Indiana University Athletics
Friday, February 26
Fullerton, Calif.
10:00 P.M.
Indiana University
at
Cal St. Fullerton
Baseball Faces Ranked Cal State Fullerton this Weekend
2/25/2016 1:41:00 PM | Baseball
Friday Links: Watch // Listen // Live Stats
Saturday Links: Watch // Listen // Live Stats
Sunday Links: Watch // Listen // Live Stats
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana continues its 10-game away from home trip with a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton, beginning on Friday,
•The Hoosiers are coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro. Indiana won the series opener on Friday, 14-4, marking the fourth consecutive season opener Indiana has won.
•This weekend will be Indiana's fourth, fifth and sixth meeting with the Titans. The Hoosiers swept the series last season in Bloomington, earning victories of 5-4 (10 innings), 2-0 and 10-4.
•Indiana's last appearance in the state of California came last season in its opening three games. The Hoosiers took on the Stanford Cardinal, winning the first two games to take the series, 2-1.
THE COACHES
• Chris Lemonis is in his second season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 36-26 thus far. Lemonis took over an IU program in 2015 that had gone 93-31 the previous two seasons, including its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2013 and the No. 4 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Championship. With a new look roster, his program immediately lived up to the expectations, posting a 35-24 overall record and earning a berth into a third-straight NCAA Regional in 2015.
• As an assistant coach, Lemonis' imprint in elevating the Louisville program to new heights was evident. The former Cardinals' recruiting coordinator aided Louisville to three College World Series appearances (2007, 2013, 2014) and a 359-159 (.693) record during the past eight seasons, including back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.
• In 2013, he was named the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year
• For Cal State Fullerton, Rick Vanderhook enters his fifth season at the helm of the Titan Baseball program after serving as an assistant at UCLA for three years (2009-11) and a long time assistant with the Titans for 22 years from 1985-2002.
• Vanderbook has posted a 161-82 record during his five-year stint as head coach at Cal State Fullerton and has accumulated nearly 1,100 wins as an assistant coach. Last season, he led the Titans to a College World Series appearance.
NOTABLES
• Entering this weekend's series, Indiana ranks second in the Big Ten in home runs (4), fourth in on base percentage (.389), fifth in slugging percentage (.402), fifth in runs scored (20), fifth in RBI (19), tied for fifth in total bases (47) and tied for sixth in stolen bases (4).
• On the pitching side of things, Indiana is tied for first in the conference in fewest walks allowed (5), third in batters struck out (31), tied for third in fewest doubles allowed (3), tied for third in fewest home runs allowed (1) and tied for fifth in runs allowed (12), sixth in ERA (3.10),
• Indiana was selected by the Big Ten coaches to finish third in 2016. Conference coaches voted on the top six teams.
• Senior LHP Kyle Hart, junior RHP Jake Kelzer and junior OF Craig Dedelow have been selected as Big Ten Preseason "Players to Watch."
• Junior RHP Jake Kelzer has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List. The award recognizes the nation's top relief pitcher. A total of 70 players are on the preseason watch list.
• The 2016 roster features a total of 19 returnees and 14 newcomers. Of the 14 newcomers, four are transfers and 10 are freshmen.
• The Hoosiers' 2016 schedule includes 27 home games, five NCAA Tournament teams from 2015, and a 2015 College World Series participant.
• Senior left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart, junior right-handed pitcher Jake Kelzer and senior infielder Brian Wilhite have been named team captains for the upcoming 2016 season.
• Indiana's 2016 opening day roster features 10 players that have either been part of a national championship or College World Series squad.
• A total of seven players that were part of the 2013 Hoosier squad that made the College World Series are part of the 2016 roster. RHP Evan Bell, INF Brian Wilhite, LHP Kyle Hart, LHP Sully Stadler, LHP Will Coursen-Carr, RHP Kent Williams, and RHP Thomas Belcher all were on the 2013 roster.
• Infielder Tony Butler, a transfer from Madison College, spent his freshman season in 2014 as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers baseball program.
• During his 2014 stint in Charlottesville, Butler and the Cavaliers earned a berth into the College World Series, reaching the National Championship series, eventually falling to Vanderbilt.
• Junior RHP Luke Stephenson is another transfer who joins the Hoosiers in 2016. Stephenson spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with Vanderbilt.
• Stephenson was a member of the 2014 Commodore club that went on to with the College World Series.
• Junior OF Alex Krupa comes from Iowa Western Community College, where his squad went on to win the 2014 JuCo World Series. Krupa was named MVP of the World Series.
• Following his sophomore year at Iowa Western, Krupa was drafted in the 35th round by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 MLB Draft.
• In addition, head coach Chris Lemonis has been a part of three College World Series teams when he was an assistant coach at Louisville (2007, 2013 and 2014).
• Assistant coach Kyle Cheesebrough has made two College World Series appearances as well as an assistant coach (2013 and 2014 at Louisville).
"HART"BEAT OF THE ROTATION
• Senior LHP Kyle Hart will start the series opener on Friday, making his 46th career start on the mound in his Indiana career.
• The senior captain is coming off a five inning start at Middle Tennessee, where he struck out seven, walked one, and allowed just one hit in the early stages. Hart retired the final 15 batters he faced.
• Dating back to last season, in his last four starts, Hart has thrown 24.0 innings, allowing 18 hits, zero earned runs while striking out 19 batters and walking just one. He has allowed just three extra-base hits in those starts, all doubles.
• In total, Hart has not allowed an earned run in his last 28.1 innings of work. The last time Hart surrendered an earned run was May 9, 2015 in the first inning against Long Beach State in Bloomington.
• Entering his senior season, the Ohio native has 22 career wins, which ranks tied for seventh all-time at Indiana. Hart needs just one victory to move into a tie for fourth in school history with Steve Schaefer (1990-93), Eric Jaques (1986-89) and Mike Humphrey (1982-85) with 23 career wins.
• Hart ranks tied for third in IU history with 12 career wins in Big Ten games, while his 3.11 ERA in conference action ranks eighth and his 83 strikeouts rank 10th.
RINGING THE BELL
• Making the start on the hill on Saturday will be senior RHP Evan Bell. Bell will be making his seventh career start on Saturday, including his second start in 2016 and three starts in 2015.
• Bell, who set career-highs with 21 appearances and 49.2 innings pitched in 2015, had an impressive outing vs. Notre Dame at Victory Field on April 21, retiring 12-straight batters with five strikeouts.
• He threw a career-high 6.1 innings vs. Michigan on April 4, also notching a career-best eight strikeouts while limiting U-M to one run on four hits.
BEARING DOWN ON SUNDAYS
• Senior LHP Caleb Baragar will get the ball on Sunday, making his 14th career start in a Hoosier uniform. His 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• One of five IU pitchers with 50 strikeouts during the 2015 campaign, Baragar fanned four or more batters on seven occasions, including three of his last six performances.
• Baragar spent his first two seasons at Jackson Community College.
NOT SO SOUR
• Through his first three games, Logan Sowers enters Friday second in the Big Ten in home runs (2), tied for second in total bases (12), tied for seventh in hits (6), tied for fifth in slugging percentage (1.000) and tied for 11th in batting average.
• The sophomore had two multi-hit games against Middle Tennessee, garnering three hits in both of those contests. He now has 16 career multi-hit games, including six, three-hit games.
• An All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection in 2015, Sowers was a four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week (3/2, 3/9, 4/14, 5/18) honoree,
• Prior to IU, Sowers was selected in the 31st round by the San Diego Padres in the MLB Draft.
DOING THE GOOD DEED
• Through the first three games of the young 2016 season, Craig Dedelow is hitting at a .385 clip with one home run and four RBI. The four RBI rank tied for fifth in the Big Ten.
• Dating back to last season, Dedelow has reached base safely in eight-straight games.
• The junior outfielder went 4-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored, while also stealing a base in the season opener at Middle Tennessee. His four hits and four runs scored are both career-highs.
• Dedelow, for the second-straight year, was the overall individual champion of IU's annual Omaha Challenge, logging 253 total points.
Saturday Links: Watch // Listen // Live Stats
Sunday Links: Watch // Listen // Live Stats
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana continues its 10-game away from home trip with a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton, beginning on Friday,
•The Hoosiers are coming off a 2-1 series loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro. Indiana won the series opener on Friday, 14-4, marking the fourth consecutive season opener Indiana has won.
•This weekend will be Indiana's fourth, fifth and sixth meeting with the Titans. The Hoosiers swept the series last season in Bloomington, earning victories of 5-4 (10 innings), 2-0 and 10-4.
•Indiana's last appearance in the state of California came last season in its opening three games. The Hoosiers took on the Stanford Cardinal, winning the first two games to take the series, 2-1.
THE COACHES
• Chris Lemonis is in his second season as Indiana's head coach, posting an overall record of 36-26 thus far. Lemonis took over an IU program in 2015 that had gone 93-31 the previous two seasons, including its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2013 and the No. 4 overall seed in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Championship. With a new look roster, his program immediately lived up to the expectations, posting a 35-24 overall record and earning a berth into a third-straight NCAA Regional in 2015.
• As an assistant coach, Lemonis' imprint in elevating the Louisville program to new heights was evident. The former Cardinals' recruiting coordinator aided Louisville to three College World Series appearances (2007, 2013, 2014) and a 359-159 (.693) record during the past eight seasons, including back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.
• In 2013, he was named the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year
• For Cal State Fullerton, Rick Vanderhook enters his fifth season at the helm of the Titan Baseball program after serving as an assistant at UCLA for three years (2009-11) and a long time assistant with the Titans for 22 years from 1985-2002.
• Vanderbook has posted a 161-82 record during his five-year stint as head coach at Cal State Fullerton and has accumulated nearly 1,100 wins as an assistant coach. Last season, he led the Titans to a College World Series appearance.
NOTABLES
• Entering this weekend's series, Indiana ranks second in the Big Ten in home runs (4), fourth in on base percentage (.389), fifth in slugging percentage (.402), fifth in runs scored (20), fifth in RBI (19), tied for fifth in total bases (47) and tied for sixth in stolen bases (4).
• On the pitching side of things, Indiana is tied for first in the conference in fewest walks allowed (5), third in batters struck out (31), tied for third in fewest doubles allowed (3), tied for third in fewest home runs allowed (1) and tied for fifth in runs allowed (12), sixth in ERA (3.10),
• Indiana was selected by the Big Ten coaches to finish third in 2016. Conference coaches voted on the top six teams.
• Senior LHP Kyle Hart, junior RHP Jake Kelzer and junior OF Craig Dedelow have been selected as Big Ten Preseason "Players to Watch."
• Junior RHP Jake Kelzer has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List. The award recognizes the nation's top relief pitcher. A total of 70 players are on the preseason watch list.
• The 2016 roster features a total of 19 returnees and 14 newcomers. Of the 14 newcomers, four are transfers and 10 are freshmen.
• The Hoosiers' 2016 schedule includes 27 home games, five NCAA Tournament teams from 2015, and a 2015 College World Series participant.
• Senior left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart, junior right-handed pitcher Jake Kelzer and senior infielder Brian Wilhite have been named team captains for the upcoming 2016 season.
• Indiana's 2016 opening day roster features 10 players that have either been part of a national championship or College World Series squad.
• A total of seven players that were part of the 2013 Hoosier squad that made the College World Series are part of the 2016 roster. RHP Evan Bell, INF Brian Wilhite, LHP Kyle Hart, LHP Sully Stadler, LHP Will Coursen-Carr, RHP Kent Williams, and RHP Thomas Belcher all were on the 2013 roster.
• Infielder Tony Butler, a transfer from Madison College, spent his freshman season in 2014 as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers baseball program.
• During his 2014 stint in Charlottesville, Butler and the Cavaliers earned a berth into the College World Series, reaching the National Championship series, eventually falling to Vanderbilt.
• Junior RHP Luke Stephenson is another transfer who joins the Hoosiers in 2016. Stephenson spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with Vanderbilt.
• Stephenson was a member of the 2014 Commodore club that went on to with the College World Series.
• Junior OF Alex Krupa comes from Iowa Western Community College, where his squad went on to win the 2014 JuCo World Series. Krupa was named MVP of the World Series.
• Following his sophomore year at Iowa Western, Krupa was drafted in the 35th round by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 MLB Draft.
• In addition, head coach Chris Lemonis has been a part of three College World Series teams when he was an assistant coach at Louisville (2007, 2013 and 2014).
• Assistant coach Kyle Cheesebrough has made two College World Series appearances as well as an assistant coach (2013 and 2014 at Louisville).
"HART"BEAT OF THE ROTATION
• Senior LHP Kyle Hart will start the series opener on Friday, making his 46th career start on the mound in his Indiana career.
• The senior captain is coming off a five inning start at Middle Tennessee, where he struck out seven, walked one, and allowed just one hit in the early stages. Hart retired the final 15 batters he faced.
• Dating back to last season, in his last four starts, Hart has thrown 24.0 innings, allowing 18 hits, zero earned runs while striking out 19 batters and walking just one. He has allowed just three extra-base hits in those starts, all doubles.
• In total, Hart has not allowed an earned run in his last 28.1 innings of work. The last time Hart surrendered an earned run was May 9, 2015 in the first inning against Long Beach State in Bloomington.
• Entering his senior season, the Ohio native has 22 career wins, which ranks tied for seventh all-time at Indiana. Hart needs just one victory to move into a tie for fourth in school history with Steve Schaefer (1990-93), Eric Jaques (1986-89) and Mike Humphrey (1982-85) with 23 career wins.
• Hart ranks tied for third in IU history with 12 career wins in Big Ten games, while his 3.11 ERA in conference action ranks eighth and his 83 strikeouts rank 10th.
RINGING THE BELL
• Making the start on the hill on Saturday will be senior RHP Evan Bell. Bell will be making his seventh career start on Saturday, including his second start in 2016 and three starts in 2015.
• Bell, who set career-highs with 21 appearances and 49.2 innings pitched in 2015, had an impressive outing vs. Notre Dame at Victory Field on April 21, retiring 12-straight batters with five strikeouts.
• He threw a career-high 6.1 innings vs. Michigan on April 4, also notching a career-best eight strikeouts while limiting U-M to one run on four hits.
BEARING DOWN ON SUNDAYS
• Senior LHP Caleb Baragar will get the ball on Sunday, making his 14th career start in a Hoosier uniform. His 12 starts in 2015 tied for the team lead.
• One of five IU pitchers with 50 strikeouts during the 2015 campaign, Baragar fanned four or more batters on seven occasions, including three of his last six performances.
• Baragar spent his first two seasons at Jackson Community College.
NOT SO SOUR
• Through his first three games, Logan Sowers enters Friday second in the Big Ten in home runs (2), tied for second in total bases (12), tied for seventh in hits (6), tied for fifth in slugging percentage (1.000) and tied for 11th in batting average.
• The sophomore had two multi-hit games against Middle Tennessee, garnering three hits in both of those contests. He now has 16 career multi-hit games, including six, three-hit games.
• An All-Big Ten Freshman Team selection in 2015, Sowers was a four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week (3/2, 3/9, 4/14, 5/18) honoree,
• Prior to IU, Sowers was selected in the 31st round by the San Diego Padres in the MLB Draft.
DOING THE GOOD DEED
• Through the first three games of the young 2016 season, Craig Dedelow is hitting at a .385 clip with one home run and four RBI. The four RBI rank tied for fifth in the Big Ten.
• Dating back to last season, Dedelow has reached base safely in eight-straight games.
• The junior outfielder went 4-for-5 with three RBI and four runs scored, while also stealing a base in the season opener at Middle Tennessee. His four hits and four runs scored are both career-highs.
• Dedelow, for the second-straight year, was the overall individual champion of IU's annual Omaha Challenge, logging 253 total points.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballBig Ten Tournament Press Conference - vs. Rutgers
Wednesday, May 21
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss - 2
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Tennessee
Sunday, June 02
NCAA Postgame Press Conference - Southern Miss
Friday, May 31