Game Notes: Indiana at Evansville; come from behind win, 7-6

[snowling]

SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana will be playing in its second midweek game of the 2016 season, traveling to in-state foe Evansville to take on Purple Aces on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
•The matchup between the Hoosiers and Purple Aces will be the first of two this year between the two squads. Evansville will travel to Bart Kaufman Field on March 30 for a 6:05 matchup.
• Following Tuesday's contest, Indiana will be playing nine of its next 10 games in the friendly confines of Bart Kaufman Field, which enters its fourth season of baseball since opening during the 2013 campaign. Indiana has a 58-17 (.778) record at "The Bart".
• Since opening Bart Kaufman Field in 2013, the Hoosiers are a combined 19-2 in March home games in the new ballpark. Indiana's loss to Western Carolina on Saturday was its first loss in its home ballpark in the month of March since 23rd day in 2014, a 4-3 loss to Michigan.

THE COACHES
• Chris Lemonis is in his second season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 40-32 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.
• Wes Carroll enters his eighth year as head baseball coach at Evansville. Inheriting a team that won only 14 games in 2008, Carroll posted the second-highest victory total by a first-year baseball coach at Evansville with 25 wins in 2009 and increased UE's victory total by at least seven wins in each of his first two seasons. He has led Evansville to winning seasons in each of the last three years.

NOTABLES
• Entering Tuesday's game at Evansville, Indiana pitching ranks first in the Big Ten in fewest walks allowed (29), third in team ERA (2.67), third in fewest earned runs allowed (36), third in fewest runs allowed (51), fifth in opposing batting average (.251), fifth in fewest hits allowed (116) and sixth in batters struck out (109),
• Indiana's pitching staff entered this past weekend ranked ninth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.72), ninth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.4), 35th in team ERA, 49th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.9), 86th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.3),
• Indiana's starting pitching has been strong through the first four weekends of action. In 12 combined starts from LHP Kyle Hart, RHP Evan Bell and LHP Caleb Baragar, the trio has posted a 1.89 ERA, allowing just 57 hits over 71.1 innings of work, striking out 58 batters while walking only 12. Teams are hitting a combined .218 off Hart, Bell and Baragar so far.
• The 2016 roster features a total of 19 returnees and 14 newcomers. Of the 14 newcomers, four are transfers and 10 are freshmen.
• The Hoosiers' 2016 schedule includes 27 home games, five NCAA Tournament teams from 2015, and a 2015 College World Series participant.
• Senior left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart, junior right-handed pitcher Jake Kelzer and senior infielder Brian Wilhite have been named team captains for the upcoming 2016 season.
• Indiana's 2016 opening day roster features 10 players that have either been part of a national championship or College World Series squad.
• A total of seven players that were part of the 2013 Hoosier squad that made the College World Series are part of the 2016 roster. RHP Evan Bell, INF Brian Wilhite, LHP Kyle Hart, LHP Sully Stadler, LHP Will Coursen-Carr, RHP Kent Williams, and RHP Thomas Belcher all were on the 2013 roster.
• Infielder Tony Butler, a transfer from Madison College, 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.
• Junior RHP Luke Stephenson is another transfer who joins the Hoosiers in 2016. Stephenson spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with Vanderbilt.
• Stephenson was a member of the 2014 Commodore club that went on to with the College World Series.
• Junior OF Alex Krupa comes from Iowa Western Community College, where his squad went on to win the 2014 JuCo World Series. Krupa was named MVP of the World Series.
• Following his sophomore year at Iowa Western, Krupa was drafted in the 35th round by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 MLB Draft.
• 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 well as an assistant coach (2013 and 2014 at Louisville).

"HART"BEAT OF THE ROTATION
• Indiana's Friday night starter, LHP Kyle Hart has made 48 career starts on the mound in his Hoosier career.
• Dating back to last season, in his last seven starts, Hart has thrown 44.2 innings, allowing 36 hits, four earned runs while striking out 37 batters and walking just four. He has allowed just eight extra-base hits in those starts, five of them doubles and three triples.
• Entering Tuesday's game with Evansville, the Ohio native has 24 career wins, which ranks alone for fourth all-time in school history. Hart trails Craig Williams (1987-90) by two wins for third all-time in the IU record books.
• In addition, his 266.0 career innings currently rank eighth all-time at Indiana while the 183 career strikeouts puts him just 12 away from crackig the school's top 10 list.
• Hart ranks tied for third in IU history with 12 career wins in Big Ten games, while his 3.11 ERA in conference action ranks eighth and his 83 strikeouts rank 10th.
• 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 March 26 at Cal State Fullerton (2/26). 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.

RINGING THE BELL
• Indiana's Saturday starter is senior RHP Evan Bell. Bell has made 10 career starts, indluding four 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 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.

BEARING DOWN ON SUNDAYS
• Senior LHP Caleb Baragar has served as IU's Sunday starter through the first four weekends of the season. He has made 16 career starts in a Hoosier uniform, while his 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• In his last two combined starts, Baragar has allowed seven hits in 13 innings, striking out 12 and walking two while holding his opponents scoreless to dip his ERA down to 1.50.
• During his last 16.2 innings of work, Baragar has not surrendered an earned run.
• Baragar put together a strong starting performance against Butler on March 6, going seven innings where he allowed just three hits and matched his career-high in strikeouts with 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.
• One of five IU pitchers with 50 strikeouts during the 2015 campaign, Baragar fanned four or more batters on seven occasions, including three of his last six performances.
• Baragar spent his first two seasons at Jackson Community College.

DOING THE GOOD DEED
• Junior Craig Dedelow has reached base safely in 18-straight games, a career-long, including the first 13 games to open the 2016 season.
• The junior outfielder went 4-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored, while also stealing a base in the season opener at Middle Tennessee. His four hits and four runs scored are both career-highs.
• Dedelow, for the second-straight year, was the overall individual champion of IU's annual Omaha Challenge, logging 253 total points.

NOT SO SOUR
• Through his first five games, Logan Sowers entersTuesday with two home runs in 21 at-bats.
• The sophomore had two multi-hit games against Middle Tennessee, garnering three hits in both of those contests. He now has 16 career multi-hit games, including six, three-hit games.

A FINE FRESHMAN
• Appearing in all 13 games this season and starting nine, freshman Ryan Fineman leads the team with a .342 batting average.
• Fineman went 8-for-12, with two runs scored and one RBI, hitting at a .667 clip on Indiana's four-game road trip in Port Charlotte, Fla. March 3-6.
• The freshman had a career-high four hits in a 14-1 victory over Illinois State on March 4 while also going 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter against Seton Hall (March 5) and posting a 2-for-4 effort against Butler (March 6),

A FINE FRESHMAN X2
• Joining Fineman atop Indiana's list of top hitters is freshman Luke Miller. Miller is second on the squad behind Fineman with a .320 batting average.
• Miller is currently riding a nine-game reached base streak and had a recent six-game hitting strak snapped on March 11. He has reached base safely via a hit in the last two games.

SIX-EIGHT JAKE
• Indiana's depth in the bullpen is anchored by its closer, 6-8 right hander Jake Kelzer. In four appearances out of the bullpen this year, Kelzer has allowed10 hits in 12.1 innings of work, striking out 13 and walking four while posting an ERA of 0.73.
• In the 14-inning contest at Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 27, he allowed three hits in five innings of relief, striking out five, walking one and not allowing an earned run.
• Kelzer is on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List, an award recognizing the nation's top relief pitcher. A total of 70 players are on the watch list.

Go Hoosiers!

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/3/14/baseball-game-notes-indiana-at-evansville.aspx

 

[mk23]

Is something wrong with Sowers?

 

[gmhaynes12]

Is something wrong with Sowers?

I believe he has a hand or wrist injury but everything I read seemed to imply it wasn't serious and he'd be back by now. Hopefully he'll be back soon. Snowling (or anyone else for that matter), do you have any additional insight you can provide on Sowers' injury? Thanks!

 

[BGunn]

Great come from behind victory tonight. Hopefully this jump starts the team the way the come from behind victory against ND did the basketball team. I read today that IU was one of 10 schools that had a bowl game and both men and women in the BB tourney. Love to see Lemonis' boys add a CWS appearance to that.

 

[snowling]

He sustained a wrist injury, early on and re-aggravated it in the Friday game of the CSUF series. I believe this is what I saw and/or heard in a couple of sources (including BigLew).. Please respond otherwise, if I am incorrect.

Go Hoosiers!

 

[snowling]

* * R H E
IU 7 12 1
UE 6 10 0

IU gets 1 in the 1st, 5 in the 7th (bat around) and 1 in the 10th. Kelzer was the winning pitcher.
UE gets 1in the 3rd, 4 in the 4th and 1 in the 8th.

Stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=117816

Go Hoosiers!

 

[snowling]

Freshmen, Kelzer, Lead Hoosiers to 7-6 Victory at Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana Baseball (6-8) rallied from four runs down to pick up a 7-6 victory in 10 innings over the Evansville Purple Aces on Tuesday night at Braun Stadium. Freshman Scotty Bradley's RBI single in the top of the 10th inning was the deciding run.

Bradley came off the bench and went 2-for-3 on the night with a run scored to go along with the RBI. He set up the five-run seventh for the Hoosiers with a leadoff single. Another freshman stepping up wasLuke Miller, who drove in two runs on a 2-for-5 effort, including his leadoff double in the top of the 10th and eventually scoring on Bradley's game-winning RBI single.

Junior right hander Jake Kelzer picked up his first victory of the season, striking out four in 2.2 innings of relief. With the game tied six in the bottom of the eighth with one out and a runner on third, Kelzer came in and held the runner to keep the game tied. With a runner at second with one out in the bottom of the 10th, Kelzer shut the door, ending the game on a strikeout to secure the 7-6 victory for the Hoosiers.

Indiana took the early lead in the first inning. Junior Craig Dedelow singled with one out to extend his reached base streak to 19 games. After reaching second on a wild pitch, the centerfielder scored on Miller's RBI single to make it a 1-0 game.

Evansville tied the game up at one in the third on an RBI single by the Purple Aces' No. 3 hitter Trey Hair, who collected four hits on the night. Evansville followed that with a four-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Jonathan Ramon. The Purple Aces had a 5-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.

Indiana's seventh inning rally was started Bradley's pinch-hit single, his fourth hit as a pinch hitter this season. A walk by sophomore Isaiah Pasteur and an error at first on senior Brian Wilhite's bunt loaded the bases with no outs. That led to a bases loaded walk for junior Alex Krupa, a two-run double for sophomore Colby Stratten and an RBI double for Dedelow. The go ahead run came on a Miller RBI groundout.

With the Hoosiers leading 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth, an RBI triple by Evansville's Ramon knotted the game back up at six.

In extras, Miller led off the 10th with a double and was bunted over to third by freshman Ryan Fineman. Following junior Tony Butler getting hit by a pitch, Bradley singled hard through the left side to score Miller, the game-winning run.

Indiana is back in action this weekend with a four-game set against Toledo at Bart Kaufman Field. Friday's game is slated for a 4:35 p.m. start with Saturday's doubleheader beginning at noon. The series will wrap up on Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch.

Go Hoosiers!

Boxscore within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/3/1...ad-hoosiers-to-7-6-victory-at-evansville.aspx

 

[snowling]

IU rallies to defeat Evansville

by Zain Pyarali

Freshman infielder Scotty Bradley didn’t enter the game until the seventh inning.

But it didn’t matter to him, as he came off the bench to ignite a Hoosier rally in the seventh and then ultimately grab the game-winning hit in the 10th inning as IU defeated Evansville 7-6.

“We’re the best deal in college baseball,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “We’ve played more extra inning games than anybody I think. So when you come to see us you’ve got a chance to see more than nine.”

The one big inning is what the Hoosiers have not been able to elude this season. On Tuesday in Evansville, it almost seemed to be the same scenario.

IU watched the Purple Aces plate four runs in the bottom of the fourth, including a two-run home run and a two out, two RBI double putting the Hoosiers in a four run deficit early.

After two more innings of scoreless baseball, Bradley led the seventh inning off with a pinch-hit single to give IU momentum.

“Being a pinch hitter and come in the games late, you always have to stay ready,” Bradley said. “Not doing too much and keeping things as simple as possible, just trying to be the first one to get on base and help the team start a spark.”

IU would load the bases via a walk and a single on the next two batters before junior left fielder Alex Krupa walked to force home the first run of the inning.

A chopper down the third base line by sophomore designated hitter Colby Stratten resulted in a two RBI double. Junior center fielder Craig Dedelow followed with a bloop double of his own which tied the game 5-5.

Freshman right fielder Luke Miller added a hard ground out to the shortstop that was able to score Stratten from third to give the Hoosiers a one run advantage.

Just when the Hoosiers thought they had done enough to secure the victory, they were quickly let down. After a scoreless bottom of the seventh, junior right-hander Thomas Belcher took the mound in the eighth to be the set up man for junior closer Jake Kelzer.

A lead off single followed by a RBI triple off the wall in center by Jonathan Ramon, who homered earlier in the game, tied the game up 6-6 and forced Lemonis to grab Kelzer from the bullpen to stop the bleeding and ultimately send the game into extra innings.

Lemonis said he knew it would be a bullpen day after only getting three innings out of his junior starting pitcher Luke Stephenson.

Miller led off the 10th with a double to the right center gap and then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman catcher Ryan Fineman.

As junior second baseman Tony Butler was given a free pass to first on a hit by pitch, Bradley stepped up to the plate in a key situation once again and delivered for the Hoosiers.

With the infield drawn in, Bradley muscled the ball past the shortstop on the ground to give IU the lead and the game-winning hit.

“The coaches just told us in our meeting that we’re getting better each game,” Bradley said. “We lost a lot of tough ones early in the season. We’re improving and excited for what the future holds.”

Go Hoosiers!

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/03/iu-rallies-to-defeat-evansville

 

[snowling]

Purple Aces talk about it:

Stranded runners costly in UE baseball’s extra-inning loss to Indiana

By Daniel Allar of the Courier and Press

The University of Evansville baseball team couldn't help but feel like it let one slip away Tuesday night.

UE left runners in scoring position in the final three innings of a 7-6, 10-inning loss to Indiana University at Braun Stadium.

The Hoosiers (6-8) used a five-run seventh inning to take a 6-5 lead. Evansville (8-8) answered in the bottom of the eighth when Eric McKibban singled and Jonathan Ramon drove a triple to deep center field with no outs.

But the next three batters failed to hit it out of the infield and Ramon was stranded on third base. UE also had a runner on second with one out in the ninth and 10th innings but didn't score.

"That's where you've got to find a way to capitalize against good clubs with good bullpens," Aces coach Wes Carroll said. "We're sitting here at .500 at 8-8. If you look at our inability to minimize big innings and hitting with runners in scoring position, those are two things that are really killing us. Because we've got more talent than our 8-8 record shows."

The Aces batted around in the fourth frame, capitalizing on the Hoosiers' wild pitching that walked three batters and hit another. Ramon made IU pay with a towering, two-run home run to left-center, and Trey Hair added a two-run single with two outs to push Evansville's lead to 5-1.

Ramon and Hair finished with three RBIs apiece for Evansville. Ramon's home run was his team-leading fourth of the season. The senior third baseman hit five all of last season and eight total in his first three years at UE.

"We've got to get multiple guys to step up and we've been waiting for Ramon to come around," Carroll said. "It was great to see him hopefully build some confidence out of tonight."

But Evansville ran into trouble in the seventh, when freshman left-hander Alex Weigand loaded the bases with no outs and then walked in a run. Brent Jurceka came on in relief and allowed the bases to empty, plus another run.

"He's the best guy out of our bullpen," Carroll said of Jurceka, a 6-foot-5 senior right-hander. "He's shown that for a couple years now, and I thought that was the save opportunity of the game."

Indiana tallied three hits and two walks in the inning, during which UE committed its only error of the game. It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise solid outing for Weigand, who posted five consecutive scoreless innings after allowing one run in the first.

"This loss kind of stings more than ones we recently had just because I feel like we didn't adjust during the big innings," Ramon said. "One inning didn't go our way, but that's the game of baseball."

Closer Jake Kelzer (1-1) earned the win for Indiana, throwing 2 2/3 shutout innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.

Sophomore Ryan Brady (0-1) tossed the last three innings for Evansville and took the loss. He recorded six straight outs to begin his appearance, but Indiana's Luke Miller doubled to lead off the 10th and then scored on Scotty Bradley's single through the infield.

Still, the Aces had opportunities with runners in scoring position, even in their final turn at bat. Evansville recorded 10 hits on the day but stranded nine runners.

"We've got to do a better job in winning time: the seventh, eighth and ninth inning," Carroll said.

Evansville travels to SIU Edwardsville (0-12) Wednesday for a 6 p.m. start.

Go Hoosiers!

http://www.courierpress.com/sports/...dbde055-9083-38fa-e053-0100007-372187441.html

 

[biglewexpress]

I believe he has a hand or wrist injury but everything I read seemed to imply it wasn't serious and he'd be back by now. Hopefully he'll be back soon. Snowling (or anyone else for that matter), do you have any additional insight you can provide on Sowers' injury? Thanks!

Sowers has a Left wrist injury, may not be available till big10 play. Eustace is injured as well.

 

[snowling]