Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: Indiana Poised For Big Baseball Finish
4/23/2021 7:22:00 AM | Baseball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Don't tell Jeff Mercer what Indiana can't do. The third-year baseball coach is all about possibilities. He recruited these Hoosiers, worked them, pushed them, demanded of them.
The 15-8 record and four wins in five games, putting them within range of surging Nebraska (18-6) and Michigan (17-6) in the Big Ten race, suggests they are poised for a closing run that might deliver the conference championship they were favored to win before the season began.
"I have great confidence in this team," Mercer says, "and I have from the very beginning.
"Even on the bad weekends when we don't play great, I believe our best baseball is still ahead of us. I can't be convinced otherwise."
The pandemic altered everything and altered nothing.
"Hey listen, I got COVID, the coaching staff got COVID, it's been a crazy year and there's a lot of moving pieces,'' Mercer says.
"But at a certain point, it's time to grow up, and toughen up, and play better baseball across the board. We're doing those things, and we need to do them this weekend, too."
Minnesota comes to Bart Kaufman Field with a 4-20 record, a seven-game losing streak and a Big Ten-worst 7.93 team earned run average.
The opportunity for a sweep is there, but that's true for every series. Mercer talks about everyone wanting to win, "One game at a time and one pitch at a time."
"We all have our coach-talk monikers and slogans. We need to play well, mostly because it's time to play well. It's time to grow up and become the team we envisioned ourselves being."
That would be Big Ten champion, a title the Hoosiers last won in 2019 during Mercer's debut season.
More and more, they play like champions. Their 4-0 series-clinching win at Northwestern last Sunday featured a two-hit shutout by three pitchers (Gabe Bierman, Ty Bothwell and Matt Litwicki) and a no-pinch-hitter lineup that kept designated hitter Tyler Van Pelt in for the entire game.
Van Pelt hits .208 hitter for the season, and didn't get a hit on Sunday, but he did drive in a run. He had four hits and three runs batted in over the series' first two games, which is why Mercer didn't replace him.
"We liked Tyler in the matchup. He had played so well. It's hard to take a guy out of the lineup who had been so productive. We need that from the DH spot. He will put the ball in play and he gets down the line well. It allows you to put pressure on defense."
Mercer and his staff are building for a big finish. They have bounced back from a mid-season, five-game losing streak that put title prospects in doubt. They have dominating pitching (a conference-leading 2.77 earned run average and a .181 opponent batting average) and, more and more, timely hitting (highlighted by Cole Barr's team-leading .325 average, four home runs and runs batted in).
The season began with veteran talent mixed with youth. Putting it all together, especially under pandemic conditions that limited fall and winter preparation, generated challenges. Still, struggles come every season the best teams overcome with work and resolve. You try different lineups and players, searching for the right combination.
"You don't know what you have," Mercer says. "You work guys in and see who grows up. You'd like to have a consistent lineup, but the competition keeps everybody on their toes. You show up every day or somebody will take your job. That's how the world works. It's good for them to feel that pressure, but they also know if they do their jobs, they'll be in the lineup consistently."
Ultimately, that's what Mercer wants, to know what he will get each game from each player.
"It's always been the plan to find consistency. You might move a guy up or down the lineup, but nobody likes to play the guessing game. Guys who have a chance to help us win need to play."
Winning two of three at Northwestern last weekend was a big boost.
"Northwestern has one of the better offenses you're going to see, certainly in our conference," Mercer says. "To go up there and pitch well was big for us. We played solid across the board. Some of the young guys continue to grow and perform at a high level."
Now comes the Minnesota opportunity. The chance of bad weather on Saturday caused a schedule adjustment. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday and the finale on Sunday.
"This is a big week, but they're all big now," Mercer says. "We're past the halfway point (of the season). There are a lot of moving pieces. It's time to toughen up. We're doing that.
"I have great confidence in this team. I still believe our best baseball is ahead of us. We have to show up every day. I will coach them as hard as I can.
"At this point, there are not that many options. If you want to be good, go and do it.
"It's time to do it."
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