No. 17 Indiana Opens Snowbird Classic with Rutgers

Indiana at The Snowbird Classic \| Feb. 23-35 \| Port Charlotte, Fla.
Series Schedule	Coverage	Projected Starters
Indiana vs. Rutgers Friday - 3 p.m. ET	Listen \| Live Stats	IU - RHP Jonathan Stiever (0-1, 10.80 ERA) RU - RHP John O'Reilly (0-1, 15.00 ERA)
Indiana vs. Boston College Saturday - Noon ET	Listen \| Live Stats	IU - RHP Pauly Milto (1-0, 0.00 ERA) BC - LHP Dan Metzdorf (0-0, 27.00 ERA)
Indiana vs. Chicago State Sunday - 10:30 a.m. ET	Listen \| Live Stats	IU - TBA CSU - TBA
Social: Twitter \| Instagram // Indiana

• Indiana continues an 11-game road trip to open the 2018 campaign as it heads to Port Charlotte, Fla., to take part in the Snowbird Classic. The Hoosiers will face Rutgers (Friday, 3 p.m.), Boston College (Saturday, Noon) and Chicago State (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.)

• The Hoosiers enter the weekend ranked in four polls and are receiving votes in two. IU is ranked 17th by Perfect Game, 20th by Baseball America, 20th by D1 Baseball, and 23rd by the NCBWA.

• The Hoosiers kicked off the 2018 season by going 3-1 at Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C. After dropping the opener to No. 18 Oklahoma, the Hoosiers won the next three over Kansas State (5-0), No. 17 South Alabama (8-4) and Coastal Carolina (6-5).

• Two of IU's first four opponents in Myrtle Beach were ranked in at least one preseason poll (Oklahoma and South Alabama), while Coastal Carolina was the 2016 National Champion.

• The 3-1 start for the Hoosiers is their best start since 2005, when the Hoosiers also opened that season winning three of its first four against DePauw (W, 5-0), Indiana State (W, 5-4), Memphis (W, 9-8) and Navy (L, 5-6).

• Indiana's bullpen on opening weekend accounted for 18 innings pitched, allowing 13 hits and two earned runs. Batters hit just .200 off the Hoosier bullpen and four freshmen accounted for seven of those innings out of the pen, allowing just one run.

• The Hoosiers stole nine total bases on the weekend (second in the Big Ten), including eight in last Saturday's win over South Alabama. It marked the most in a single game for IU since March 4, 2007 (9 at North Florida).

• IU was voted the preseason favorite to claim the 2018 Big Ten Baseball Championship as voted on by the conference coaches.

• Junior Matt Lloyd, junior Luke Miller and senior Logan Sowers were named Indiana's three Players to Watch by the Big Ten.

• Lloyd racked up preseason laurels from the NCBWA, earning second team Preseason All-American honors and a spot on the Stopper of the Year Watch List, an award recognizing the nation's top relief pitcher.

• Entering 2018, Indiana returned 100 percent of its starts, 94 percent of its wins, and 91 percent of its innings pitched and strikeouts. The Hoosiers also brought back 62 percent of its runs and hits, 61 percent of its RBIs, and 59 percent of its extra-base hits.

• Since the start of the 2008 season, Indiana leads the Big Ten in wins (347) and conference wins (147). The Hoosiers have made five NCAA Regionals over that span, the most out of any current Big Ten team.

• For the fourth time in five years, Indiana was selected to the 2017 NCAA Baseball Tournament field. The No. 2-seeded Hoosiers played in the Lexington Regional.

• Last season marked Indiana's seventh NCAA tournament appearance (1949, 1996, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017). Head Coach Chris Lemonis became the first coach in program history to make two regionals in his first three seasons as IU's skipper.

• It marked Indiana's second ever at large bid in the NCAA Tournament (1949, 1996, 2009, 2013 and 2014 were automatic bids), with both of those at large bids coming in the Lemonis era.

• The Hoosiers finished the 2017 regular season just one game out of third place in the Big Ten and only two games out of first place in the conference. IU played 18 games this season against Big Ten teams that qualified for the conference tournament, more than any other team participating in the field.

• The Hoosiers closed the 2017 regular season winning its last six series, dating back to the Minnesota series in April. Those six series included Minnesota, at No. 13 Michigan, No. 15 Maryland, Xavier, Penn State and at Ohio State. Indiana also won six series in a row in 2016, taking series from Purdue, Iowa, at Michigan State, Northwestern, at Minnesota and Illinois.

No. 17 Indiana Opens Snowbird Classic with Rutgers

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Players Mentioned

Matt Lloyd

Luke Miller

Pauly Milto

Logan Sowers

Jonathan Stiever