Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Returns Veteran, Proven Staff
2/18/2016 4:56:00 PM | Baseball
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Pitching, especially starting pitching, can cover up a majority of a team's flaws. Indiana is no different.
Heading into a new season beginning with a three-game series at Middle Tennessee on Friday, second-year head coach Chris Lemonis likes the arms he's got at his disposal.
"We all know baseball is about starting pitching and pitching all together," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "We have great starting pitching, great bullpen depth, experience. It just gives you a lot of confidence sitting in there."
Senior southpaw Kyle Hart will headline the rotation as the Hoosiers' Friday ace. He'll be followed by fellow seniors Evan Bell on Saturdays and Caleb Barager on Sundays to round out a veteran-heavy rotation that, on paper, has a chance to be one of the best staffs in the Big Ten.
They'll hand the ball over to one of the deeper bullpens Indiana has had in recent years featuring junior Jake Kelzer slotting into the closing role. He's joined by a group that includes five other upperclassmen working out of the pen, giving Lemonis options when it comes to the late innings of games.
The Hoosiers are hoping their experienced staff makes up for an offense Lemonis said has potential but is still an "evolving, maturing" group. They'll likely need both working together for Indiana to return to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season after being picked to finish third by the Big Ten coaches in the preseason rankings.
But it all starts with Hart, who returned to form slowly throughout last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
He led the staff with a 1.21 ERA and an unblemished 5-0 record over eight starts. Perhaps none was more impressive than his final outing where he pitched seven innings, striking out six and allowing one unearned run in a victory against Radford in the NCAA regional.
"Obviously it's been tough for me — kind of split my last two seasons in half," Hart said.
"Going out for this team and completing a full season, whether that's 80 or 100 innings. Just eating innings and competing in a positive way that allows us to win in any game I'm pitching in."
Hart projects to be an ace Indiana didn't always have last season. The Hoosiers sent out six different Friday starters across 11 series to face opposing teams' best pitchers a year ago. Hart's return coincided with the Hoosiers' late push that included nine wins in 10 games to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
With Hart back healthy, Lemonis appears confident to have found his go-to guy.
"No doubt, I think Kyle is that Friday night type of starter," Lemonis said. "He proved it last year. We really took off again last year when he got all the way back and healthy and ready to pitch. I think that's what we're going to see this year."
Kelzer, who turned down being drafted in the 14th round by the Chicago Cubs in last June's draft, is expected to replace Ryan Halstead at closer. The Bloomington native is hoping the change of scenery after being primarily a long-inning reliever and mid-week starter last season will help him climb even further up the draft boards and deeper into the postseason with the Hoosiers.
"The back part of the game is kind of where I started my career," Kelzer said. "It was a place I was comfortable in. I'm happy to be back there."
Lemonis half-jokingly said one of the bigger challenges facing Indiana early on in the season is getting enough innings for the guys in the pen. With the likes of Thomas Belcher, Will Coursen-Carr, Austin Foote and Luke Stephenson, among others, available, the Hoosiers will be able to get creative late in games with who they send to the mound.
"We have a bunch of different options, our left-handed options, our right-handed options," Lemonis said. "We have guys in our bullpen that we think we can match up very well."
Lemonis said he opened his garage door Monday afternoon and finally felt like baseball season had arrived. His veteran pitching staff and relatively unproven offense will head south toward warmer weather the first three weekends before opening up the home schedule against Western Carolina March 11-13 at Bart Kaufman Field.
After months of waiting, Lemonis made it clear he's ready for spring:
"We're ready to play."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Pitching, especially starting pitching, can cover up a majority of a team's flaws. Indiana is no different.
Heading into a new season beginning with a three-game series at Middle Tennessee on Friday, second-year head coach Chris Lemonis likes the arms he's got at his disposal.
"We all know baseball is about starting pitching and pitching all together," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "We have great starting pitching, great bullpen depth, experience. It just gives you a lot of confidence sitting in there."
Senior southpaw Kyle Hart will headline the rotation as the Hoosiers' Friday ace. He'll be followed by fellow seniors Evan Bell on Saturdays and Caleb Barager on Sundays to round out a veteran-heavy rotation that, on paper, has a chance to be one of the best staffs in the Big Ten.
They'll hand the ball over to one of the deeper bullpens Indiana has had in recent years featuring junior Jake Kelzer slotting into the closing role. He's joined by a group that includes five other upperclassmen working out of the pen, giving Lemonis options when it comes to the late innings of games.
The Hoosiers are hoping their experienced staff makes up for an offense Lemonis said has potential but is still an "evolving, maturing" group. They'll likely need both working together for Indiana to return to the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season after being picked to finish third by the Big Ten coaches in the preseason rankings.
But it all starts with Hart, who returned to form slowly throughout last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
He led the staff with a 1.21 ERA and an unblemished 5-0 record over eight starts. Perhaps none was more impressive than his final outing where he pitched seven innings, striking out six and allowing one unearned run in a victory against Radford in the NCAA regional.
"Obviously it's been tough for me — kind of split my last two seasons in half," Hart said.
"Going out for this team and completing a full season, whether that's 80 or 100 innings. Just eating innings and competing in a positive way that allows us to win in any game I'm pitching in."
Hart projects to be an ace Indiana didn't always have last season. The Hoosiers sent out six different Friday starters across 11 series to face opposing teams' best pitchers a year ago. Hart's return coincided with the Hoosiers' late push that included nine wins in 10 games to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
With Hart back healthy, Lemonis appears confident to have found his go-to guy.
"No doubt, I think Kyle is that Friday night type of starter," Lemonis said. "He proved it last year. We really took off again last year when he got all the way back and healthy and ready to pitch. I think that's what we're going to see this year."
Kelzer, who turned down being drafted in the 14th round by the Chicago Cubs in last June's draft, is expected to replace Ryan Halstead at closer. The Bloomington native is hoping the change of scenery after being primarily a long-inning reliever and mid-week starter last season will help him climb even further up the draft boards and deeper into the postseason with the Hoosiers.
"The back part of the game is kind of where I started my career," Kelzer said. "It was a place I was comfortable in. I'm happy to be back there."
Lemonis half-jokingly said one of the bigger challenges facing Indiana early on in the season is getting enough innings for the guys in the pen. With the likes of Thomas Belcher, Will Coursen-Carr, Austin Foote and Luke Stephenson, among others, available, the Hoosiers will be able to get creative late in games with who they send to the mound.
"We have a bunch of different options, our left-handed options, our right-handed options," Lemonis said. "We have guys in our bullpen that we think we can match up very well."
Lemonis said he opened his garage door Monday afternoon and finally felt like baseball season had arrived. His veteran pitching staff and relatively unproven offense will head south toward warmer weather the first three weekends before opening up the home schedule against Western Carolina March 11-13 at Bart Kaufman Field.
After months of waiting, Lemonis made it clear he's ready for spring:
"We're ready to play."
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