Indiana University Athletics
Pac-12/Big Ten Baseball Challenge Starts Friday
2/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 19, 2014
| PAC-12/BIG TEN CHALLENGE | |
| When | February 21-23, 2014 |
| Where | Surprise, Ariz. - Surprise Stadium (10,714) |
| Game Notes | Indiana Game Notes |
| Live Audio | IUHoosiers.com Broadcast |
| GameTracker | vs. Washington | vs. Utah | vs. Oregon State |
| Twitter | @IUBaseballNews (in-game updates) @HoosierBaseball (Tracy Smith) |
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Baseball, along with Michigan State and Nebraska, will represent the conference for the 2014 Aramark Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in Surprise, Ariz., competing in a round-robin competition against the Pac-12's #1 Oregon State (4-0), Utah (2-2) and Washington (2-1-1).
The Hoosiers (1-3) get things started Friday night versus the Huskies at 7 pm MT/9 pm ET. Saturday brings a 4 pm MT/6 pm ET match-up with the Utes before a top-10 Sunday showdown pitting #10 Indiana against the top-ranked Beavers at 11 am MT/1 pm ET.
All three Indiana contests will take place inside Surprise Stadium, a 10,000-plus seat facility called Spring Training home by both the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
Friday, Feb. 21 - 7 pm MT/9 pm ET vs. Washington
Sr., LHP Joey DeNato (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jr., RHP Jared Fisher (0-0, 6.35)
Saturday, Feb. 22 - 4 pm MT/6 pm ET vs. Utah
Jr., LHP Kyle Hart (0-1, 15.00) vs. Sr., LHP Tanner Banks (1-0, 0.00)
Sunday, Feb. 23 - 11 am MT/1 pm ET vs. Oregon State
TBD vs. Sr., RHP Scott Schultz (1-0, 2.57)
BIG TEN PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Senior LHP Joey DeNato picked up Big Ten co-Pitcher of the Week accolades on April 18, sharing the weekly award with Ohio State's Ryan Riga. It marks DeNato's third career B1G Pitcher of the Week recognition.
DeNato scattered three hits and a walk while striking out three batters in six scoreless innings to earn the victory in Indiana's 1-0 win over Texas Tech in the season opener. He faced the minimum in five of his six innings, needing just 66 pitches to pick up the 25th win of his career (third most in school history).
RELOADED
IU Baseball returns much of its statistical produciton from the 2013 College World Series squad:
OFFENSE RETURNS
• 92% of homeruns (49 of 53)
• 83% of RBI (338 of 407)
• 78% of doubles (105 of 134)
• 77% of triples (10 of 13)
• 75% of runs scored (324 of 434)
PITCHING RETURNS
• 100% of saves (18 of 18)
• 82% of strikeouts (325 of 394)
• 82% of wins (40 of 49)
• 80% of innings pitched (468.2 of 590)
THE MORE THE MERRIER
The 2014 Big Ten Baseball Tournament will feature an eight-team field for the first time in conference history. It'll be held May 21-25 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series. The tournament's double-elimination format will culminate with a single championship game on Sunday, with the winner earning the tournament title and the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
