Game Notes: Baseball Heads to East Lansing for Clash with Spartans

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Setting the Scene
• Indiana continues its five-game road trip with a three-game series at Michigan State beginning on Friday, April 22.
• The Hoosiers are coming off a series victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend and an 8-0 victory over Xavier on Wednesday. Indiana has now won nine of its last 10 games, which included an eight-game winning streak that was snapped on April 17 against Iowa.
• During the 10-game stretch in which IU has gone 9-1, the Hoosiers are hitting .287 as a team and averaging 9.3 hits and 6.8 runs per game.

The Coaches
• Chris Lemonis is in his second season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 56-38 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.
• 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.
• Jake Boss Jr. was appointed the 16th head coach in Michigan State baseball history on July 1, 2008, and has quickly become one of the most successful coaches in the program's 130-year history. In just seven seasons, Boss has compiled a 229-162 (.586) record.

Notables
• Indiana pitching ranks tied for first in the Big Ten in fewest walks allowed (84), second in team ERA (2.70), second in fewest earned runs allowed (96), third in fewest runs allowed (130), third in opponent batting average (.231), fourth in batters struck out (271), and fourth in fewest hits allowed (275).
• Indiana's pitching staff enters this week ranked second nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.34), sixth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.31), ninth in WHIP (1.13), 11th in team ERA (2.78), and 28th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.8).
• Indiana's starting pitching has been strong through the first seven weekends of action. In 27 combined starts from LHP Kyle Hart, RHP Evan Bell and LHP Caleb Baragar, the trio has posted a 2.61 ERA, allowing just 136 hits over 165.2 innings of work, striking out 124 batters while walking only 34. Teams are hitting a combined .233 off Hart, Bell and Baragar so far.
• Hoosier pitchers have given up one earned run or less 12 times this season, all of which have happened in a 28-game span.
• Indiana pitching has posted double-figure strikeouts in 11 games this season.
• The Hoosiers have given up two walks or less in 22 games this season, including 13 of the last 20 games.
• Entering this weekend, IU is ranked third in the Big Ten in home runs (30), sixth in slugging percentage (.406), sixth in RBI (185) and sixth in triples (8).
• In conference games only, the Hoosiers are first in slugging percentage (.435), first in home runs (10), tied for third in triples (2), fifth in on base percentage (.377), sixth in runs scored (52), sixth in RBI (47), sixth in walks (40), sixth in stolen bases (8) and tied for sixth in doubles (14).
• Heading into the week, Indiana is 50th in the country in home runs per game (0.85), and 59th in home runs (29).
• As a team, IU has recorded at least one home run in each of its last six games (nine total for a 1.5 average), including three against Iowa on April 15. In its first 18 games of the season, Indiana has tallied nine home runs (0.5 average), but in the last 17 contests, the Hoosiers have slugged 21 home runs (1.2 average).
• The Hoosiers strung together 27 runs on 23 hits and five home runs to earn a 27-1 victory over the Butler Bulldogs on March 23 at Bart Kaufman Field. The 27 runs for the Hoosiers are a Bart Kaufman Field record and the most since March 24, 2004 when IU scored 29 against Chicago State.
• The 26-run margin of victory is the second largest in NCAA Division I Baseball this season, while the 27 runs scored are currently tied for the seventh most in the nation this year.
• Heading into the weekend, the Hoosiers stand first in the Big Ten in fielding double plays (32), tied for fourth in fewest stolen bases against (24), and tied for fourth in fielding percentage (.971).

Player Notes
• Sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers ranks tied for third in the Big Ten in home runs with seven. Sowers' seven long balls have come in just 23 games, as he missed 12 games due to injury. Sowers is averaging one home run per 11.6 at-bats.
• Sowers, entering the weekend is hitting .313, has 27 hits on the season with 10 of them coming for extra-bases. He currently has posted a 1.102 OPS.
• Since returning to the Indiana lineup on March 23, Sowers is hitting at a .350 clip with five home runs and 11 RBI, posting an OPS of 1.147. The Hoosiers are hitting .284 as a team since Sowers returned from his injury. Since the return of Sowers, Brian Wilhite (.339), Laren Eustace (.333), Scotty Bradley (.308) and Ryan Fineman (.306) are hitting at .300 clips or better.
• In conference games only, Sowers is tied for first in the Big Ten in home runs (3), second in slugging percentage (.727), third in runs scored (11), seventh in on base percentage (.476), tied for seventh in total bases (24), tied for eighth in walks (8) and 10th in RBI (8).
•Junior Craig Dedelow stands tied for ninth in the Big Ten in RBI (27).
•Dedelow has driven in at least one run in six of his last 12 games.
•Dedelow's three doubles against Butler on March 23 are tied for a Big Ten season-high. His five RBI against the Bulldogs were a career high.
• Dedelow reached base safely in his first 17 games this season, and dating back to last year, his last 22 games. That streak came to a halt on March 20 against Toledo.
• Dedelow, for the second-straight year, was the overall individual champion of IU's annual Omaha Challenge, logging 253 total points.
•Senior Brian Wilhite is tied for fourth in the Big Ten in RBI (31) and tied for eighth in home runs (6).
•On March 23 against Butler, Wilhite had a career-high six RBI and two home runs, which included a grand slam. He followed that performance up with another grand slam in a second consecutive game on March 25 at Indiana State.
• For his efforts against Butler and Indiana State, Wilhite earned Big Ten Player of the Week for the week of March 28, marking his first career conference honor. Wilhite hit .562 on the week with three home runs, while driving in 10 and scoring seven runs on nine hits.
• Junior second baseman Tony Butler has yet to make an error this season or in his entire career. Butler has started 32 games at his position this season and has appeared in all 35 games. Butler has a total of 149 chances this season, including 98 assists and 51 putouts. He has turned 26 double plays this year as well. In total, Butler has played in 44 career games at Indiana and Virginia (2014) and has yet to make an error.
• Butlers's 94 assists rank ninth in the Big Ten and is tied for second in fielding double plays with 26.
• Butler hit a walk-off home run on March 27 at Bart Kaufman Field, giving the Hoosiers a 5-3 victory over the Indiana State Sycamores.
• Before Butler's walk-off homer, the last extra-inning walk off home run for the Hoosiers dates back to the 2013 NCAA Regional when Chad Clark hit one against Valparaiso in NCAA Regionals.
• Freshman catcher Ryan Fineman is second among Indiana hitters with a .307 batting average in 33 games and 29 starts.
• Fineman enters the week having reached base in 21-straight games and recently carried a 14-game hitting streak, which was snapped on April 17 against Iowa.
• Junior relief RHP Jake Kelzer has struck out 29 batters in 25 innings while allowing just 19 hits, as opposing batters are hitting just .209 off him.
• Kelzer had a streak of seven appearances where he didn't allow an earned run snapped against Purdue on April 8. The last earned run Kelzer surrendered prior to Purdue was March 5 against Seton Hall.
• Along with Kelzer in the back end of the Indiana bullpen, junior Thomas Belcher had not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances until Sunday against Iowa. Over those 10 appearances, Belcher had tossed 16.2 innings, surrendering just five hits, walking three and striking out 13.
• Belcher, who has thrown 106.0 career innings in a Hoosier uniform, currently ranks 10th all-time at Indiana with a 2.38 ERA (50 inning minimum).

Weekend Rotation

SENIOR RHP KYLE HART
• Indiana's Friday night starter, LHP Kyle Hart will be making his 54th career start on the mound in his Hoosier career on Friday.
• Hart currently is first in the Big Ten and third nationally in victories (7).
• Coming into the weekend, Hart is first in the Big Ten in wins (7), sixth in innings pitched (59.2) 10th in batters struck out (46), 10th in opposing batting average (.227) and 12th in ERA (2.56).
• Hart's 53 career starts rank second on the nation's active career leaders list, trailing Florida State's Mike Compton by two. In addition, Hart ranks tied for fourth nationally on the active career list in wins (28), seventh in innings pitched (300.0) and 29th in strikeouts (204).
• Dating back to last season, in his last 11 starts, Hart has thrown 78.2 innings, allowing 67 hits, 17 earned runs and striking out 58 batters while walking just 10.
• Entering the weekend, the Ohio native has 28 career wins, which ranks third all-time in school history. Hart trails Brian Partenheimer (1994-97) by two wins for second all-time in the IU record books.
• In addition, his 300 career innings is currently fourth fifth all-time at Indiana while the 204 career strikeouts puts him in a tie for sixth place in the school annals with Claron Veller (1929-31).
• Hart ranks second in IU history with 14 career wins in Big Ten games, With five Big Ten series left, Hart trails Joey DeNato (2011-14) by four wins for the No. 1 spot in school history. Hart's 3.23 career ERA in conference action ranks ninth and his 98 strikeouts ranks fifth.
• Hart put together another strong starting performance on the mound against Toledo on March 18, going eight innings allowing one earned run while surrendering four hits, improving to 4-1 on the season.
• The senior captain tossed a complete game, six-strikeout effort in a 3-2 victory over Western Carolina on March 11, marking his second career complete game.
• Hart was named the Big Ten's Co-Pitcher of the Week for his outing against Illinois State on March 4. He allowed three hits and no runs over six innings in a 14-1 victory over the Redbirds to improve to 2-1 on the year. The senior captain struck out a career-high 10 batters while walking none.
• In the season opener at Middle Tennessee, Hart put together a five-inning start where he struck out seven, walked one, and allowed just one hit in the early stages. Hart retired the final 15 batters he faced.
• Hart had a streak of 30.0 innings without allowing an earned run snapped on February 26 at Cal State Fullerton. Entering that start, the last time Hart had surrendered an earned run was May 9, 2015 in the first inning against Long Beach State in Bloomington.

SENIOR LHP CALEB BARAGAR
• Senior LHP Caleb Baragar served as IU's Sunday starter through the first six weekends of the season and will be starting in the Saturday slot for the third time this season. He has made 21 career starts in a Hoosier uniform, while his 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• Baragar entered this week 11th nationally in WHIP (0.84), 21st in hits allowed/nine innings (5.43) and 26th in ERA (1.48).
• Coming into the weekend, Baragar is second in the Big Ten in ERA (1.48), second in opposing batting average (.168), tied for sixth in batters struck out (52) and tied for 11th in innings pitched (54.2).
• In his last six combined starts, Baragar has allowed 22 hits in 36.2 innings, striking out 33 and walking eight while allowing just five earned runs, with three of them coming in his start against Indiana State on March 26.
•Baragar had a streak of 27.2 innings without surrendering an earned run snapped against Indiana State on March 26.
• In an 8-0 victory over Toledo on March 18, Baragar allowed just one hit in eight innings and struck out 11 in an 8-0 victory. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning and the 11 strikeouts were a career-high.
• Baragar had a strong start against Butler on March 6, going seven innings where he allowed just three hits and matched his career-high in strikeouts with eight while walking two.
• The senior allowed five hits and two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 28. The southpaw struck out a career-high eight batters while allowing two walks.

SENIOR RHP EVAN BELL
• Indiana's Saturday starter is senior RHP Evan Bell. Bell has made 14 career starts, including nine this season.
• In his outing against Seton Hall on March 5, Bell went six innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run and struck out two in the no-decision.
• Bell had a strong start at Cal State Fullerton, as he went a career-high seven innings in his start, striking out six while allowing just two hits. Bell closed his final 4.1 innings of work allowing no hits and just two baserunners.
• Bell, who set career-highs with 21 appearances and 49.2 innings pitched in 2015, had an impressive outing vs. Notre Dame at Victory Field on April 21, retiring 12-straight batters with five strikeouts.
• He threw a then career-high 6.1 innings vs. Michigan on April 4, also notching a career-best eight strikeouts while limiting U-M to one run on four hits.

Go Hoosiers!
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/4/2...-to-east-lansing-for-clash-with-spartans.aspx

 

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Nice article on Baragar. GBR!

Baragar Comfortable, Dealing In Second Season For IU

By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -Caleb Baragar never had a chance to ease into Indiana's pitching staff. He didn't have time.

The senior-left hander transferred to IU after two years at Jackson Community College before the start of last season with two years of eligibility remaining. He immediately became a "Jack of all trades" pitcher, floating between bullpen stints and starts ranging from Friday nights to Sundays. He'd do whatever he could to get on the mound.

There's more certainty about Baragar's game this season, though he claims he's doing virtually nothing different mechanically. Even so, he's made the No. 2 spot in the Hoosiers' rotation his own, gaining confidence and earning notoriety as he continues through the Big Ten with a 1.48 ERA, second among all pitchers.

"I just feel really good right now," Baragar said. "That might have something to do with it."

Too much of last year was uncomfortable for Baragar to truly develop his identity on Indiana's staff like he has this season. He started 12 of 15 games, held opponents to a .232 batting averages and had a 3.47 ERA as he bounced between the bullpen and various parts of the rotation as needed.

This season has been different. Baragar (3-1) has staked his claim as IU's Saturday starter behind senior ace Kyle Hart, allowing just 33 hits of 54.2 innings of work. His 1.48 ERA is the product of holding opponents to a .168 batting average all while seemingly never getting rattled on the mound.

Teammates like sophomore Craig Dedelow say Baragar's gaining confidence. Pitching coach Kyle Bunn, time after time asked what the catalyst was for Baragar's improvement, said it boils down more to comfort.

"I'm a big believer in a guy that has a routine and knows what he's going to do day in and day out is going to be more productive," Bunn said. "He wasn't really allowed to get his feet wet. We kind of just kicked him into the deep end of the pool and said, 'Hey, go perform for us.' Those innings last year helped him become what he is doing right now…I think the growth and mentality and a year later, he's become a better guy for us. That comes down to experience."

Hart, who sees Baragar pitch as much as anyone, agreed with Bunn in saying Baragar was more confident. But he also revealed the other trick up Baragar's sleeve:

The invisi-ball.

Otherwise known as Baragar's fastball, his invisi-ball has been his go-to pitch this season after quickly realizing he had new-found movement early in the spring. Earlier this year when he took a perfect game into the seventh inning, about 70 percent of Baragar's pitches were invisi-balls opposing batters simply couldn't figure out.

They haven't been alone.

"Nobody can hit his fastball," Hart said. "We don't know what it is. It's got more life than probably anybody's on the staff. It's late, it's always doing something different and he's confident in it."

Pitches like the invisi-ball allow Baragar to be on constant attack on the mound.

Despite rarely jumping above 90 miles per hour, Baragar has kept opposing batters on their heels all season on craftiness. He'll attack his spots, stay out of trouble and let the defense do the rest of the work this weekend against Michigan State just as he has all season.

"I'm just trying to get out there and throw strikes, not do too much," Baragar said. "I guess last year I out-thought myself maybe on the mound where I don't know if it brought me down mentally or whatever. This year, I've just been able to focus."

It's a simple solution, maybe even boring solution to a not-so-simple game.

But it's working.

"I think Caleb's only gotten better as we've gone," Hart said. "I think he realizes in his second year what we expect from him, and I think he goes out and he lives up to that pretty much every week. It's very impressive. You love having guys like that on your staff."

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/4/2...fortable-dealing-in-second-season-for-iu.aspx

 

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Hoosiers face Spartans in monumental Big Ten series

by Zain Pyarali

The last time the Hoosiers played at Michigan State, they were swept off three straight walk-off wins.

In the same year, the Hoosiers made an improbable run to the College World Series and used those three late-inning losses to figure out who they were as a team. This weekend when IU (21-14, 6-3) travels to Michigan State (26-8, 7-2), it will be a major test to see where they match up against one of the Big 
Ten’s best.

“It’s going to be a very big test for us, obviously the best Big Ten opponent we’ve played,” senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart said. “They’re going to have great pitching and great offense, obviously, which is going to be a great test for our pitching staff.”


The road trip to East Lansing will be the first conference matchup the Hoosiers have played away from Bart Kaufman Field since the beginning of April. The Spartans feature a balanced lineup, ranking 20th in the nation, with a team average of .307 with junior Jordan Zimmerman’s leading the club at a .417 clip.

Although the Spartans sit atop the Big Ten standings, there is just one game that separates them and the fifth-place Hoosiers in a tight knit conference. For how good their statistics are, the Spartans have shown their vulnerability lately by dropping the series finale to last-place Purdue on Sunday and a 1-0 pitchers duel against Notre Dame on Tuesday.

Michigan State also blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday against a nine-win Western Michigan club, but the Spartans were able to rally in the bottom half and walk off a winner.

Pitching will highlight the series all weekend with Michigan State implementing the best arms in the conference and showcasing a 2.43 ERA, while the Hoosiers are second best in the Big Ten with a 
2.70 ERA.

Junior starting pitcher Cam Vieaux will square off against IU’s Hart in a premier matchup Friday afternoon. Vieaux has been the rock for the Spartans’ pitching staff this year by owning a 1.18 ERA over 61 innings pitched while allowing just five extra base hits this season. The former 19th-round draft pick is going up against one of the best Hoosiers of all time, who is coming off a complete-game performance against Iowa last weekend.

“Just one game at a time,” senior shortstop Brian Wilhite said. “I know we’re facing a really good left-hander Friday night. We just have to be happy about how we’re playing right now.”

The pitching as a whole for the Hoosiers has been lights-out, as the club has won nine of its last 10 games. Over that stretch, the bullpen has been solid, supporting the starting rotation with a collective 2.21 ERA. Justifying those numbers Wednesday at Xavier, the Hoosier relievers tossed five shutout innings and allowed just one hit in the process.

IU Coach Chris Lemonis said it was exciting to see the pitchers dominate out of the bullpen because he knows they’ll be a crucial part for this weekend if the Hoosiers want to have continued success.

“We’re going up against the number-one team in the Big Ten,” junior outfielder Craig Dedelow said. “To win the series at least would really help us and get us on top of the Big Ten like we want 
to be.”

Go Hoosiers!

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/04/hoosiers-face-spartans-in-critical-big-ten-series