Game Notes: Hoosiers Head to #19 Minnesota for Big Ten Clash

[snowling]

Setting the Scene
• Indiana heads up North to Minneapolis, Minn. this weekend in a battle for first place with the 19th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers beginning on Friday night.
• Indiana, 11-4 in Big Ten play, sits alone in second place in the conference, just a half game of the Golden Gophers, who are 11-3 in league play, for first place.
• The Hoosiers are coming off a series sweep over the Northwestern Wildcats last weekend in Bloomington. Indiana has now won 14 of its last 17 games, which included an eight-game winning streak that was snapped on April 17 against Iowa. IU is 11-2 in its last 13 Big Ten games.

Notables
• Indiana pitching ranks first in the Big Ten in fewest walks allowed (107), first in fewest home runs allowed (14), second in team ERA (2.91), second in fewest earned runs allowed (124), second in fewest runs allowed (160), third in opponent batting average (.235), tied for fourth in strikeouts (316), and fourth in fewest hits allowed (335).
• Indiana's pitching staff entered this week ranked fifth nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.51), seventh in WHIP (1.15), ninth in strikeout to walk ratio (2.95), 12th in team ERA (2.91), and 21st in hits allowed per nine innings (7.8).
• Indiana's starting pitching has been strong through the first 11 weekends of action. In 33 combined starts from LHP Kyle Hart, RHP Evan Bell and LHP Caleb Baragar, the trio has posted a 2.64 ERA, allowing just 171 hits over 201.0 innings of work, striking out 147 batters while walking only 49. Teams are hitting a combined .232 off Hart, Bell and Baragar so far.
• Hoosier pitchers have given up one earned run or less 14 times this season, all of which have happened in a 32-game span.
• Indiana pitching has posted double-figure strikeouts in 11 games this season.
• The Hoosiers have given up two walks or less in 24 games this season, including 15 of the last 27 games.
• Entering this weekend, IU is ranked fifth in the Big Ten in home runs (31) and tied for fifth in triples (10).
• In conference games only, the Hoosiers are second in home runs (11), tied for second in triples (4), third in walks (62), third in stolen bases (19), fifth in slugging percentage (.377), fifth in runs scored (76) and fifth in RBI (69),
• Heading into the week, Indiana is 76th in the country in home runs per game (0.74), and 80th in home runs (31).
• As a team, IU has recorded at least one home run in seven of the last 13 games, including three against Iowa on April 15. In its first 18 games of the season, Indiana tallied nine home runs (0.5 average), but in the last 24 contests, the Hoosiers have slugged 22 home runs (0.9 average).

Player Notes
• Sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers ranks tied for ninth in the Big Ten in home runs with seven. Sowers' seven long balls have come in just 30 games, as he missed 12 games due to injury. Sowers is averaging one home run per 15.1 at-bats.
• Sowers, entering the weekend is hitting .311, has 33 hits on the season with 12 of them coming for extra-bases. He currently has posted a .999 OPS.
• Since returning to the Indiana lineup on March 23, Sowers is hitting at a .318 clip with five home runs and 14 RBI, posting an OPS of 1.018. The Hoosiers are 17-7 since Sowers came back to the lineup.
• In conference games only, Sowers is third in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.593), tied for fourth in home runs (3), tied for ninth in total bases (32), tied for second in walks (13), tied for fourth in runs scored (14),sixth in on base percentage (.482) and 13th in RBI (11).
• Junior Craig Dedelow has driven in at least one run in eight of his last 19 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 seventh in the Big Ten in RBI (33) and tied for 9th in home runs (7).
• Of Wilhite's seven home runs this year, three have been grand slams and one was an inside the park home run against Northwestern on April 29.
• 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.
• Defensively, Wilhite ranks first in the Big Ten with 147 assists at the shortstop position. His 63 assists in Big Ten action rank second.
• Junior second baseman Tony Butler has yet to make an error this season or in his entire career. Butler has started 39 games at his position this season and has appeared in all 42 of Indiana's games. Butler has a total of 180 chances this season, including 113 assists and 67 putouts. He has turned 32 double plays this year as well. In total, Butler has played in 51 career games at Indiana and Virginia (2014) and has yet to make an error.
• Butlers's 113 assists rank tied for 10th in the Big Ten and is second in fielding double plays with 32.
• 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, a member of the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, is fourth among Indiana hitters with a .279 batting average in 40 games and 36 starts.
• In Big Ten games only, Fineman is tied for 10th in runs scored (12).
• Fineman recently had a reached base streak of 22-straight games snapped at Michigan State and a 14-game hitting streak, which was snapped on April 17 against Iowa.
• Junior relief RHP Jake Kelzer has struck out 37 batters in 32 innings while allowing just 23 hits, as opposing batters are hitting just .200 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 April 17 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 113.0 career innings in a Hoosier uniform, currently ranks 11th all-time at Indiana with a 2.47 ERA (50 inning minimum).

SENIOR RHP KYLE HART
• Indiana's Friday night starter, LHP Kyle Hart will be making his 56th career start on the mound in his Hoosier career on Friday.
• Hart currently is first in the Big Ten and tied for first nationally in victories (9).
• Coming into the weekend, Hart is first in the Big Ten in wins (9), third in innings pitched (73.1), tied for sixth in ERA (2.45), tied for eight in strikeouts looking (19) and 11th in strikeouts (53),
• Hart's 55 career starts rank second on the nation's active career leaders list, trailing Florida State's Mike Compton by two. In addition, Hart ranks third nationally on the active career list in wins (30), sixth in innings pitched (313.2) and tied for 31st in strikeouts (211).
• Dating back to last season, in his last 13 starts, Hart has thrown 92.1 innings, allowing 82 hits, 20 earned runs and striking out 65 batters while walking just 13.
• Entering the weekend, the Ohio native has 30 career wins, which ranks tied for second all-time in school history with Brian Partenheimer (1994-97).
• In addition, his 313.2 career innings is currently third all-time at Indiana while the 211 career strikeouts puts him sixth in the school annals.
• Hart ranks second in IU history with 16 career wins in Big Ten games, With four Big Ten series left, Hart trails Joey DeNato (2011-14) by two wins for the No. 1 spot in school history. Hart's 3.11 career ERA in conference action ranks eighth and his 105 strikeouts ranks tied for fourth.
• In his outing at No. 23 Michigan State on April 22, Hart struck out two and allowed just two earned runs and six hits in seven innings of work to pick up his eighth victory of the season.
• In a 7-1 victory over Iowa on April 15, the southpaw tossed his second complete game of the year and third of his career as he struck out five batters while walking none, allowing four hits and an unearned run. Hart earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for his effort.
• 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 sixth time this season. He has made 23 career starts in a Hoosier uniform, while his 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• Baragar entered this week 38th nationally in WHIP (0.97), 40th in hits allowed/nine innings (6.23) and 45th in ERA (1.94).
• Coming into the weekend, Baragar is second in the Big Ten in ERA (1.94), third in opposing batting average (.190), eighth in strikeouts (63) and tied for 13th in innings pitched (65.0).
• In his last six combined starts, Baragar has allowed 34 hits in 47 innings, striking out 44 and walking 13 while allowing just 10 earned runs, with three of them coming against Indiana State on March 26 and four at Michigan State on April 23.
• Baragar had a streak of 27.2 innings without surrendering an earned run snapped against Indiana State on March 26.
• In an 8-2 victory over Iowa on April 16, Baragar picked up his third with of the season striking out four and allowing six hits in seven innings of work.
• 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. He earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for his effort.
• 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 16 career starts, including 11 this season.
• At Michigan State on April 24, Bell allowed just three hits in six innings of work. In the no decision, Bell retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
• 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.

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/5/5...ead-to-no-19-minnesota-for-big-ten-clash.aspx

 

[snowling]

IU baseball looks ahead to a huge series against Minnesota

by Zain Pyarali

The thought of mentioning IU and first place in the Big Ten in the same sentence in early April was illogical.

IU had just dropped two of three games against Rutgers to start conference play and was sitting at an even .500 mark on the year.

Fast-forward a month from that series. The Hoosiers have lost three games since playing the Scarlet Knights, sit a half game out of first place and travel north to Minneapolis, Minnesota, this weekend for a three game series against the first place Golden Gophers.

“We haven’t talked a whole lot about it, they know what’s on the line,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “They understand they need to go out there and take care of business.”

The second best pitching staff in the Big Ten will face off against the most powerful offense in the conference. Riding two-way junior Matt Fiedler and junior catcher Austin Athmann, Minnesota is in prime position to end a five-year NCAA tournament absence.

Not only does Fiedler lead the league in batting average at a scorching .406 clip, but he also dazzles a 7-2 record on the mound with a 3.36 ERA as the Gophers’ Friday night starter. He’s played in every game this season, serving as the designated hitter during the games where he doesn’t take the hill.

Athmann, on the other hand, hasn’t only been a solid backstop defensively, but also a force at the dish. The Minnesota native is second in the league to his counterpart Fiedler in batting average and is at the top of the leader board in slugging percentage (.742) and home runs (11).

The obvious task at hand for the Hoosier staff will be to shut down the junior duo of Fiedler and Athmann. The rotation will still be challenged throughout the entire lineup however with five other Gophers with at least 100 at-bats hitting over .300 on the season as Minnesota hits .333 as a club.

Senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart will attempt to capture win No. 10 on the season when he takes the hill against Fiedler on Friday. Hart has won four straight decisions and has only allowed three earned runs over his past three starts including one complete game.

Senior starting pitchers Caleb Baragar and Evan Bell will round out the rotation in the series. Baragar still owns an ERA under 2.00 this season but that could be in jeopardy after Saturday as he’s struggled to go deep into ball games lately. He’s only pitched seven innings just once in his last four starts.

However, Bell has been trending upward after a frustrating start to his senior campaign. IU dropped the first seven games Bell started, but has since won three of the last four games when he takes the mound as he still looks for his first winning decision.

“We’re winning when he’s pitching right now which is all that matters,” Lemonis said. “But I’d like to see him get that first win.”

Lemonis said he knows that the race for first is tight and it’s still anyone’s conference for now. With the top six teams separated by 2.5 games in the standings, there’s zero room for error during the final stretch of the season.

“Our league is so tight, you could be in sixth place quick,” Lemonis said. “It’s more of just going out there and playing a good game and we’ve talked all week about preparing to play well.”

Go Hoosiers!

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/05/iu-baseball-prepares-for-minnesota

 

[mobilehoosier]

This weekend IU takes two of three. It will be a good weekend.

Respectfully,

 

[snowling]

IU Winning With Resilience
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In the closing stretch of his final season, Kyle Hart has Indiana's identity summed up in one word.

"Resilient," the senior pitcher said. "Right now, I think we're resilient."

Indiana's ability to bounce back after getting knocked down has become a theme as of late. Just last weekend after the Hoosiers swept Northwestern, head coach Chris Lemonis was describing his team like a Rocky movie because of the amount of times they've had to pick themselves back up after falling.

Now, IU has won 11 of its last 13 Big Ten games and sits just half a game behind Minnesota heading into a critical three-game series against the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. With only three weekend series and a couple of midweek games left before the conference tournament, this is shaping into the last opportunity for Indiana to stay up.

"We've kind of had our back up against the wall for a while," Lemonis said. "Week-to-week, we know we're playing for everything. So it's a lot of fun."

With postseason implications hinging on every game from here on out, Indiana has managed to keep what could just as easily be the most stressful part of the season light. The Hoosiers are loose and talk with confidence about where they are and where they're trajectory is taking them even with pressure to win mounting.

If anything, weekends like this have become the norm for IU, a team that won three one-run games against Northwestern and 11 single-run ballgames overall. The Hoosiers had similar series against then-league leading Michigan State a couple of weekends ago and jumped into Big Ten contention after winning two of three games.

"A big series," Hart said. "I wouldn't say it's the end all, be all series quite yet. If this was the last weekend, I'd maybe be changing my statement, but right now it's a really big weekend. I'm looking forward to Friday night."

Hart's not alone either. By the time he takes the mound Friday night, classes will have already been let out for the summer leaving only baseball on the schedule for Hart and his teammates before parting ways.

The more the Hoosiers continue to fulfill that resilient tag Hart has given them, the longer the season will last.

"They like this time of year," Lemonis said. "It's wake up, practice, play baseball, lift weights and repeat. They enjoy this time of year. I'm hoping it will be a big boost for us."

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/5/6/baseball-iu-winning-with-resilience.aspx

 

[MaryisCrazy]

Setting the Scene
• Indiana heads up North to Minneapolis, Minn. this weekend in a battle for first place with the 19th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers beginning on Friday night.
• Indiana, 11-4 in Big Ten play, sits alone in second place in the conference, just a half game of the Golden Gophers, who are 11-3 in league play, for first place.
• The Hoosiers are coming off a series sweep over the Northwestern Wildcats last weekend in Bloomington. Indiana has now won 14 of its last 17 games, which included an eight-game winning streak that was snapped on April 17 against Iowa. IU is 11-2 in its last 13 Big Ten games.

Notables
• Indiana pitching ranks first in the Big Ten in fewest walks allowed (107), first in fewest home runs allowed (14), second in team ERA (2.91), second in fewest earned runs allowed (124), second in fewest runs allowed (160), third in opponent batting average (.235), tied for fourth in strikeouts (316), and fourth in fewest hits allowed (335).
• Indiana's pitching staff entered this week ranked fifth nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.51), seventh in WHIP (1.15), ninth in strikeout to walk ratio (2.95), 12th in team ERA (2.91), and 21st in hits allowed per nine innings (7.8).
• Indiana's starting pitching has been strong through the first 11 weekends of action. In 33 combined starts from LHP Kyle Hart, RHP Evan Bell and LHP Caleb Baragar, the trio has posted a 2.64 ERA, allowing just 171 hits over 201.0 innings of work, striking out 147 batters while walking only 49. Teams are hitting a combined .232 off Hart, Bell and Baragar so far.
• Hoosier pitchers have given up one earned run or less 14 times this season, all of which have happened in a 32-game span.
• Indiana pitching has posted double-figure strikeouts in 11 games this season.
• The Hoosiers have given up two walks or less in 24 games this season, including 15 of the last 27 games.
• Entering this weekend, IU is ranked fifth in the Big Ten in home runs (31) and tied for fifth in triples (10).
• In conference games only, the Hoosiers are second in home runs (11), tied for second in triples (4), third in walks (62), third in stolen bases (19), fifth in slugging percentage (.377), fifth in runs scored (76) and fifth in RBI (69),
• Heading into the week, Indiana is 76th in the country in home runs per game (0.74), and 80th in home runs (31).
• As a team, IU has recorded at least one home run in seven of the last 13 games, including three against Iowa on April 15. In its first 18 games of the season, Indiana tallied nine home runs (0.5 average), but in the last 24 contests, the Hoosiers have slugged 22 home runs (0.9 average).

Player Notes
• Sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers ranks tied for ninth in the Big Ten in home runs with seven. Sowers' seven long balls have come in just 30 games, as he missed 12 games due to injury. Sowers is averaging one home run per 15.1 at-bats.
• Sowers, entering the weekend is hitting .311, has 33 hits on the season with 12 of them coming for extra-bases. He currently has posted a .999 OPS.
• Since returning to the Indiana lineup on March 23, Sowers is hitting at a .318 clip with five home runs and 14 RBI, posting an OPS of 1.018. The Hoosiers are 17-7 since Sowers came back to the lineup.
• In conference games only, Sowers is third in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.593), tied for fourth in home runs (3), tied for ninth in total bases (32), tied for second in walks (13), tied for fourth in runs scored (14),sixth in on base percentage (.482) and 13th in RBI (11).
• Junior Craig Dedelow has driven in at least one run in eight of his last 19 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 seventh in the Big Ten in RBI (33) and tied for 9th in home runs (7).
• Of Wilhite's seven home runs this year, three have been grand slams and one was an inside the park home run against Northwestern on April 29.
• 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.
• Defensively, Wilhite ranks first in the Big Ten with 147 assists at the shortstop position. His 63 assists in Big Ten action rank second.
• Junior second baseman Tony Butler has yet to make an error this season or in his entire career. Butler has started 39 games at his position this season and has appeared in all 42 of Indiana's games. Butler has a total of 180 chances this season, including 113 assists and 67 putouts. He has turned 32 double plays this year as well. In total, Butler has played in 51 career games at Indiana and Virginia (2014) and has yet to make an error.
• Butlers's 113 assists rank tied for 10th in the Big Ten and is second in fielding double plays with 32.
• 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, a member of the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, is fourth among Indiana hitters with a .279 batting average in 40 games and 36 starts.
• In Big Ten games only, Fineman is tied for 10th in runs scored (12).
• Fineman recently had a reached base streak of 22-straight games snapped at Michigan State and a 14-game hitting streak, which was snapped on April 17 against Iowa.
• Junior relief RHP Jake Kelzer has struck out 37 batters in 32 innings while allowing just 23 hits, as opposing batters are hitting just .200 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 April 17 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 113.0 career innings in a Hoosier uniform, currently ranks 11th all-time at Indiana with a 2.47 ERA (50 inning minimum).

SENIOR RHP KYLE HART
• Indiana's Friday night starter, LHP Kyle Hart will be making his 56th career start on the mound in his Hoosier career on Friday.
• Hart currently is first in the Big Ten and tied for first nationally in victories (9).
• Coming into the weekend, Hart is first in the Big Ten in wins (9), third in innings pitched (73.1), tied for sixth in ERA (2.45), tied for eight in strikeouts looking (19) and 11th in strikeouts (53),
• Hart's 55 career starts rank second on the nation's active career leaders list, trailing Florida State's Mike Compton by two. In addition, Hart ranks third nationally on the active career list in wins (30), sixth in innings pitched (313.2) and tied for 31st in strikeouts (211).
• Dating back to last season, in his last 13 starts, Hart has thrown 92.1 innings, allowing 82 hits, 20 earned runs and striking out 65 batters while walking just 13.
• Entering the weekend, the Ohio native has 30 career wins, which ranks tied for second all-time in school history with Brian Partenheimer (1994-97).
• In addition, his 313.2 career innings is currently third all-time at Indiana while the 211 career strikeouts puts him sixth in the school annals.
• Hart ranks second in IU history with 16 career wins in Big Ten games, With four Big Ten series left, Hart trails Joey DeNato (2011-14) by two wins for the No. 1 spot in school history. Hart's 3.11 career ERA in conference action ranks eighth and his 105 strikeouts ranks tied for fourth.
• In his outing at No. 23 Michigan State on April 22, Hart struck out two and allowed just two earned runs and six hits in seven innings of work to pick up his eighth victory of the season.
• In a 7-1 victory over Iowa on April 15, the southpaw tossed his second complete game of the year and third of his career as he struck out five batters while walking none, allowing four hits and an unearned run. Hart earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for his effort.
• 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 sixth time this season. He has made 23 career starts in a Hoosier uniform, while his 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• Baragar entered this week 38th nationally in WHIP (0.97), 40th in hits allowed/nine innings (6.23) and 45th in ERA (1.94).
• Coming into the weekend, Baragar is second in the Big Ten in ERA (1.94), third in opposing batting average (.190), eighth in strikeouts (63) and tied for 13th in innings pitched (65.0).
• In his last six combined starts, Baragar has allowed 34 hits in 47 innings, striking out 44 and walking 13 while allowing just 10 earned runs, with three of them coming against Indiana State on March 26 and four at Michigan State on April 23.
• Baragar had a streak of 27.2 innings without surrendering an earned run snapped against Indiana State on March 26.
• In an 8-2 victory over Iowa on April 16, Baragar picked up his third with of the season striking out four and allowing six hits in seven innings of work.
• 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. He earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for his effort.
• 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 16 career starts, including 11 this season.
• At Michigan State on April 24, Bell allowed just three hits in six innings of work. In the no decision, Bell retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.
• 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.

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/5/5...ead-to-no-19-minnesota-for-big-ten-clash.aspx

Huge series. Go Hoosiers.