No. 19 Indiana Closes B1G Road Slate at Nebraska
5/10/2018 2:11:00 PM | Baseball
| No. 19 Indiana at Nebraska | May 11-13 | Lincoln, Neb. | ||
| Series Schedule | Coverage | Projected Starters |
| Indiana vs. Nebraska Friday - 7:35 p.m. ET |
Watch | Listen | Stats | IU - RHP Jonathan Stiever (5-3, 2.86) UN - RHP Matt Waldron (5-3, 4.26) |
| Indiana vs. Minnesota Saturday - 3:05 p.m. ET |
Watch | Listen | Stats | IU - RHP Pauly Milto (5-2, 2.13) UN - RHP Luis Alvarado (3-5, 4.12) |
| Indiana vs. Minnesota Sunday - 12:05 p.m. ET |
Watch | Listen | Stats | IU - LHP Tim Herrin (3-0, 3.13) UN - RHP Matt Warren (4-3, 5.36) |
| Social: Twitter | Instagram // Game Notes: Indiana | Nebraska | ||
• Nineteenth-ranked Indiana (31-14, 9-8) travels to Nebraska begining on Friday for its final Big Ten road series of 2018
• Friday will be the 19th ever meeting between IU and Nebraska. The two squads last met in Bloomington last season, with the Cornhuskers winning the first two games before the series finale resulted in a tie due to a travel curfew. .
• Nebraska leads the all-time series between the two schools, 9-8-1.
• Indiana Head Coach Chris Lemonis is in his fourth season leading the Hoosier baseball program
and his 24th overall year in coaching. He has posted a 132-86-2 record and has led the program to two regional at-large bids in his first three full seasons.
• Nebraska head coach Darin Erstad is in his seventh season as head coach with the Cornhuskers. Over his first six seasons, the Huskers have made three trips to the NCAA Tournament and have qualified for the Big Ten Tournament each year.
• The Hoosiers are ranked 19th nationally by Perfect Game and 27th by the NCBWA this week.
• Of the 14 losses this season for Indiana, 11 have been three runs or less and seven have been by one run.
• The IU pitching staff leads the Big Ten in ERA (2.79, 4th nationally), shutouts (7, 3rd), walks per nine innings (3.11, 24th) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.53, 40th), is second in WHIP (1.24, 21st), and is third in hits per nine innings (8.0, 46th) and opposing batting average (.241).
• Offensively, Indiana is first in the Big Ten in home runs (48, 34th nationally), slugging percentage (.445, 36th) and sac bunts (37, 30th), is second in total bases (683), and is third in on base percentage (.386, 45th), hit by pitch (57), and hits (440).
• The Hoosiers are also second in the Big Ten with a .975 fielding percentage. After posting a school record fielding percentage of .975 in 2016, Lemonis' squad followed that up with another school record mark of .979 in 2017. In Lemonis' first three full seasons as head coach at Indiana, the Hoosiers own three of the top four fielding percentages in program history.
• Entering this weekend, Indiana's three starting pitchers, Pauly Milto (2.13, 3rd), Jonathan Stiever (2.86, 8th) and Tim Herrin (3.13, 10th) are in the top 10 in the Big Ten in ERA. IU is the only team in the conference to have three pitchers in the top 10.
• Stiever, Indiana's Friday night starter, leads the Big Ten in in striekouts (79), strikeouts looking (33), and innings (78.2).
• Milto, who has been handling the Saturday duties for the Hoosiers, is sixth in the conference in opponenet batting average (.222) and hits allower per nine innings (7.2).
• Sophomore reliever Cal Krueger is second in the Big Ten in wins (7, 40th nationally) and is fourth in appearances (22).
• In 22.1 innings of relief and 17 appearances this season, senior LHP B.J. Sabol has allowed just 11 hits and two runs.
• Herrin, in his last six appearances (four starts) has tossed 28.1 innings allowing 17 hits, five earned runs and has struck out 18 while walking seven. During that span, Herrin has held opponents to a .167 average with a 1.59 ERA.
• Junior catcher Ryan Fineman, a Johnny Bench Award Watch Lister for the third-straight season, is second in the Big Ten lead with 17 runners caught stealing.
• Fineman has strung together a strong defensive effort along with the pitching staff, as Hoosier pitchers have just 17 wild pitches this season, easily the fewest in the Big Ten (next fewest is 33 by Illinois and Michigan State).
• Sophomore left fielder Matt Gorski is sixth in the Big Ten in stolen bases (18) and batting average (.380, 39th nationally), seventh in hits (63) and ninth in slugging percentage (.578) and total bases (96).
• Junior center fielder Logan Kaletha paces the Big Ten in hit by pitches (19, 12th nationally), is second in walks (34), third in runs (1.11 per game, 28th nationally), and is ninth in on base percentage (.459).
• Indiana's 28-6 start was its best 34-game start since 1987, when that squad also started 28-6 and was 31-6 through its first 37 games.
• In 22 games this season, an IU starter has gone at least five innings whille giving up two earned runs or less. Only four times has a starting pitcher given up more than three earned runs in a game.
• The Hoosiers have reached the double-digit mark in runs eight times this season. IU hit the double-digit mark in 10 games last season.
• Dating back to the 2017 season, Indiana had a streak of winning its last 12 series that have consisted of at least three games against one team, snapped against Ohio State (April 20-22). This season, the Hoosiers have won series at No. 13 San Diego, and against Pacific, Northern Illinois, Butler, Purdue, Northwestern and Illinois.
• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (375) and conference wins (156). The Hoosiers have made five NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.
• Entering 2018, Indiana returned 100 percent of its starts, 94 percent of its wins, and 91 percent of its innings pitched and strikeouts. The Hoosiers also brought back 62 percent of its runs and hits, 61 percent of its RBIs, and 59 percent of its extra-base hits.
• Last season marked Indiana's seventh NCAA tournament appearance (1949, 1996, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017). Lemonis became the first coach in program history to make two regionals in his first three seasons as IU's skipper.
• Lemonis and his coaching staff (Associate head coach Kyle Bunn, assistant coach Kyle Cheesebrough, assistant coach Zach Lucas, director of operations Roger Rodeheaver) brings a wealth of postseason experience to the program. Overall, IU's staff as players and coaches have combined for nine College World Series appearances, 16 Super Regional appearances, and 42 Regional appearances.
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