Indiana University Athletics
No Excuse – Youthful IU Baseball Team Has Big Goals
2/10/2020 10:12:00 AM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Country music plays against the crack of bat meeting ball. Bart Kaufman Field lights battle approaching dusk magnified by incoming rain.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer throws batting practice and balls shoot through the air and on the ground to waiting fielders.
Baseball season looms and the Hoosiers prepare to defend their Big Ten championship faced with plenty of questions. The quality of the answers will determine if this is a good or great season.
"This offseason has been tough," pitcher Gabe Bierman says. "It's been a grind. We're working every day."
Big pitching names are gone, title-winning expectations are not.
Where Pauly Milto, Andrew Saalfrank and Tanner Gordon once dominated the pitching rotation, guys such as Bierman, Tommy Sommer, Cal Krueger, Braydon Tucker and McCade Brown will get their shots.
Mercer wants them taking full advantage.
"No one will put an asterisk next to the game and say you played a bunch of freshmen and sophomores," he says. "No one will say you guys didn't have experience, so we'll spot you three runs. It doesn't work that way."
Competition will be fierce. So will Mercer's demands. This is, after all, a program that rates among America's best.
"If we give those guys an excuse," he says, "then they have one. So, they have none.
"No one feels sorry for you. No one will take it easy. We have to be ready to go from the beginning. That's where the environment, the expectation, the experience of winning and expecting success, carries you forward."
Even in these long-ball times -- and only one team in the nation went deep more often than Indiana did in 2019 with 95 home runs -- pitching rules. Mercer and his coaches must develop a solid staff -- mixing veterans with newcomers -- to sustain success.
"Several of those young guys (look promising)," Mercer says. "Tommy Sommer pitched big innings for us. Gabe has done a nice job. Braydon Tucker and McCade Brown have taken big steps.
"A couple of freshmen -- Nate Stahl and David Platt -- have done good jobs."
Adding to the intrigue is finding catchers to handle a young pitching staff.
With the departure of veteran catcher Ryan Fineman, Western Kentucky transfer Collin Hopkins and junior college transfer Hunter Combs are showing promise, as is freshman Brant Voth.
"They're doing a fine job," Mercer says. "Collin is catching well. We'll have (veteran infielder) Drew Ashley in there. He's doing a good job. Hunter and Brant have been good. They have to continue to learn and grow.
"Our pitching staff is young, but has really good stuff. It's all 90 to 94 mph with good sink and action. That's an adjustment for anybody. Those guys will continue to grow, learn and get used to playing at this speed."
As far as the upcoming season, IU's defending Big Ten champ status crashes against Michigan's national runner-up finish, and the promise of Ohio State and Minnesota.
Indiana's fourth-place Big Ten predictions motivate rather than deflate. The Hoosiers very much want a title repeat.
"We have a really competitive group," Mercer says. "They're also very aware. They're not blind to it. I try to get out of the way and let them do what they do.
"You feel you've earned the right to have confidence and belief. I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell them they shouldn't."
Mercer won a Big Ten title in his first season as Hoosier head coach, something that happens about as often as an Aaron Judge bunt. That would suggest added pressure for this season.
Not even close, Mercer insists.
"Last year was a lot of fun. We played well down the stretch and did some good things.
"But each year is a journey. I know it's a cliché, but it is. This will be its own team.
"The best laid plans often go awry. We have all these great plans, and I'm sure they'll go wrong. We'll have to figure it out along the way.
"It's great to work with a group of guys who have had success and who have an expectation of winning. Being able to build off that is a great challenge."
Building includes a rigorous, non-conference schedule designed to steel the Hoosiers for postseason pressure. Championship aspirations demand championship-caliber competition, regardless of youth and inexperience.
"We want to be the best team we can be the last month of the season," Mercer says. "That's the goal."
The Hoosiers will open this coming Friday at perennial national power LSU. It's the first of a three-game series. The Tigers, coming off a 40-26 season that ended in the super regional round, are ranked No. 11.
Indiana also will play No. 1 Louisville, No. 18 Mississippi, No. 19 East Carolina, Notre Dame and Kentucky in non-conference action.
IU's first home game is against Butler on Feb. 26. On March 4, it will host rival Purdue.
Through it all, the quest to match, if not surpass, last year's 37-23 record remains strong. Mercer will mix speed with his power approach.
"The only difference is your personnel, so you have to shape that style of play around them. We do have some better runners. Hopefully we can be more dynamic on the bases. Not become a full-fledged small-ball team, but incorporate those pieces when the game calls for it."
You don't need to hear bat hitting ball to understand that.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Country music plays against the crack of bat meeting ball. Bart Kaufman Field lights battle approaching dusk magnified by incoming rain.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer throws batting practice and balls shoot through the air and on the ground to waiting fielders.
Baseball season looms and the Hoosiers prepare to defend their Big Ten championship faced with plenty of questions. The quality of the answers will determine if this is a good or great season.
"This offseason has been tough," pitcher Gabe Bierman says. "It's been a grind. We're working every day."
Big pitching names are gone, title-winning expectations are not.
Where Pauly Milto, Andrew Saalfrank and Tanner Gordon once dominated the pitching rotation, guys such as Bierman, Tommy Sommer, Cal Krueger, Braydon Tucker and McCade Brown will get their shots.
Mercer wants them taking full advantage.
"No one will put an asterisk next to the game and say you played a bunch of freshmen and sophomores," he says. "No one will say you guys didn't have experience, so we'll spot you three runs. It doesn't work that way."
Competition will be fierce. So will Mercer's demands. This is, after all, a program that rates among America's best.
"If we give those guys an excuse," he says, "then they have one. So, they have none.
"No one feels sorry for you. No one will take it easy. We have to be ready to go from the beginning. That's where the environment, the expectation, the experience of winning and expecting success, carries you forward."
Even in these long-ball times -- and only one team in the nation went deep more often than Indiana did in 2019 with 95 home runs -- pitching rules. Mercer and his coaches must develop a solid staff -- mixing veterans with newcomers -- to sustain success.
"Several of those young guys (look promising)," Mercer says. "Tommy Sommer pitched big innings for us. Gabe has done a nice job. Braydon Tucker and McCade Brown have taken big steps.
"A couple of freshmen -- Nate Stahl and David Platt -- have done good jobs."
Adding to the intrigue is finding catchers to handle a young pitching staff.
With the departure of veteran catcher Ryan Fineman, Western Kentucky transfer Collin Hopkins and junior college transfer Hunter Combs are showing promise, as is freshman Brant Voth.
"They're doing a fine job," Mercer says. "Collin is catching well. We'll have (veteran infielder) Drew Ashley in there. He's doing a good job. Hunter and Brant have been good. They have to continue to learn and grow.
"Our pitching staff is young, but has really good stuff. It's all 90 to 94 mph with good sink and action. That's an adjustment for anybody. Those guys will continue to grow, learn and get used to playing at this speed."
As far as the upcoming season, IU's defending Big Ten champ status crashes against Michigan's national runner-up finish, and the promise of Ohio State and Minnesota.
Indiana's fourth-place Big Ten predictions motivate rather than deflate. The Hoosiers very much want a title repeat.
"We have a really competitive group," Mercer says. "They're also very aware. They're not blind to it. I try to get out of the way and let them do what they do.
"You feel you've earned the right to have confidence and belief. I'm certainly not going to be the one to tell them they shouldn't."
Mercer won a Big Ten title in his first season as Hoosier head coach, something that happens about as often as an Aaron Judge bunt. That would suggest added pressure for this season.
Not even close, Mercer insists.
"Last year was a lot of fun. We played well down the stretch and did some good things.
"But each year is a journey. I know it's a cliché, but it is. This will be its own team.
"The best laid plans often go awry. We have all these great plans, and I'm sure they'll go wrong. We'll have to figure it out along the way.
"It's great to work with a group of guys who have had success and who have an expectation of winning. Being able to build off that is a great challenge."
Building includes a rigorous, non-conference schedule designed to steel the Hoosiers for postseason pressure. Championship aspirations demand championship-caliber competition, regardless of youth and inexperience.
"We want to be the best team we can be the last month of the season," Mercer says. "That's the goal."
The Hoosiers will open this coming Friday at perennial national power LSU. It's the first of a three-game series. The Tigers, coming off a 40-26 season that ended in the super regional round, are ranked No. 11.
Indiana also will play No. 1 Louisville, No. 18 Mississippi, No. 19 East Carolina, Notre Dame and Kentucky in non-conference action.
IU's first home game is against Butler on Feb. 26. On March 4, it will host rival Purdue.
Through it all, the quest to match, if not surpass, last year's 37-23 record remains strong. Mercer will mix speed with his power approach.
"The only difference is your personnel, so you have to shape that style of play around them. We do have some better runners. Hopefully we can be more dynamic on the bases. Not become a full-fledged small-ball team, but incorporate those pieces when the game calls for it."
You don't need to hear bat hitting ball to understand that.
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