Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Face a Challenge from the Start
2/16/2018 8:23:00 AM | Baseball
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - On Valentine's Day, it became even clearer there is a lot to love about the 2018 Indiana baseball Hoosiers. (Not necessarily because they revealed their new all-crimson alternate uniform set, the merit of which is a matter of individual taste.)
But Wednesday was when IU coach Chris Lemonis and three of his standout returnees – starting pitchers Jonathan Steiver, Pauly Milto and closer/infielder Matt Lloyd – met the media in advance of this weekend's challenging, season-opening four-game set in South Carolina.
And the more they talked, the easier it was to understand why the Big Ten coaches balloting released Wednesday pegged the Hoosiers as the preseason conference favorite.
"We're returning most of our outs, innings, everything (in terms of pitching numbers)," Milto said. "We're pretty confident, going into the season, that there should be great upside."
Milto, if anything, might have understated the case regarding the IU pitching staff.
It returns every pitcher who started during the Hoosiers' 34-24-2 campaign that earned a 2017 NCAA tournament berth. Along with 94 percent of the wins, 91 percent of the innings pitched and 91 percent of the strikeouts posted.
And the offense returns players responsible for 62 percent of its hits, 62 percent of its runs scored, 61 percent of its RBI and 59 percent of its extra-base hits.
Senior right fielder Logan Sowers and juniors Luke Miller (third base) and Lloyd (who will DH or play on the right side of the infield) all supplied double-digit homers last season and each had more than 40 RBI.
The sophomore trio of left fielder Matt Gorski, shortstop Jeremy Houston and first-baseman Scotty Bradley all are coming off Big Ten All-Freshman honors (though Bradley's came in 2016 and he redshirted last season with an injury).
Junior catcher Ryan Fineman, who shed 20 pounds this off-season and according to Lemonis "is in the best shape of his life," was already one of the league's top receivers.
And then there is Logan Kaletha, a junior transfer out of John A. Logan College, who looks like a center fielder and leadoff man with some pop. He hit .354 with a .530 slugging percentage and stole 17 bases for Logan last season. And he hasn't disappointed during IU workouts.
"Logan Kaletha has been an absolute hitting machine so far," Lloyd said. "And just a terror on the base paths, stealing bases left and right.
"(Freshman) Elijah Dunham has been hitting real well and playing a good first base. (Freshman infielder) Justin Walker has been contributing well. We've got a whole handful of guys, a lot of newcomers (who could contribute)."
Including Cade Bunnell, who played at Kansas State and Madison College before arriving in Bloomington and who will see time at second base. He hit .291 and smacked eight homers for Madison last season.
And that still is just scratching the surface of prospects who could impact a lineup that shapes up as one of the Big Ten's best.
Lemonis really only had one complaint during his remarks:
Finding enough playing time for the abundance of talent as his disposal.
"One of the biggest problems I'll have is keeping some of these very talented young players in the mix and happy," Lemonis said, "because we had a really good recruiting class with some bright futures ahead for those guys, but also a lot of older guys (already in position.)
"That's one of the hardest pieces, regarding the makeup and chemistry of our team, in that we'll have good players who aren't playing every day. They could maybe play every day in another program. But that's another goal, as we build this program, that we do have good depth. And that's part of it. You bide your time, keep working, then get your chance to be a player."
IU's abundance of riches has the Hoosiers not only the top-ranked Big Ten team but also nationally-ranked heading into the season by Perfect Game (No. 17), Baseball America (No. 20), D1 Baseball (23) and NCAA Coaches Poll (No. 27).
But Indiana won't be the only ranked team playing in this weekend's Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach Classic, starting with Friday's 12 p.m. matchup against Coaches' Poll No. 28 Oklahoma in Myrtle Beach.
After Saturday afternoon's game against Kansas State, also in Myrtle Beach, IU meets No. 23 South Alabama at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and host Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. Monday in Conway, SC.
The Hoosiers will face three College Baseball Newspaper preseason All-Americans during the four days in Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker, South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty and Coastal Carolina's Kevin Woodall.
South Alabama hit .304 as a team last year and Coastal Carolina is also potent offensively.
Given that RPI is such a factor in determining NCAA berths and seeds, it would behoove the Hoosiers to start hot. By a dozen games into the season, IU will have already faced 10 teams who had a RPI in last season's Top 100.
"These are RPI games," Lemonis said of the South Carolina trip. "And at the very end of the year, 60 games from now, we're going to look back and say, 'Man, that game against Oklahoma was a big for us – or not a big game for us.'
"We schedule this way for a reason. We feel like we have to play the best in the country. And when you look at this tournament, you'd be hard pressed to find another (tourney) with four, five, six teams there who all have Top 25 capabilities."
It would help the Hoosiers to finish hot, too. In their last 11 games, every foe the Hoosiers face (Minnesota, Kentucky, Nebraska, Louisville, Maryland) had a RPI in the top 72 or higher last year (with UK and U of L in the top 10).
Lemonis wants to play the Big Ten's best teams amidst the league's unbalanced schedule. Defending conference champ Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and defending Big Ten Tournament champ Iowa were the five teams behind the Hoosiers in the league coaches' preseason picks.
"Since we've been here, our league schedule has been really tough, but that's been to our benefit," he said. "We've been a No. 2 (NCAA) seed, and got a berth down in Vanderbilt as an at-large, and that's partly due to the Big Ten.
"And we try to embrace that piece. We want to play the best teams and we hopefully have a team that will compete with them. Last year, we faced that stretch – looking at games against Minnesota and Michigan and so on – and we played well and won, and that's what propelled us (to a NCAA berth)."
Lemonis also likes the fact that along with this weekend's games – and following next weekend's three games at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. – the Hoosiers will have another four-game set in San Diego.
That should allow a lot of Hoosiers to see action in the field and stretch out the very deep pitching staff.
Stiever, who went 3-1 for the Brewster Whitecaps in the prestigious Cape Cod League this summer, returns as IU's Friday starter and will open against Oklahoma. He had 57 strikeouts and just nine walks for IU last season. Milto, who went 6-3 in 10 starts last year, will pitch Saturday against Kansas State.
Joining Lloyd in the back end of the bullpen is Cal Krueger, who had some impressive starts last season as a freshman (finishing 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA) and is now slated as a "second closer."
Seniors Brian Hobbie, Kade Kryzsko and B.J. Sabol are potential set-up men in the pen, as are transfers Connor Manous (who came from the University of Miami in Florida) and Grant Sloan (Virginia) as well as some of the talented freshman class.
There is depth everywhere, including experienced depth.
Senior outfielder Laren Eustace, like Kaletha and Gorski, runs a sub-6:6 60-meter dash. Chris Lowe, another senior, and freshman Sam Crail are also in the outfield picture.
Senior infielder and Bloomington native Colby Stratten has played a lot of innings and is an option at second base. So are freshman Walker and Cole Barr.
Wyatt Cross, an outstanding catching prospect out of San Jacinto College, will augment Fineman behind the plate.
So even when Lemonis goes to his bench, he can call on folks who have already been through the wars. And that's something he hopes will help the Hoosiers get off to a good start against challenging competition.
"Most of our guys have played a lot of college baseball," Lemonis said, "and experience in the Big Ten, I think, is huge. We have it on the mound. We have it defensively. We have it in our lineup.
"It's our fourth year here, so we feel like we've had a chance to build a team and fill some gaps, and we have a chance to be pretty good. We will still have to go out and compete every day and stay healthy.
"We're going to try to throw everything at Oklahoma, then get up the next day and try to figure everything out. But we'll also get some pieces out there. Hopefully the games will play out in our favor and we can play a good many guys."
Because Lemonis has many good guys to deploy.
What's not to love?
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - On Valentine's Day, it became even clearer there is a lot to love about the 2018 Indiana baseball Hoosiers. (Not necessarily because they revealed their new all-crimson alternate uniform set, the merit of which is a matter of individual taste.)
But Wednesday was when IU coach Chris Lemonis and three of his standout returnees – starting pitchers Jonathan Steiver, Pauly Milto and closer/infielder Matt Lloyd – met the media in advance of this weekend's challenging, season-opening four-game set in South Carolina.
And the more they talked, the easier it was to understand why the Big Ten coaches balloting released Wednesday pegged the Hoosiers as the preseason conference favorite.
"We're returning most of our outs, innings, everything (in terms of pitching numbers)," Milto said. "We're pretty confident, going into the season, that there should be great upside."
Milto, if anything, might have understated the case regarding the IU pitching staff.
It returns every pitcher who started during the Hoosiers' 34-24-2 campaign that earned a 2017 NCAA tournament berth. Along with 94 percent of the wins, 91 percent of the innings pitched and 91 percent of the strikeouts posted.
And the offense returns players responsible for 62 percent of its hits, 62 percent of its runs scored, 61 percent of its RBI and 59 percent of its extra-base hits.
Senior right fielder Logan Sowers and juniors Luke Miller (third base) and Lloyd (who will DH or play on the right side of the infield) all supplied double-digit homers last season and each had more than 40 RBI.
The sophomore trio of left fielder Matt Gorski, shortstop Jeremy Houston and first-baseman Scotty Bradley all are coming off Big Ten All-Freshman honors (though Bradley's came in 2016 and he redshirted last season with an injury).
Junior catcher Ryan Fineman, who shed 20 pounds this off-season and according to Lemonis "is in the best shape of his life," was already one of the league's top receivers.
And then there is Logan Kaletha, a junior transfer out of John A. Logan College, who looks like a center fielder and leadoff man with some pop. He hit .354 with a .530 slugging percentage and stole 17 bases for Logan last season. And he hasn't disappointed during IU workouts.
"Logan Kaletha has been an absolute hitting machine so far," Lloyd said. "And just a terror on the base paths, stealing bases left and right.
"(Freshman) Elijah Dunham has been hitting real well and playing a good first base. (Freshman infielder) Justin Walker has been contributing well. We've got a whole handful of guys, a lot of newcomers (who could contribute)."
Including Cade Bunnell, who played at Kansas State and Madison College before arriving in Bloomington and who will see time at second base. He hit .291 and smacked eight homers for Madison last season.
And that still is just scratching the surface of prospects who could impact a lineup that shapes up as one of the Big Ten's best.
Lemonis really only had one complaint during his remarks:
Finding enough playing time for the abundance of talent as his disposal.
"One of the biggest problems I'll have is keeping some of these very talented young players in the mix and happy," Lemonis said, "because we had a really good recruiting class with some bright futures ahead for those guys, but also a lot of older guys (already in position.)
"That's one of the hardest pieces, regarding the makeup and chemistry of our team, in that we'll have good players who aren't playing every day. They could maybe play every day in another program. But that's another goal, as we build this program, that we do have good depth. And that's part of it. You bide your time, keep working, then get your chance to be a player."
IU's abundance of riches has the Hoosiers not only the top-ranked Big Ten team but also nationally-ranked heading into the season by Perfect Game (No. 17), Baseball America (No. 20), D1 Baseball (23) and NCAA Coaches Poll (No. 27).
But Indiana won't be the only ranked team playing in this weekend's Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach Classic, starting with Friday's 12 p.m. matchup against Coaches' Poll No. 28 Oklahoma in Myrtle Beach.
After Saturday afternoon's game against Kansas State, also in Myrtle Beach, IU meets No. 23 South Alabama at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and host Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. Monday in Conway, SC.
The Hoosiers will face three College Baseball Newspaper preseason All-Americans during the four days in Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker, South Alabama outfielder Travis Swaggerty and Coastal Carolina's Kevin Woodall.
South Alabama hit .304 as a team last year and Coastal Carolina is also potent offensively.
Given that RPI is such a factor in determining NCAA berths and seeds, it would behoove the Hoosiers to start hot. By a dozen games into the season, IU will have already faced 10 teams who had a RPI in last season's Top 100.
"These are RPI games," Lemonis said of the South Carolina trip. "And at the very end of the year, 60 games from now, we're going to look back and say, 'Man, that game against Oklahoma was a big for us – or not a big game for us.'
"We schedule this way for a reason. We feel like we have to play the best in the country. And when you look at this tournament, you'd be hard pressed to find another (tourney) with four, five, six teams there who all have Top 25 capabilities."
It would help the Hoosiers to finish hot, too. In their last 11 games, every foe the Hoosiers face (Minnesota, Kentucky, Nebraska, Louisville, Maryland) had a RPI in the top 72 or higher last year (with UK and U of L in the top 10).
Lemonis wants to play the Big Ten's best teams amidst the league's unbalanced schedule. Defending conference champ Nebraska, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan and defending Big Ten Tournament champ Iowa were the five teams behind the Hoosiers in the league coaches' preseason picks.
"Since we've been here, our league schedule has been really tough, but that's been to our benefit," he said. "We've been a No. 2 (NCAA) seed, and got a berth down in Vanderbilt as an at-large, and that's partly due to the Big Ten.
"And we try to embrace that piece. We want to play the best teams and we hopefully have a team that will compete with them. Last year, we faced that stretch – looking at games against Minnesota and Michigan and so on – and we played well and won, and that's what propelled us (to a NCAA berth)."
Lemonis also likes the fact that along with this weekend's games – and following next weekend's three games at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. – the Hoosiers will have another four-game set in San Diego.
That should allow a lot of Hoosiers to see action in the field and stretch out the very deep pitching staff.
Stiever, who went 3-1 for the Brewster Whitecaps in the prestigious Cape Cod League this summer, returns as IU's Friday starter and will open against Oklahoma. He had 57 strikeouts and just nine walks for IU last season. Milto, who went 6-3 in 10 starts last year, will pitch Saturday against Kansas State.
Joining Lloyd in the back end of the bullpen is Cal Krueger, who had some impressive starts last season as a freshman (finishing 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA) and is now slated as a "second closer."
Seniors Brian Hobbie, Kade Kryzsko and B.J. Sabol are potential set-up men in the pen, as are transfers Connor Manous (who came from the University of Miami in Florida) and Grant Sloan (Virginia) as well as some of the talented freshman class.
There is depth everywhere, including experienced depth.
Senior outfielder Laren Eustace, like Kaletha and Gorski, runs a sub-6:6 60-meter dash. Chris Lowe, another senior, and freshman Sam Crail are also in the outfield picture.
Senior infielder and Bloomington native Colby Stratten has played a lot of innings and is an option at second base. So are freshman Walker and Cole Barr.
Wyatt Cross, an outstanding catching prospect out of San Jacinto College, will augment Fineman behind the plate.
So even when Lemonis goes to his bench, he can call on folks who have already been through the wars. And that's something he hopes will help the Hoosiers get off to a good start against challenging competition.
"Most of our guys have played a lot of college baseball," Lemonis said, "and experience in the Big Ten, I think, is huge. We have it on the mound. We have it defensively. We have it in our lineup.
"It's our fourth year here, so we feel like we've had a chance to build a team and fill some gaps, and we have a chance to be pretty good. We will still have to go out and compete every day and stay healthy.
"We're going to try to throw everything at Oklahoma, then get up the next day and try to figure everything out. But we'll also get some pieces out there. Hopefully the games will play out in our favor and we can play a good many guys."
Because Lemonis has many good guys to deploy.
What's not to love?
Players Mentioned
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