IU Opens Baseball Season at No. 11 LSU
2/12/2020 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana isn't backing off.
The Hoosiers, the defending Big Ten baseball champions, have plenty of aspirations.
Playing non-conference pushovers has no place in achieving them.
Case in point -- they will open the season with a three-game series at No. 11 LSU, starting on Friday.
Is it big?
You bet.
Is it too big for a young team?
Not even close.
"We're treating it like any other opponent," sophomore pitcher Gabe Bierman says.
LSU rates among the nation's baseball superpowers. Its six national titles are second all-time. Its 17 College World Series appearances rank seventh.
The Tigers were the 2017 national runner-ups.
Last year, they won 40 games and reached the Super Regional round.
IU coach Jeff Mercer wants a fully-tested team, which means facing big-time competition.
There's no reason to wait.
"That's the reason you do it," he says. "Whether we open 6-0 or 0-6, they won't give us a national championship, and they won't cancel the season. We still have to play the rest of the games.
"Putting (IU) in big environments helps them, because that's what you want them to do late in the season. You want to be the best team you can be in the last month. Being in big environments and playing pressure-packed baseball helps shape the character of your team."
LSU is part of a non-conference scheduling juggernaut. It also includes No. 1 Louisville, No. 18 Mississippi, No. 19 East Carolina, Notre Dame, Kentucky and more.
It comes even as Indiana has to develop a new starting pitching rotation.
"As a coaching staff, you want to know where your weaknesses are," Mercer says. "We've made great plans. We'll think we've got it figured out, and then you get out there and realize you're not as good as you thought you were. You have to improve there. You're better in this area.
"You have to learn and grow."
IU's growth this weekend will come against a trio of LSU sophomore starting pitchers -- Cole Henry on Friday, Landon Marceaux on Saturday and AJ Labas on Sunday.
Henry, a preseason All-America, was 4-2 last year with a 3.39 earned run average. He struck out 72 and walked 18.
Marceaux went 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his last five starts last season. Labas was 6-2 with 3.48 ERA as a freshman. Shoulder surgery sidelined him all of last season.
To say the Hoosiers will be pumped is an understatement.
"Any time it's opening day," Mercer says, "it's an exciting day. Any time after being off for eight months, there's an excitement."
While IU will be led by key veterans such as Elijah Dunham (.310, eight home runs, 29 runs batted in last season), Cole Barr (.255, 17. 51), Grant Richardson (.264, 37 RBI), Drew Ashley (.284, 32 RBI) and Tyler Van Pelt (.320), freshmen will likely make significant impacts. Mercer and his staff won't coach them like newcomers.
"The fall is hard for everybody," Mercer says. "The transition (from high school) is difficult. We give them a free pass in the fall. When you get to the Christmas break, you've been here. You know the expectations. You're not a freshman anymore. Now it's time to follow the plan, execute the plan.
"After Christmas break, guys go one way or the other. They either learn and adjust, or they don't, and continue to struggle.
"I've seen good growth from a lot of those guys."
Veteran leadership has helped.
"Our upperclassmen understand the expectations," Mercer says, "but they also understand what it's like to be the new guy. It's not a divided locker room where we don't need those (freshmen). No, we do need them. They have to be productive. Our upperclassmen have done a good job of facilitating growth."
Growth will come easier without major injuries.
How likely is that?
Mercer won't count on it.
"They happen, so you'd better have contingency plans," he says.
"Every team I've been on, the starting nine were almost never the nine who finished.
"Every day you come in and reevaluate and make the decision that gives us a chance to win today. When you go through your work, there's an expectation that you continue to improve."
Win or lose this weekend, the improvement will continue.
"Every year you think, where will we get this production," Mercer says, and that's where you feel the work you do every day comes in.
"You coach all your players, all the time, like they will be a starter. Someone will blossom before your eyes.
"You have to rely on your process."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana isn't backing off.
The Hoosiers, the defending Big Ten baseball champions, have plenty of aspirations.
Playing non-conference pushovers has no place in achieving them.
Case in point -- they will open the season with a three-game series at No. 11 LSU, starting on Friday.
Is it big?
You bet.
Is it too big for a young team?
Not even close.
"We're treating it like any other opponent," sophomore pitcher Gabe Bierman says.
LSU rates among the nation's baseball superpowers. Its six national titles are second all-time. Its 17 College World Series appearances rank seventh.
The Tigers were the 2017 national runner-ups.
Last year, they won 40 games and reached the Super Regional round.
IU coach Jeff Mercer wants a fully-tested team, which means facing big-time competition.
There's no reason to wait.
"That's the reason you do it," he says. "Whether we open 6-0 or 0-6, they won't give us a national championship, and they won't cancel the season. We still have to play the rest of the games.
"Putting (IU) in big environments helps them, because that's what you want them to do late in the season. You want to be the best team you can be in the last month. Being in big environments and playing pressure-packed baseball helps shape the character of your team."
LSU is part of a non-conference scheduling juggernaut. It also includes No. 1 Louisville, No. 18 Mississippi, No. 19 East Carolina, Notre Dame, Kentucky and more.
It comes even as Indiana has to develop a new starting pitching rotation.
"As a coaching staff, you want to know where your weaknesses are," Mercer says. "We've made great plans. We'll think we've got it figured out, and then you get out there and realize you're not as good as you thought you were. You have to improve there. You're better in this area.
"You have to learn and grow."
IU's growth this weekend will come against a trio of LSU sophomore starting pitchers -- Cole Henry on Friday, Landon Marceaux on Saturday and AJ Labas on Sunday.
Henry, a preseason All-America, was 4-2 last year with a 3.39 earned run average. He struck out 72 and walked 18.
Marceaux went 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his last five starts last season. Labas was 6-2 with 3.48 ERA as a freshman. Shoulder surgery sidelined him all of last season.
To say the Hoosiers will be pumped is an understatement.
"Any time it's opening day," Mercer says, "it's an exciting day. Any time after being off for eight months, there's an excitement."
While IU will be led by key veterans such as Elijah Dunham (.310, eight home runs, 29 runs batted in last season), Cole Barr (.255, 17. 51), Grant Richardson (.264, 37 RBI), Drew Ashley (.284, 32 RBI) and Tyler Van Pelt (.320), freshmen will likely make significant impacts. Mercer and his staff won't coach them like newcomers.
"The fall is hard for everybody," Mercer says. "The transition (from high school) is difficult. We give them a free pass in the fall. When you get to the Christmas break, you've been here. You know the expectations. You're not a freshman anymore. Now it's time to follow the plan, execute the plan.
"After Christmas break, guys go one way or the other. They either learn and adjust, or they don't, and continue to struggle.
"I've seen good growth from a lot of those guys."
Veteran leadership has helped.
"Our upperclassmen understand the expectations," Mercer says, "but they also understand what it's like to be the new guy. It's not a divided locker room where we don't need those (freshmen). No, we do need them. They have to be productive. Our upperclassmen have done a good job of facilitating growth."
Growth will come easier without major injuries.
How likely is that?
Mercer won't count on it.
"They happen, so you'd better have contingency plans," he says.
"Every team I've been on, the starting nine were almost never the nine who finished.
"Every day you come in and reevaluate and make the decision that gives us a chance to win today. When you go through your work, there's an expectation that you continue to improve."
Win or lose this weekend, the improvement will continue.
"Every year you think, where will we get this production," Mercer says, and that's where you feel the work you do every day comes in.
"You coach all your players, all the time, like they will be a starter. Someone will blossom before your eyes.
"You have to rely on your process."
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