Dunham Powering it Up at Clean-Up Spot

BY: PETE DIPRIMIO

IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Power rocks.

You know that, right?

Indiana has baseball power to spare, and in a lineup that launches home runs at a Big Ten-best pace, one guy has moved back into the biggest knock-it-out-of-the-park batting spot of all:

Elijah Dunham.

Granted, the sophomore left fielder doesn't have the heavy-hitting numbers of teammates such as Matt Lloyd (16 home runs), Cole Barr (15 homers) and Matt Gorski (11 homers), but his ability and upside (see the three hits he had in consecutive games last weekend at Michigan, or the four he had Thursday against Rutgers) make him the newest clean-up hitter of choice for coach Jeff Mercer.

For this Dunham gives thanks.

"I love it that the coaches see me as a 4-hole guy. I like getting the most at bats I possibly can. "Wherever the team needs me, that's where I'll be."

The move has paid off. Dunham has gotten at least one hit in five of six games since regaining the clean-up spot against Kentucky, and in 10 of his last 11 overall. During Thursday night's 7-5 win over Rutgers at Bart Kaufman Field, he was 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles.

Why the surge after a mid-season slump? The quick answer, Dunham says, is "I've been trying to simplify my approach at the plate."

The longer answer starts with a recent team meeting when coaches stressed the importance of having quality at-bats all the time.

"The coaches want us to think about our approach when we get into the batter's box," Dunham says.

The bottom line message -- focus on hitting to the opposite gap. In the left-handed-hitting Dunham's case, that means trying to hit to left-center.

"It simplifies the game if I stay on pitches," he says. "For me to do that, I have to see the left-center gap. It's helped me get a pitch I can handle."

Dunham has handled it well enough to hit a team-leading .294 with seven home runs, 12 doubles and 25 runs batted in over 36 games. It would have been more, but an injury sidelined him for 16 games.

He's fully embraced Mercer's head-high, line-drive philosophy, which is exactly what it sounds like -- try to hit line drives about six feet off the ground in every at-bat.

"That's what we try to do each time we come to the plate," Dunham says. "We can't control the outcome. All we can control is what our intent is. Our intent every time is to hit a head-high line drive at our opposite gap. If we can do that, it gives us the best chance to succeed."

Success includes 85 team home runs.

"All the home runs we've been hitting isn't because we're trying to hit them," Dunham says. "We're trying to hit head-high line drives. The home runs happen because we barrel balls up because we're trying to hit line drives."

Dunham has a big advantage with Gorski (.284, 44 runs batted in) and Lloyd (.291, 54) hitting ahead of him, and Barr (.264, 44) behind him.

"It definitely has helped having some of the best hitters in the Big Ten around me," he says. "I can't complain there."

An injury sidelined Dunham early on. When he got healthy, he was put in the lineup as the No. 4 hitter before a slump knocked him to the fifth, sixth and seventh hitting spots.

All the while, he didn't get down or lose his focus, and the reward has come. His overall offensive improvement -- he hit .250 with six doubles, no home runs and eight runs batted in as a freshman -- starts, he says, from coaching belief. Mercer and his staff push a positive approach that's made a big difference.

"These coaches believe in me," Dunham says. "They've given me confidence. Yes, it's their coaching and approach, the head-high line drives, but for me, the biggest thing is the belief in me and in our players."

Belief includes defense. Dunham hasn't committed an error all season from his left field position. Last year he had four.

"The biggest thing for me in the outfield is I try to anticipate the play before it happens. That's a key. I envision myself making a play, either side to side or behind me. Where I need to throw the ball and where I need to be in every situation. I try to anticipate play before it happens.

"It also helps that I have Matthew Gorski in center. I don't have to cover the gap because you know he's getting to it."

Gorski is one of the Big Ten's top center fielders and a prime Major League draft prospect. He handles on-field communication when balls are hit in the gap.

"The center fielder is the head honcho out there," Dunham says, "so if he wants it, he gets it. I don't complain. If Matt wants it, he can have it."

Dunham arrived at IU with solid credentials. Before high school, he played on a Little League team that came within a game of advancing to the Little League World Series.

He was rated as the state of Indiana's No. 1 outfielder and No. 6 overall prospect at Evansville Reitz High School. As a senior he hit .386 with two home runs and 26 stolen bases.

Dunham bucked the growing trend of specialization. He's the only Reitz athlete to ever play on sectional championship teams in three different sports. He did it in football, basketball and baseball.

He was a two-time all-state football player as well as earning all-state baseball honors.

"I was very fortunate to play on a lot of good teams. We had a ton of good football, basketball and baseball players. It was a dream come true to be a part of so many good teams with a good group of guys who all had one common goal -- win. It helped me become the competitor I am."

Did Dunham's football success make him consider playing the sport in college? A younger brother, Isaiah, has committed to playing football at Yale.

The short answer -- not really.

"Ever since I was little I wanted to play baseball. Baseball is fun, I love hitting. Nothing is better than getting in the box and being able to barrel a baseball up.

"I thought about football a little bit, but it was like fantasy. It wasn't going to happen. My love for baseball was too much."

The No. 21 Hoosiers (34-19) are wrapping up regular season play with a three-game home series against Rutgers. Thursday night's win was a major bounce back effort from a pair of extra inning losses to No. 19 Michigan and No. 7 Louisville.

Tuesday's 12-inning 8-7 loss to Louisville was especially painful because of multiple defensive lapses that allowed the Cardinals to score the winning run.

"It was a bad loss," Dunham says." We gave that game away with how we went about our business, and how we didn't do the little things. It was hard to sleep. I kept replaying the game over and over – what could have gone right, what we should have done, what we did do. It was tough."

This weekend is rich in potential. IU is second in the Big Ten race with a 15-7 record. Michigan leads at 15-6 after losing to Nebraska Thursday night 5-2.

Dunham says the extra-inning defeats will provide motivation for the Rutgers series, and beyond.

"It's like Coach said, there are no moral victories, but we competed our butts off in those games. The one at Michigan was tough, but those things happen. The one (Tuesday night) we could have controlled it.

"It's motivated us to practice hard, get ready to go, and try to win a Big Ten title."

That could extend to next week's Big Ten tourney in Omaha, Nebraska, and then the NCAA tourney.

"We have to have energy and intent before each pitch, and know what we're going to do," Dunham says. "We're so talented, but to really succeed, we have to bring energy and the right intent every day."

Players Mentioned

Cole Barr

Elijah Dunham

Matt Gorski

Matt Lloyd

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