ten had a higher PTB number: Northwestern had a +3.2 PTB.Not only did the Hoosiers have the best record by a significant margin, but that gap should have been even larger.This bodes well for the Hoosiers this year. Teams tend to regress toward the mean, or “average out” the next year if they have a high PTB number.Unlucky teams will become luckier, and luckier teams will become unluckier.Every national pundit predicts the Hoosiers will win the Big Ten fairly easily, as does the Pythagorean Theorem of Baseball.Replacing production The Hoosiers will need players to step up after losing three significant contributors up the middle of the field.IU lost shortstop Michael Basil and center fielder Justin Cureton to graduation and starting pitcher Aaron Slegers to the MLB draft.Slegers was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year last season, boasting a 9-2 record with a 2.04 ERA.The 6-foot-10 Minnesota Twins prospect was the third starter for IU, pitching most Sunday games for weekend series.Basil was a four-year starter at shortstop and one of the main leaders of the team, Smith said.The speedy Cureton was the leadoff hitter and one of the Hoosiers’ best defensive players in center field.The expected replacements will be sophomore Nick Ramos at shortstop, junior Will Nolden at center field and sophomore Will Coursen-Carr in the pitching rotation, Smith said.These three players saw significant playing time last year in different roles than they’ll have this season, and performed well.To figure out how these players will step up statistics they must be evaluated one by one.Shortstop Basil had 49 RBIs last year compared to Ramos’ 23. However, Basil had 243 at-bats compared to Ramos’ 92.Basil had more opportunities to swing the bat, so his statistics should be much higher than Ramos.If Ramos had the same amount of at-bats as Basil last year, he would have had 61 RBIs. That’s a 24-percent increase in RBIs from the shortstop position from Basil to Ramos.According to the extrapolated statistics, Ramos would have hit 10.7 home runs, compared to Basil’s three home runs.The one major drop off from Basil to Ramos is batting average and on-base percentage.Basil hit .313 last year with a staggering .402 on-base percentage.Ramos hit at a significantly lower rate. He had a .228 average with a woeful .265 on-base percentage.There is a 27 percent drop off in batting average and a 34 percent drop off in on-base percentage from Basil to Ramos.While Ramos had more power, Basil got on base at a much higher rate.He was also more of a threat on the base paths. Basil stole seven bases last year. Ramos had zero.Center field Cureton was known more for his glove than his bat, so his hitting statistics were less than stellar.Nolden was a much better hitter last year as a sophomore than Cureton was as a senior.Cureton hit .216 but had a respectable .335 on-base percentage.Nolden hit 40 percent higher at .303 and got on base 21 percent more often with an impressive .404 on-base percentage.But IU will miss Cureton’s speed.Cureton stole 22 bases last year, which led the team and was one away from the most in the Big Ten.Extrapolating Nolden’s statistics shows he would have stolen only 9.5 bases given the same number of opportunities as Cureton.That’s a 57-percent drop off in stolen bases. Also, it’s tough to quantify the impact Cureton had in the field.Third Starter Last year saw the culmination of Aaron Slegers’ career. He was plagued by injuries his first two seasons at IU, but last year he was healthy and set the conference on fire.He was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, he was 9-2 with a 2.04 ERA and he held batters to a .260 batting average.With Slegers now pitching in the Minnesota Twins farm system, the pitcher who will replace him appears to be Will Coursen-Carr.“We’re looking for him to step up and be that consistent guy early in the year,” Smith said of Coursen-Carr, “... but he should be a weekend guy for us.”Assuming Coursen-Carr eventually gets the weekend nod, the Hoosiers will be getting a pitcher who performed well last year.As the primary mid-week starter, Coursen-Carr excelled. He was 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA.However, Slegers usually faced stiffer competition, as he was the weekend starter.The main difference between him and Slegers is the strikeout-to-walk ratio.Slegers had more strikeouts, but he pitched 106 innings compared to Coursen-Carr’s 65 1/3.If he had pitched as many innings as Slegers, Coursen-Carr would have had 60 strikeouts. Slegers had 59. The big difference between the two is the walks given up.Slegers had only 17 walks, while Coursen-Carr’s extrapolated statistics suggest he would have had 44 walks. That’s a 158-percent increase in walks issued from Slegers to Coursen-Carr.To match Slegers’ efficiency, Coursen-Carr will have to cut down on the walks.Coursen-Carr, Ramos and Nolden also had an offseason to develop into better players.Therefore, these statistics shouldn’t be taken as absolute dogma, but they can be used to create a preliminary sketch of the kind of production IU is set to lose or gain.Follow reporterEvan Hoopfer on Twitter@EvanHoopfer.
