Indiana University Athletics
Indiana to Host Iowa in Four-Game Weekend Set
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2006
The Iowa Series (May 5-7)
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Fresh off a Big Ten road split at Penn State last weekend, the Indiana baseball team returns home for a weekend series with Iowa at Sembower Field on Friday-Sunday, May 5-7. The Hoosiers enter the weekend at 7-13 in the Big Ten and 17-25 overall, while the Hawkeyes also own a 7-13 league mark and an 18-25 overall record.
The teams will play a four-game series with game one taking place on Friday at 3 p.m. Following a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m., the series finale will take place on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Pitching Matchups
Game 1 - Friday, May 5 (3 p.m.)
Indiana LHP #34 Clint Crosier (2-4, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP #31 Luke O'Loughlin (2-5, 6.14 ERA)
Game 2 - Saturday, May 6 (1 p.m.)
Indiana RHP #7 Josh Lewis (4-5, 4.98 ERA) vs. LHP #37 Jeff Maitland (4-2, 4.34 ERA)
Game 3 - Saturday, May 6 (tba)
Indiana RHP #29 Tyler Tufts (1-3, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP #17 Austin Seward (4-4, 5.11 ERA)
Game 4 - Sunday, May 7 (1 p.m.)
Indiana RHP #26 Doug Fleenor (2-2, 3.31 ERA) vs. RHP #40 Steve Turnbull (1-0, 4.91 ERA)
Inside The Series
-Indiana and Iowa will meet at Sembower Field for the first time since 2004 (April 16-18). The two teams split the four-game series with IU taking games two and four.
-Iowa holds a 61-50 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools.
-The Hoosiers own a 5-3 edge over the Hawkeyes in the last eight games played in Bloomington.
-Hoosier skipper Tracy Smith has only faced Iowa once and won that contest.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa dropped three of four games in which they held a lead in the mid-to-late innings to Northwestern last weekend (April 28-30). The Hawkeyes lost the first two games 9-5 and 9-8, then came back to split Sunday's doubleheader, winning 16-2 before losing the finale, 7-6. Iowa stands at 18-25 overall and 7-13 in conference play.
Junior designated hitter/first baseman Brian Burmester has vaulted himself into the team batting lead over the last two weeks. Burmester is now hitting a team-best .338 after a torrid ten-game stretch in which he is hitting .500 (16-of-32) with five doubles, a triple and two home runs.
On the mound, senior southpaw Tim Gudex is one of the most talented pitchers in the league. Coming out of the bullpen, Gudex is 4-2 with six saves, carrying a 1.29 ERA with 30 punchouts in 28 innings pitched.
Overall, the Hawkeye staff posts a 5.49 ERA, while the offense is batting at a .267 clip and scoring nearly six runs per contest.
Last Time Out
The Hoosiers completed a 3-2 week with a road split at Penn State (April 28-30). After downing Miami (Ohio), 5-0, behind sophomore right-hander Doug Fleenor's one-hitter on April 25, Indiana traveled to Happy Valley and took 2-of-4 from the Nittany Lions for its first Big Ten road split since the 2004 campaign.
Following a tough 5-4 defeat in game one, IU battled back to sweep Saturday's doubleheader, taking the opener in 11 innings, 3-2, and shutting the Lions out in the nightcap, 3-0. However, PSU bounced back to capture the series finale to square the set.
Junior pinch-hitter Ben Greenspan blooped a one-out single into center field to score sophomore pinch-runner Tyler Cox with the game-winning run as the Hoosiers secured their second extra-inning victory of the season.
In the decisive 11th, junior third baseman Steve Head laced a one-out base hit into center and moved into second when Garrett Field bobbled the ball as he charged in, setting the stage for Greenspan's heroics. Freshman southpaw Joe Vicini retired the Lions in order in the bottom half of the frame to secure his fourth win.
Making his first career Big Ten start, freshman right-hander Tyler Tufts (1-3) 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) en route to his first collegiate victory and the doubleheader sweep.
