Indiana University Athletics
Top-Seeded Hoosiers Primed For Big Ten Tournament
5/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It's time for postseason play as the 2013 Big Ten regular season champion Indiana University baseball team competes in the Big Ten Tournament starting on Thursday (May 23) after earning the No. 1 seed and first round bye. The 11th-ranked Hoosiers (40-13, 17-7) will face either Minnesota (30-20, 13-8), Illinois (33-16, 14-10) or Michigan (29-25, 14-10) Thursday night at approximately 7:05 pm CT/8:05 pm ET live on the Big Ten Network.
The Big Ten Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships is determined with a six-team, double elimination tournament. This season's conference tourney takes place in Minneapolis at Target Field, home of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It marks the seventh time Minneapolis has hosted the event and the 33rd running overall.
The Big Ten Network is broadcasting the entire event, airing all games live. In addition to BTN's coverage, Hoosier fans can also follow along via GameTracker live stats at IUHoosiers.com and on Twitter by following the official team account (@IUBaseballNews).
• NCAA Selection is set to air on ESPNU Monday (May 27) at noon ET.
BULLET POINT BONANZA
• The Hoosiers won their first Big Ten regular season title since 1949 and first outright crown in 81 years (1932)
• Indiana's 40 wins are the most ever over Division-I opponents in school history (previous record was 33)
• Indiana strung together a school-record 18-game winning streak from March 10-April 6 (see: sidebar)
• IU has recorded a +183 run margin through 53 games (+3.5/game), outscoring the competition 356-173
• Nick Ramos has five homeruns and is slugging .727 in Big Ten play
• Kyle Schwarber has reached base successfully in 17 straight games
• Scott Donley is batting .480 (36-for-75) with runners in scoring position (5-for-12 with bases loaded)
• Ricky Alfonso leads the team with six pinch-hit base knocks; 6-for-19 (.316) with 5 RBI as a pinch hitter
ALL-BIG TEN PERFORMERS
A school-record nine Hoosiers were named All-Big Ten on Tuesday (May 21), including the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, Aaron Slegers. In addition, Head Coach Tracy Smith was the unanimous choice for the league's Coach of the Year honor. Indiana also placed three student-athletes on the Big Ten's All-Freshman squad.
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM: *Aaron Slegers, SP; *Kyle Schwarber, C; Dustin DeMuth, 3B; Scott Donley, DH *unanimous selections
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM: Joey DeNato, SP; Sam Travis, 1B; Scott Effross, RP
ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM: Michael Basil, SS; Ryan Halstead, RP
BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Will Coursen-Carr, SP; Scott Effross, RP; Nick Ramos, 2B
USA BASEBALL: COLLEGIATE NATIONAL TEAM & GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD
Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber has been selected to join USA Baseball's 2013 Collegiate National Team. He will be one of 24 college players to don the Stars and Stripes this summer. He becomes the fourth Hoosier to be selected to Team USA, and second under the tutelage of Head Coach Tracy Smith. Alex Dickerson (2010) was the other Coach Smith product to earn a spot on Team USA, joining Mickey Morandini (1988) and Bob Scafa (1993). Schwarber is also one of 60 players to be selected by USA Baseball for the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. The Golden Spikes Award is given annually to the country's top amateur baseball players.
NATIONALLY RANKED HOOSIERS
Baseball America tabbed the Hoosiers as the 24th-best team in the country on March 11, marking the first time in school history Indiana has been nationally ranked. IU is slotted #11 this week by Perfect Game, the highest ascent ever (complete rankings listed in sidebar).
SENIOR'S LAST STAND
Senior shortstop Michael Basil willed his team to its first outright Big Ten title in 81 years, doing it all in his home state of Ohio versus the Buckeyes. The Cincinnati native batted .500 (5-10) with four doubles and five runs batted in, slugging at a .900 clip during the title-clinching series.
He not only produced huge statistical numbers, but he did so when it mattered most. In Friday's 10-inning thriller, Basil double down the line to get Indiana on the board and pull the Hoosiers within a run at 2-1 in the top of the ninth. After stealing third base, Basil came into score the game-extending second run. If that wasn't enough, Basil further pushed IU to victory in the top of the 10th inning. With runners on the corners, Basil laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, squeezing home the game-winning run.
`Bazz' kept it hot on Saturday as IU clinched the outright conference crown. His first of two doubles jumped the Hoosiers out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, driving in a pair. He would also come into score twice himself.
BIG TEN'S ELITE, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING AND RECORD WISE
The Hoosier lineup is potent and deep, leading to Indiana sitting atop of every major offensive statistical offensive category, sans triples, in the Big Ten. Don't sleep on the pitching, however, as the Hoosier hurlers' 2.53 team earned run average is also tops in the conference. For the "only thing that matters is wins and losses" crowd, don't fret. Indiana's 40-13 record (.755) is also the B1G's best.
HOW THE HOOSIERS STACK UP ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Indiana is posting numbers worthy of top-30 NCAA rankings as well. Entering the tournament, IU staff's 2.523 ERA was the fifth-lowest in the country. In addition, IU was slotted 14th in winning percentage (.755), 22nd in homeruns (43), 26th in slugging percentage (.442), and 28th in batting average (.303). Defensively, the Hoosiers had turned 60 double plays, good for the seventh-most twin killings in D-I baseball.
Individually, Kyle Schwarber was slotted 13th with a .676 slugging percentage and 14 homeruns and 30th with his .384 batting average. Meanwhile, Dustin DeMuth's .398 batting clip slotted him 10th nationally.
HOT START HOOSIERS
Indiana has scored in the first inning in 24 of 53 games, owning a 48-18 run margin in the opening frame.
BIG TEN RPI NUMBERS
The Big Ten Conference has five teams in the RPI top-65 entering the conference tournament. IU leads the way at #14, followed by: Illinois (#30), Michigan State (#35), Nebraska (#42) and Ohio State (#62).
