Indiana University Athletics
Destination: Windy City for Tilt With Wildcats
5/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Baseball (24-25, 11-7 Big Ten) concludes the road portion of the schedule this weekend, playing a three-game set at Northwestern (16-31, 5-16). With six conference games remaining, the second-place Hoosiers are three games back from Big Ten-leading Purdue; but also just two games up on eighth-place in the crowded B1G standings.
SERIES COVERAGE
• Big Ten Network broadcast on Sunday
• IUHoosiers.com audio stream for Friday and Saturday
• IUHoosiers.com live stats for all three contests
• In-game updates on Twitter: follow @KKatIU
Indiana leads the all-time series over the Wildcats, 96-77-2, including a 2-1 series victory a season ago. Northwestern can't be happy about the return of Micah Johnson to the line-up as the Hoosier second baseman hit .700 and slugged 1.000 with a homerun, five RBI, four runs scored and two sac flies in the 2011 series. Joey DeNato found some success in that series as well, combining with Ryan Halstead for a shutout. DeNato tossed the first eight scoreless innings, scattering six hits and three walks while striking out seven Wildcat batters.
This season, NU's pitching staff has allowed four runs or less in 12 of its Big Ten games this season and ranks fourth in the conference with a 3.94 ERA. In Big Ten play, Northwestern's staff ranks second with 130 batters struck out and third with a 3.53 ERA.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
Friday, May 11 - 4 pm EST
LHP Joey DeNato (7-2, 2.37) vs. RHP Francis Brooke (1-6, 2.70)
Sunday, May 12 - 2 pm EST
LHP Kyle Hart (4-4, 3.49) vs. RHP Brandon Magallones (6-4, 4.54)
Monday, May 13 - 3 pm EST
RHP Chad Martin (1-3, 6.25) vs. RHP Luke Farrell (2-4, 6.61)
HOOSIER QUICK HITS
• Indiana has won four of six Big Ten series
• Ground was officially broke on May 7 for Kaufman Field (see page 11)
• Five Hoosiers on the travel roster are making a homecoming of sorts this weekend: Ricky Alfonso, Luke Harrison, Walker Stadler, Chris Sujka and Sam Travis all hale from the Chicagoland area
BIG TEN??? MORE LIKE BIG CLUTTER
With just two weeks left in the Big Ten season, the conference standings remain a log jam. Just two games sepearate second place from eighth; and a weekend sweep could potentially asecend or drop teams as many as six slots in the Big Ten standings.
DeNATO'S RECORD BOOK ASSAULT
Joey DeNato put on a record-breaking show on April 27, striking out 12 Wolverines; the most in school history during a conference contest. With seven regular season games remaining and the potential for postseason contests, DeNato is also creeping up on the all-time top-10 for several single-season statistical rankings. In order to crack IU's top-10, the southpaw needs one more win, 19 strikouts or 10 innings pitched.
JOEY BEING JOEY
Joey DeNato has:
• Allowed one or less earned runs in seven of 12 starts
• Posted a `quality start' (min. of 6.0 IP and 3 ER or less) in 9 of 12 starts
• Started all five Friday night Big Ten games, all victories for IU
HOOSIERS ALL OVER WEEKLY CONFERENCE HONORS
The Big Ten Conference awards a Player, Pitcher and Freshman of the Week each Monday throughout the season. Through 12 weeks, a conference-best 11 Hoosiers have been recognized by the league office. Sam Travis leads the way with five such laurels, winning back-to-back Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week accolades (March 26 & April 2) before this week's Frosh of the Week selection. A complete list of Hoosier winners is below:
Chris Sujka: Freshman (February 27)
Kyle Schwarber: Freshman (March 5; April 30)
Joey DeNato: Pitcher (March 19)
Sam Travis: Player (March 26/April 2); Freshman (March 26/April 2/May 7)
Kyle Hart: Freshman (April 23)
Justin Cureton: Player (April 30)
Indiana's 11 honorees are followed by: Purdue (10), Illinois (5), Michigan State (4), Northwestern (3), Nebraska (3), Michigan (3), Iowa (2), Ohio State (2), Penn State (2) and Minnesota (1).
FRESHMAN: HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE
Fifty-two percent of Indiana's starters through 49 games have been freshmen (257 of 490; counting pitchers). The Hoosier youth increases even more when including only position players in the batting order (no pitcher/DH), with 59% of starts coming from freshmen. In fact, there are no senior position players on the IU roster and just two senior pitchers. Indiana's offensive production has been fueled by rookie Hoosiers:
PERCENTAGE OF OVERALL TEAM PRODUCTION COMING FROM FRESHMEN
Homeruns: 70% (23 of 33)
Runs Batted In: 62% (154 of 250)
Doubles: 59% (52 of 88)
Runs Scored: 58% (160 of 277)
Hits: 54% (247 of 458)
HOOSIERS ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK
The Big Ten Network has selected Indiana's season finale against Ohio State, the last game ever played at Sembower Field, as its `wild card' broadcast. The Hoosiers will now finish off the regular season being shown on national television in each of the final four weekends. In addtion, all games of the Big Ten Tournament will be shown on BTN.
The Hoosiers' games on BTN include:
Friday, Apr. 27 - Indiana at Michigan
Sunday, May 6 - Nebraska at Indiana
Sunday, May 13 - Indiana at Northwestern
Saturday, May 19 - Ohio State at Nebraska
