Indiana University Athletics
IU Takes Big Ten Tournament Hopes to Minnesota
5/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 18, 2006
The Minnesota Series (May 19-21)
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With one weekend remaining in the regular season, the Indiana baseball team looks to earn a spot in the Big Ten Tournament as it heads to Minneapolis to face Minnesota on Friday-Sunday, May 19-21. The Hoosiers enter the weekend at 11-17 in league play and 22-30 overall, while the Golden Gophers own a 13-14 conference ledger and a 27-24 overall mark.
The teams will play a four-game series at the Metrodome with game one taking place on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Following a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m., the series finale will take place on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. Saturday's first game will be televised on Fox Sports Net North. Check your local listings to see if the game will be shown in your area.
All 10 teams in the league are still alive for a position in the six-team postseason tournament with a plethora of scenarios existing on how each team can and cannot make its way in or out of the playoff.
Pitching Matchups
Game 1 - Friday, May 19 (6:30 p.m. CDT)
Indiana LHP #34 Clint Crosier (3-5, 3.90 ERA) vs. RHP #33 Cole DeVries (5-3, 2.84 ERA)
Game 2 - Saturday, May 20 (2 p.m.)
Indiana RHP #7 Josh Lewis (4-6, 4.56 ERA) vs. RHP #44 Dustin Brabender (4-5, 4.26 ERA)
Game 3 - Saturday, May 20 (tba)
Indiana RHP #29 Tyler Tufts (2-3, 6.30 ERA) vs. LHP #47 Brian Bull (5-4, 3.25 ERA)
Game 4 - Sunday, May 21 (1 p.m.)
Indiana RHP #26 Doug Fleenor (4-2, 2.54 ERA) vs. RHP #39 Tyler Oakes (1-3, 7.09 ERA)
Follow The Game
Gametracker: IUHOOSIERS.com
Inside The Series
-The teams will face off in the Metrodome, home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins and the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings.
-This is the second straight year the Hoosiers have traveled to Minneapolis.
-Hoosier skipper Tracy Smith will face Minnesota for the first time. In his nine seasons at the helm of Miami (Ohio), the RedHawks and Golden Gophers never met.
Scouting Minnesota
Minnesota heads into the final Big Ten weekend of the regular season in fourth place with a 13-14 mark. Overall, the Golden Gophers sit at 27-24 after taking out Augsburg, 12-5, on May 16. Last weekend (May 13-15), the Gophers climbed into fourth place by downing Ohio State twice in three contests in Columbus. Minnesota dropped the opener, 10-2, before sweeping the final two games by scores of 2-1 and 12-3.
The Golden Gophers are third in the league in pitching (4.21), ninth in batting (.281) and second in fielding (.964). Freshman outfielder Matt Nohelty leads the club and is fourth in the league with a .392 Big Ten average and has swiped 16 bags in 20 attempts, while Andy Hunter has been the team's main source of power. The senior first baseman owns team highs in home runs (5), and RBI (37) and boasts a .339 average with 37 runs.
Minnesota's four-man rotation this weekend is 15-15 on the season with staff ace Cole DeVries holding five of those victories. The junior right-hander is 5-3 overall and leads the team and is fourth in the conference with a 2.84 ERA. DeVries has posted 59 strikeouts in 76 innings of work and has two complete games.
Game three starter Brian Bull is 5-4 with a 3.25 ERA. The senior southpaw also has been a workhorse, tossing 72 innings and striking out 46 batters with 19 bases on balls. Out of the pen, senior lefty Andy Peters carries five saves and a 3.90 ERA to the bump. Peters is 2-4 in 22 appearances and has struck out 34 men in 30 innings.
Significant Strides
In taking three out of four contests from Illinois (May 14-15) and sweeping the series-ending doubleheader, IU collected its second conference doubleheader sweep of the season - a feat that has not been accomplished since 2003 - and its first Big Ten series victory since taking three out of four against Michigan State last season (May 7-9) at Sembower. Additionally, the Hoosiers pushed their Big Ten victory total to 11, the most for an Indiana team since the 2003 club won 16 Big Ten ballgames.
IU enters the final weekend still fighting for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. All 10 teams in the league are still alive for a position in the six-team tournament with a plethora of scenarios existing on how each team can and cannot make its way in or out of the playoff.
Watson Big Ten POW
Senior center fielder Reggie Watson was been named Big Ten Player of the Week, the league office announced on May 16. The honor was the first for a Hoosier this season, the first of Watson's career and the first since Joe Kemp collected co-Player of the Week honors last season (May 9).
Watson carried a .529 average (9-for-17), a .941 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage (all team highs) as the Hoosiers won four times in five contests last week and took their first Big Ten series of the season against Illinois (May 14-15).
He kicked off the week with a 2-for-4 effort, a career-high four RBI, two runs and one steal at Valparaiso (May 10). Three of those RBI came on an inside-the-park home run, the first inside-the-parker of his career, his second home run of the season and the sixth of his career. The Cincinnati native then carded three hits in the series-opening victory over Illinois and capped the doubleheader with two hits and two runs, giving him 19 multi-hit games and a team-best 11 multi-run games on the year.
Academic All-District
Senior infielder Ryan Parker and senior southpaw Clint Crosier garnered College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)/ESPN The Magazine first team Academic All-District V honors for their work not only on the baseball field but in the classroom. Crosier was one of two pitchers selected to the first team, while Parker was the lone utility/DH representative. Parker earned his third straight all-district honor as Crosier was recognized for the first time.
Flee-Falling ERA
Sophomore right-hander Doug Fleenor secured his second nine-inning, complete-game shutout of the season as Indiana downed over Illinois in the series finale, 2-0, on May 15. Fleenor, who earlier in the season carded a one-hit, nine-inning shutout against Miami (Ohio), was dominant the entire game. In addition to improving to 4-2, Fleenor dipped his team-leading ERA to 2.54 after notching a career-high seven strikeouts and allowing only five hits and one base on balls. No Illini runner made it past second base and only two reached scoring position.
The Richmond, Ind., native needs 6 1/3 innings to qualify for a spot among the Big Ten ERA leaders. If Fleenor had enough innings right now, he would sit third behind Ohio State's J.B. Shuck (2.10) and Michigan's Chris Fetter (2.21).
Going The Distance
In the first two contests of a four-game set against Iowa (May 5-6), seniors Clint Crosier and Josh Lewis threw back-to-back complete games. The Hoosiers added three more as Crosier, freshman Tyler Tufts and sophomore Doug Fleenor each went the distance against Illinois (May 14-15).
IU pitchers own seven complete games in the last 14 contests and have closed out ballgames 10 times this season. In comparison, this year's staff holds more than the 2004 (5) and 2005 (2) staffs combined.
Staff Keeping It Close
In the last 15 games, the Hoosiers own an 8-7 record and a lot of that can be contributed to the pitching staff. With a 3.60 ERA, seven complete games and three shutouts, the Hoosier hurlers have kept the team in most contests.
Leading the way, sophomore right-hander Doug Fleenor is 3-1 with a microscopic 1.00 ERA and two complete-game shutouts over the span. Starters Josh Lewis (2.45 ERA, 1 complete game), Tyler Tufts (2-0, 2.95 ERA, 2 complete games) and Clint Crosier (3.75 ERA, 2 complete games) have combined for six of the eight wins, all seven complete games and a 2.46 ERA in the 15 contests.
Haas A Spark At The Top
Since moving into the leadoff spot against Miami (Ohio) on April 25, junior second baseman Keith Haas is batting .384 (20-for-52) with 11 runs scored, five steals and six multi-hit contests. He currently owns an eight-game hitting streak as well.
Starting with Indiana's matchup at Butler (March 29), Haas has been on a tear. He has recorded a hit in 28 of his last 33 games, batting .442 (50-of-113) during the stretch with 15 RBI, 15 steals, five doubles and 27 runs. Haas has raised his batting average to a team-leading .364 (7th in the Big Ten), and in league games, he holds a .381 average (7th in the conference) and a .453 on-base percentage (5th in the Big Ten).
Haas also has been a monster when he gets on base. The North Olmsted, Ohio native is third on the team and tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 23 steals in 31 attempts.
Tufts Rounding Into Form
Getting his first career Big Ten start, freshman right-hander Tyler Tufts (2-3) threw his first career complete game, his first shutout and Indiana's second shutout in four games (sophomore Doug Fleenor vs. Miami (Ohio) on April 25) as the Hoosiers whitewashed Penn State, 3-0, on April 29. The Sagamore Hills, Ohio product scattered eights hits but more importantly walked only one batter en route to his first collegiate victory.
He captured his second career win and complete game in IU's 5-4 victory over Illinois on May 15. Tufts is peaking at the end of his rookie campaign, holding a 2-0 conference record with a 3.42 ERA.
Century Club
With eight steals in 10 attempts at Penn State (April 28-30), the Hoosiers became the 10th team in school history to reach the 100-steal plateau. Indiana has added 15 steals since the series to push its season total to 122 in 160 tries and took over the seventh-best mark in school history. IU's 122 swipes are the most for an Indiana team since the 1986 campaign (124), and the Hoosiers need 26 steals to match the 1985 team's school record of 148.
IU is seventh nationally in the stolen base department and eighth in the country averaging 2.33 steals per ballgame.
Greenspan Owns a Hot Bat
With hits in 17 of his last 20 games, Ben Greenspan is one of the team's hottest hitters and has earned a permanent spot in the Hoosier lineup. The junior, who has seen time at catcher, first base and designated hitter, owns a .391 batting average during the stretch, going 25-for-64 with two home runs, 12 RBI, four doubles and eight runs scored.
