Hoosiers Head to Boca Raton to Face FAU

[snowling]

LEADING OFF• Indiana continues a 12-game road trip to open the 2017 season with a three-game series at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla.
• The Hoosiers opened up the 2017 season with a four-game split at the Surprise Collegiate Baseball Classic, picking up 12-3 and 5-1 victories over Gonzaga, while dropping two tight contests to seventh-ranked Oregon State.
• Sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman leads the Hoosiers through four games with a .417 batting average and five hits. He recorded his fourth career three-hit game in last Friday's 12-3 victory over Gonzaga.
• Junior Laren Eustace posted a .471 on base percentage the first weekend, good for second on the team, while stealing four bases, which ranks tied for second in the Big Ten. He tied his career-high with two stolen bases last Friday against No. 7 Oregon State.
• Freshman catcher and designated hitter Jake Matheny was named the Big Ten Baseball Freshman of the Week on Monday. Matheny, who hit two home runs, doubled, and drove in five runs, was the first Freshman of the Week for Indiana since Logan Sowers on May 18, 2015.
• Matheny, who homered in his first career at-bat as a Hoosier against Gonzaga, was the first IU true freshman to homer twice in a game since Isaiah Pasteur did so against Louisville on March 24, 2015.
• Also joining Matheny on the list of impact freshmen for the first weekend was shortstop Jeremy Houston , who hit .333 in IU's first four games (good for second on the team), to go along with a triple, double and two RBI. Houston's .500 on base percentage leads the team.
• Through the first weekend, Indiana's pitching staff posted a 1.59 team ERA (1st in B1G) and a .220 opponent batting average (2nd).
• Three out of four Indiana starters went at least five innings on opening weekend (sophomore Jonathan Stiever , sophomore Tim Herrin and junior Brian Hobbie ), while Herrin and junior Kade Kryzsko each picked up their first career victories.
• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (312) and conference wins (135). The Hoosiers have made four NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.

HEAD COACH CHRIS LEMONIS
• Chris Lemonis is in his third season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 69-50 thus far. Lemonis took over an IU program in 2015 that had gone 93-31 the previous two seasons, including its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2013 and the No. 4 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Championship. With a new look roster, his program immediately lived up to the expectations, posting a 35-24 overall record and earning a berth into a third-straight NCAA Regional in 2015.
• Lemonis' squad posted a school record fielding percentage of .975 in 2016 while finishing thrid in the Big Ten standings. Through his first two seasons as head coach at Indiana, the Hoosiers own two of the top three fielding percentages in program history.
• As an assistant coach, Lemonis' imprint in elevating the Louisville program to new heights was evident. The former Cardinals' recruiting coordinator aided Louisville to three College World Series appearances (2007, 2013, 2014) and a 359-159 (.693) record during the past eight seasons, including back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.

TOP HEAVY SLATE
• Indiana's 2017 schedule features a total of 19 games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams.
• A total of 17 of IU's games come against teams that finished in the 2016 Top 50 RPI.
• The Hoosiers will play 28 games against teams that finished in the 2016 Top 75 RPI.
• Indiana's first seven games this season will come against teams that finished in the Top 50 RPI in 2016 (Gonzaga - 32, Oregon State - 46, Duke - 30 and Florida Atlantic - 34).

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
• Indiana's 2017 roster features six players and or coaches that have either been part of a national championship or College World Series squad.
• Infielder Tony Butler , spent his freshman season in 2014 as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers baseball program. During his 2014 stint in Charlottesville, Butler and the Cavaliers earned a berth into the College World Series, reaching the National Championship series, eventually falling to Vanderbilt.
• Senior RHP Luke Stephenson is another transfer who joined the Hoosiers in 2016. Stephenson spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with Vanderbilt. He was a member of the 2014 Commodore club that went on to with the College World Series.
• Senior OF Alex Krupa spent 2014 and 2015 at Iowa Western Community College, where his squad went on to win the 2014 JuCo World Series. Krupa was named MVP of the World Series.
• Junior INF Matt Lloyd also attended Iowa Western C.C. He was a member of the 2015 and 2016 squads, both of which advanced to the JuCo World Series.
• In addition, head coach Chris Lemonis has been a part of three College World Series teams when he was an assistant coach at Louisville (2007, 2013 and 2014).
• Assistant coach Kyle Cheesebrough has made two College World Series appearances as an assistant coach (2013 and 2014 at Louisville).

HURLING HOOSIERS
• A big part of Indiana's success in recent years has been its pitching staff, with eight pitchers over the last two seasons going on to play professionally with MLB organizations.
• Under the tutelage of Associate Head Coach/Pitching Coach Kyle Bunn , the Hoosiers in 2016 ranked second in the country in walks allowed per nine innings (2.31), fifth in WHIP (1.15) and 11th in team ERA (3.09). Indiana led the Big Ten in walks per nine innings, WHIP, strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.17), was second in team ERA and second in hits allowed per nine innings (8.02).
• Through four games this season, Indiana is first in the Big Ten in ERA (1.59, 20th nationally), second in WHIP (1.18) and opposing batting average (.220), fifth in fewest walks allowed (12), tied for fifth in strikeouts (23), and sixth in fewest hits allowed (28).
• Bunn has been known nationally for developing his pitchers as 54 of them have gone on to play professional baseball. During his 15-year stint as an assistant at Ole Miss (2002-07), Clemson (2008-09), Alabama (2010), East Tennessee State (2012-14) and Indiana (2015-present), a total of nine of his pitchers have reached the Major Leagues. Bunn's staffs have poured out three first round draft picks and 22 top five round draft picks.

DEDELOW RETURNS TO HOOSIERS IN 2017
• 2016 Third Team All-Big Ten selection Craig Dedelow opted to return for his senior season in Bloomington. Named IU's offensive MVP, Dedelow was selected in the 34th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The senior hit his 13th career home run on Monday against No. 7 Oregon State. He is second on IU's active career home run list, one behind Logan Sowers (14).
• In 2016, The Munster, Ind. native led IU in batting average (.302), hits (70), doubles (16, 11th in the Big Ten), and runs scored (33), and was second in RBI (36).
• For his career, Dedelow is a .299 hitter with 165 hits, 31 doubles, 13 home runs, and 83 RBI. In each of the previous two seasons, Dedelow has led the Hoosiers in hits (76 in 2015; 70 in 2016) and total bases (116 in 2015; 105 in 2016).
• Additionally, for the second-straight fall, Dedelow was the individual champion of Indiana's Omaha Challenge.

MATHENY MAKES HIS MARK
• Earning the honor on Feb. 20, freshman catcher Jake Matheny became the first Freshman of the Week for Indiana since Logan Sowers on May 18, 2015.
• In his first career game against Gonzaga, Matheny hit two, two-run home runs to help propel the Hoosiers to a 12-3 victory over the Bulldogs. The Missouri native's first round-tripper came in his first career collegiate at-bat.
• Matheny was the first IU true freshman to homer twice in a game since Isaiah Pasteur did so against Louisville on March 24, 2015.

Schedule and live stats within:
iuhoosiers.com/news/2017/2/23/baseball-hoosiers-head-to-boca-raton-to-face-fau.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

[snowling]

IU heads to Florida for weekend series
by Spencer Davis

IU follows up its season-opening 2-2 performance in Arizona with a trip to the Sunshine State, as it will play three games in as many days against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida.

Sophomore pitcher Jonathan Stiever allowed just one run on three hits over 5.2 innings pitched in his 2017 debut against the No. 7 Oregon State Beavers. The righty is the Hoosiers’ Friday starter and will be on the mound for the first matchup against Florida Atlantic.

“He was really good, sharp, pitched like a veteran out there, just really hit a lot of spots and their offense can do a lot of things,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “It was nice to see him pitch and use his whole arsenal against them.”

Stiever lauded sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman for playing an extremely important role for the inexperienced starting pitching rotation, which is led by three underclassmen.

“We’re pretty confident, we are young, but I don’t think talent is really lacking as a staff,” Stiever said, referring to IU’s starters. “Ryan helps a lot — probably more than anybody is able to notice from the stands. Getting different pitches and understanding where you are mechanically. You can’t really put into perspective how valuable he is back there.”

Lemonis said he hopes to get similar production out of his catcher position against Florida Atlantic as he got last weekend. In Arizona, Fineman, who the Hoosier coach believes is one of the best catchers in the country, displayed his hitting and fielding talent, and freshman Jake Matheny embraced the spotlight by hitting two home runs in his first game. Matheny went on to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Florida Atlantic’s baseball program is greatly underrated, Lemonis said. The team’s lineup stands out in combination with its good arms.

“John McCormack is a really good head coach and they’ve got it going on down there,” Lemonis said. “We purposely put together a schedule that would test us with all regional teams and some of the better teams in the country.”

Lemonis said sophomore utility player Luke Miller, who will spend more permanent time at third base this year, will see more action this weekend after only appearing once, as a pinch hitter, in the Hoosiers’ first four games due to a day-to-day injury.

The third-year head coach has placed an emphasis on base stealing this season and includes a training exercise every practice.

The work paid off in the team’s opening slate of games as the Hoosiers stole five bags on six attempts, with junior outfielder Laren Eustace providing four of those swipes. Contrarily, Fineman and Matheny have thrown out three of four opposing runners attempting to steal.

“I think it really plays well with my style of play, and I think this year we are going to try and run a lot more and be a little more aggressive the past few years,” Eustace said. “We’ve been working on it a lot in practice and have gotten a lot better in that aspect too.”

Despite traveling to temperate climates like Arizona and Florida, Lemonis said he would prefer to be playing in Bloomington, which has been uncharacteristically warm as of late.

“It’s bad scheduling, today I wish we were playing here,” Lemonis said. “It’s one of the things you have to mentally fight through. We talk about it all the time and it’s part of being an Indiana athlete. We got home late Monday night and they were in class at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and we practiced a little bit yesterday. It makes it a little tougher, but also makes our guys a little bit tougher and we try to embrace that.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2017/02/iu-heads-to-florida-for-weekend-series

Go Hoosiers!

 

[Irregulars]

LEADING OFF• Indiana continues a 12-game road trip to open the 2017 season with a three-game series at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla.
• The Hoosiers opened up the 2017 season with a four-game split at the Surprise Collegiate Baseball Classic, picking up 12-3 and 5-1 victories over Gonzaga, while dropping two tight contests to seventh-ranked Oregon State.
• Sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman leads the Hoosiers through four games with a .417 batting average and five hits. He recorded his fourth career three-hit game in last Friday's 12-3 victory over Gonzaga.
• Junior Laren Eustace posted a .471 on base percentage the first weekend, good for second on the team, while stealing four bases, which ranks tied for second in the Big Ten. He tied his career-high with two stolen bases last Friday against No. 7 Oregon State.
• Freshman catcher and designated hitter Jake Matheny was named the Big Ten Baseball Freshman of the Week on Monday. Matheny, who hit two home runs, doubled, and drove in five runs, was the first Freshman of the Week for Indiana since Logan Sowers on May 18, 2015.
• Matheny, who homered in his first career at-bat as a Hoosier against Gonzaga, was the first IU true freshman to homer twice in a game since Isaiah Pasteur did so against Louisville on March 24, 2015.
• Also joining Matheny on the list of impact freshmen for the first weekend was shortstop Jeremy Houston , who hit .333 in IU's first four games (good for second on the team), to go along with a triple, double and two RBI. Houston's .500 on base percentage leads the team.
• Through the first weekend, Indiana's pitching staff posted a 1.59 team ERA (1st in B1G) and a .220 opponent batting average (2nd).
• Three out of four Indiana starters went at least five innings on opening weekend (sophomore Jonathan Stiever , sophomore Tim Herrin and junior Brian Hobbie ), while Herrin and junior Kade Kryzsko each picked up their first career victories.
• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (312) and conference wins (135). The Hoosiers have made four NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.

HEAD COACH CHRIS LEMONIS
• Chris Lemonis is in his third season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 69-50 thus far. Lemonis took over an IU program in 2015 that had gone 93-31 the previous two seasons, including its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2013 and the No. 4 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Championship. With a new look roster, his program immediately lived up to the expectations, posting a 35-24 overall record and earning a berth into a third-straight NCAA Regional in 2015.
• Lemonis' squad posted a school record fielding percentage of .975 in 2016 while finishing thrid in the Big Ten standings. Through his first two seasons as head coach at Indiana, the Hoosiers own two of the top three fielding percentages in program history.
• As an assistant coach, Lemonis' imprint in elevating the Louisville program to new heights was evident. The former Cardinals' recruiting coordinator aided Louisville to three College World Series appearances (2007, 2013, 2014) and a 359-159 (.693) record during the past eight seasons, including back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.

TOP HEAVY SLATE
• Indiana's 2017 schedule features a total of 19 games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams.
• A total of 17 of IU's games come against teams that finished in the 2016 Top 50 RPI.
• The Hoosiers will play 28 games against teams that finished in the 2016 Top 75 RPI.
• Indiana's first seven games this season will come against teams that finished in the Top 50 RPI in 2016 (Gonzaga - 32, Oregon State - 46, Duke - 30 and Florida Atlantic - 34).

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
• Indiana's 2017 roster features six players and or coaches that have either been part of a national championship or College World Series squad.
• Infielder Tony Butler , spent his freshman season in 2014 as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers baseball program. During his 2014 stint in Charlottesville, Butler and the Cavaliers earned a berth into the College World Series, reaching the National Championship series, eventually falling to Vanderbilt.
• Senior RHP Luke Stephenson is another transfer who joined the Hoosiers in 2016. Stephenson spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with Vanderbilt. He was a member of the 2014 Commodore club that went on to with the College World Series.
• Senior OF Alex Krupa spent 2014 and 2015 at Iowa Western Community College, where his squad went on to win the 2014 JuCo World Series. Krupa was named MVP of the World Series.
• Junior INF Matt Lloyd also attended Iowa Western C.C. He was a member of the 2015 and 2016 squads, both of which advanced to the JuCo World Series.
• In addition, head coach Chris Lemonis has been a part of three College World Series teams when he was an assistant coach at Louisville (2007, 2013 and 2014).
• Assistant coach Kyle Cheesebrough has made two College World Series appearances as an assistant coach (2013 and 2014 at Louisville).

HURLING HOOSIERS
• A big part of Indiana's success in recent years has been its pitching staff, with eight pitchers over the last two seasons going on to play professionally with MLB organizations.
• Under the tutelage of Associate Head Coach/Pitching Coach Kyle Bunn , the Hoosiers in 2016 ranked second in the country in walks allowed per nine innings (2.31), fifth in WHIP (1.15) and 11th in team ERA (3.09). Indiana led the Big Ten in walks per nine innings, WHIP, strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.17), was second in team ERA and second in hits allowed per nine innings (8.02).
• Through four games this season, Indiana is first in the Big Ten in ERA (1.59, 20th nationally), second in WHIP (1.18) and opposing batting average (.220), fifth in fewest walks allowed (12), tied for fifth in strikeouts (23), and sixth in fewest hits allowed (28).
• Bunn has been known nationally for developing his pitchers as 54 of them have gone on to play professional baseball. During his 15-year stint as an assistant at Ole Miss (2002-07), Clemson (2008-09), Alabama (2010), East Tennessee State (2012-14) and Indiana (2015-present), a total of nine of his pitchers have reached the Major Leagues. Bunn's staffs have poured out three first round draft picks and 22 top five round draft picks.

DEDELOW RETURNS TO HOOSIERS IN 2017
• 2016 Third Team All-Big Ten selection Craig Dedelow opted to return for his senior season in Bloomington. Named IU's offensive MVP, Dedelow was selected in the 34th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• The senior hit his 13th career home run on Monday against No. 7 Oregon State. He is second on IU's active career home run list, one behind Logan Sowers (14).
• In 2016, The Munster, Ind. native led IU in batting average (.302), hits (70), doubles (16, 11th in the Big Ten), and runs scored (33), and was second in RBI (36).
• For his career, Dedelow is a .299 hitter with 165 hits, 31 doubles, 13 home runs, and 83 RBI. In each of the previous two seasons, Dedelow has led the Hoosiers in hits (76 in 2015; 70 in 2016) and total bases (116 in 2015; 105 in 2016).
• Additionally, for the second-straight fall, Dedelow was the individual champion of Indiana's Omaha Challenge.

MATHENY MAKES HIS MARK
• Earning the honor on Feb. 20, freshman catcher Jake Matheny became the first Freshman of the Week for Indiana since Logan Sowers on May 18, 2015.
• In his first career game against Gonzaga, Matheny hit two, two-run home runs to help propel the Hoosiers to a 12-3 victory over the Bulldogs. The Missouri native's first round-tripper came in his first career collegiate at-bat.
• Matheny was the first IU true freshman to homer twice in a game since Isaiah Pasteur did so against Louisville on March 24, 2015.

Schedule and live stats within:
iuhoosiers.com/news/2017/2/23/baseball-hoosiers-head-to-boca-raton-to-face-fau.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

Well done.....great info. just really enjoy reading you coverage of the baseball team. Thanks for the effort.