Game Notes: Hoosiers Host Kentucky on Tuesday

[snowling]

Setting the Scene
• Indiana closes out its home schedule with four games this week, starting with a midweek contest against SEC foe Kentucky on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m.
• Indiana, 13-5 in Big Ten play, sits alone in first place in the conference, while two teams (Minnesota and Michigan) stand just a half game back heading into the weekend.
• The Hoosiers are coming off a series victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers last weekend in Minneapolis. Indiana has now won 16 of its last 20 games, which included an eight-game winning streak that was snapped on April 17 against Iowa. IU is 13-3 in its last 16 Big Ten games and has won its last five Big Ten series, including two sweeps.

The Coaches
• Chris Lemonis is in his second season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 63-41 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.
• Gary Henderson, the 2012 SEC Coach of the Year, is in his eighth year as the head coach and his 13th year overall with the Kentucky baseball program. A graduate of San Diego State, Henderson has directed the Wildcats into an unprecedented era of success as UK has set the school wins record three times during his tenure. Henderson has a 255-190 mark as head coach at Kentucky.

Notables
• Indiana pitching ranks first in the Big Ten in fewest walks allowed (110), second in fewest earned runs allowed (142), third in team ERA (3.12), third in fewest runs allowed (178), third in opponent batting average (.241), fourth in strikeouts (344), fourth in fewest hits allowed (368) and tied for fifth in fewest home runs allowed (20),
• Indiana's pitching staff enters this week ranked third nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.42), seventh in WHIP (1.17), sixth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.12), 20th in team ERA (3.12), and 32nd in hits allowed per nine innings (8.1).
• Indiana's starting pitching has been strong through the first 12 weekends of action. In 36 combined starts from LHP Kyle Hart, RHP Evan Bell and LHP Caleb Baragar, the trio has posted a 3.08 ERA, allowing just 194 hits over 216.1 innings of work, striking out 163 batters while walking only 51. Teams are hitting a combined .242 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 35-game span.
• Indiana pitching has posted double-figure strikeouts in 13 games this season.
• The Hoosiers have given up two walks or less in 27 games this season, including 18 of the last 30 games.
• Entering this week, IU is ranked fifth in the Big Ten in home runs (33) tied for firth in RBI (226), sixth in batting average (.267), sixth in slugging percentage (.391),
• In conference games only, the Hoosiers are first in sacrifice flies (11), second in home runs (13), second in walks (72), third in stolen bases (22), tied for third in triples (4), fourth in runs scored (97), fourth in RBI (88), fifth in slugging percentage (.392), sixth in batting average (.268) and sixth in total bases (237),
• Heading into the week, Indiana is 81st in the country in home runs per game (0.73), and 83rd in home runs (33).
• As a team, IU has recorded at least one home run in eight of the last 16 games, including three against Iowa on April 15 and two against Minnesota on May 6. In its first 18 games of the season, Indiana tallied nine home runs (0.5 average), but in the last 27 contests, the Hoosiers have slugged 24 home runs (0.9 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 third largest in NCAA Division I Baseball this season, while the 27 runs scored are currently tied for the eighth most in the nation this year.
• Heading into the weekend, the Hoosiers stand first in the Big Ten in fielding double plays (44), third in stolen bases against and fourth in fielding percentage (.975).
• Coming into the week, Indiana is 26th nationally in double plays turned per game (0.98), 34th in total double plays turned (44) and 36th in fielding percentage (.975).
• Heading into Tuesday, the Hoosiers have been errorless in eight of their last 11 games, and have recorded just three errors over the 11-game span.
• Bart Kaufman Field enters its fourth season of baseball since opening during the 2013 campaign. Indiana has a 72-21 (.774) record at "The Bart".

Go Hoosiers!

Per IU Baseball tweet, the game time has been moved to 5pm EDT due to weather threat.

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/5/9/baseball-game-notes-hoosiers-host-kentucky-on-tuesday.aspx

 

[stagehand]

These write-ups are great. But one suggestion I would offer, if do-able: Can we get more info on the opponent? What's their strength? How's their pitching? Any big bomber-type threats a la Kyle S.? That sort of stuff. But it was good getting some background on the UK coach.

 

[Rita1960]

Why no game updates?

 

[snowling]

Why no game updates?

Sorry Rita, just getting home from work and I'm unable to track there. I am out of town on business the next 10 days and may not have much access until the UN weekend; I am trying to get back Friday or Saturday to catch a game or two in Lincoln, NE. We will be hitting the first few games of the B10 Tourney in Omaha, NE before we head to Indy for the 500. GBR! And Zoom, zoom!
Some Basebase Peegsters will be picking up the slack for sure and I'll try to post stories and/or articles as available.
I appreciate your inquiry and glad to have you join us. Thanks for asking.

Go Hoosiers!

Further edit for you, Rita. I thought these might help you better track IU Baseball. The links are the same for most every game.
IU radio:
http://www.whcc105.com/

Live stats and other info will usually be available if you click on the Game Notes I usually try to post those prior to the game, but they always are available here:
http://iuhoosiers.com/index.aspx?path=baseball&

Plus, a quick way to find game ready specific information is to click here and scroll down to the current game:
http://iuhoosiers.com/schedule.aspx?path=baseball

Please check these out and enjoy. Best to you. GBR!

 

[snowling]

IU Taking it Game-by-Game

By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Forgive Chris Lemonis if he's starting to sound repetitive. He knows.

Talking after practice Monday before Tuesday's midweek game against Kentucky, Indiana's head coach continued to reaffirm his stance that the Hoosiers are taking things day-by-day down the closing stretch of the season.

IU sits atop the Big Ten standings but is No. 101 nationally in the RPI. It's created a situation not unlike Michigan a year ago where Indiana can't afford a setback and may have to win the conference tournament to earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

"In our world, we're thinking about getting better today," Lemonis said. "It's getting that next one, and that's Kentucky. We're not talented enough to think too far ahead and overthink."

Lemonis' assessment of his team's play may not be as true as his bluntness suggests.

Though Indiana's RPI won't do the program any favors the rest of the year, Indiana is ranked No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and received votes in the USA Today coaches poll after the win. Since dropping a three-game series against Rutgers to begin the Big Ten, the Hoosiers have won all five conference series and are 16-4 over their last 20 games.

IU jumped into a half-game lead atop the Big Ten standings after taking two of three games against Minnesota just last weekend in a battle for first place. That's a valuable place to sit should Indiana need to win the conference tournament to secure an NCAA bid, but only three games separate No. 1 IU from No. 8 Penn State in a jumbled Big Ten standings.

"Just keeping the momentum, that's all we've been preaching lately," Lemonis said, saying Minnesota may have been the best team IU has seen all year. "It just keeps us running, keeps the carrot out in front of us."

Indiana hasn't shied away from the reality of needing wins in the past. For the better part of the last month, Lemonis and his players have said they've played with their backs against the wall and have responded well.

The pitching, a mainstay in IU's success all season, has been steady. Lemonis lauded his defensive effort against Minnesota, which has become a trend lately. The Hoosiers have become one of the better defensive ball clubs in the conference after starting the year inconsistent.

But perhaps the most noteworthy change as of late for Indiana to hang its hat on has been a resurging offense. Players like junior Craig Dedelow and sophomore Logan Sowers continue to hit well, but it's been the lesser-praised bats of juniors Tony Butler and Alex Krupa that have helped IU average just shy of five runs per game over the last six outings.

Butler and Krupa have both recovered from slow starts to the season at the plate and have been setting the table for the big bats like Dedelow and Sowers to drive them in. Lemonis said everything gets easier for the guys in the middle of the lineup once the top of the order gets the opposing pitcher thinking.

"We're starting to see some guys who were maybe struggling at the beginning of the year starting to play well," Lemonis said. "It makes us a better lineup."

That lineup will once again trot out at Bart Kaufman Field at 5 p.m. tonight for one final midweek home game before the final home series against Illinois this weekend, another midweek against national power Louisville next week in Kentucky and the final regular season series against Nebraska.

At the risk of sounding too much like he's giving coach speak, Lemonis held true to what he's continued to say all year and will continue to say the rest of the way—keep winning. That fixes everything else.

"We dug a hole early in the year, so we put ourselves in that spot, but it is a weird, unique situation," Lemonis said. "The positive is, we've still got a lot to play for."

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/5/10/baseball-iu-taking-it-game-by-game.aspx