Baseball Spring Trip Wrap Up

Last time we checked in on the Hoosier baseball team we saw a team sitting even at 4-4. Now that the spring trip is over our Hoosiers are still, well, yeah, they're still at .500, with a record of 8-8. It must be said though that a) The Hoosier baseball team took on #2 ranked Florida State and b) They were playing against Florida teams in general, which are basically quality ballplayer factories, so coming out even is actually fairly respectable.

Versus Florida State the Hoosiers were clearly over matched, losing all three games by a combined score of 23-2 (including 2 shutouts). There weren't any real standouts on offense, with Reid Briglia leading the Hoosiers with four hits in the three game series. Defend The Rock favorite Evan Crawford finally met a pitching staff he couldn't destroy, totaling two hits for the series with eight strike outs, but the kid can still hit. The pitching well, let's not go there.

The Hoosiers earned a split (any surprise there?) with North Florida, losing a 16-inning killer and eeking out a win in the second game. Both games were complete slugfests with opposing pitchers leaving early and often. The Hoosiers used 10 pitchers in the two game series, with North Florida employed the services of 11 hurlers, yet it seemed nobody for either side could get an out. Andrew Means stood out in this series, and got recognized for it, earning a Big Ten Player of the Week award. Evan Crawford had a couple hits and three steals in one game.

Lastly, the Hoosiers swept a three game series with Florida A&M, putting up scores of 10-2, 5-3, and 16-10. In the first game David Trager, playing Second Base in place of Evan Crawford had five hits and three RBI. Tyler Tuffs tossed another good game and the Hoosiers got a convincing win. In the second and third games (doubleheader) Andrew Means continued to mash, and catcher Jon Fixler had six RBI.

Overall it looks like the Hoosiers aren't going to have any trouble with offense this season when pitted against decent or worse pitching staffs, but if and when they face good pitching, well, as the axiom goes - good pitching beats good hitting. Speaking of pitching, the Jekyll and Hyde show continues, so we'll see how it develops as the season goes on. It's tough to really gauge things when the Hoosiers went up against such a good team as the Seminoles (and admittedly didn't hold their ground).

I'll have statistics for you soon, but this post has already gone on for far too long. Next up: IPFW (3 games) and Xavier (1 game) then Conference play begins.

Memorial Stadium Back In The Day

Many thanks to Defend The Rock reader Paul for sending us this great picture of Memorial Stadium. The photo was taken prior to October 1960, and is credited to Bloomingtonian Junior Freeman.

Thanks again Paul (and thanks to Junior too!) from all of us at Defend The Rock!

Right-click here to download the full sized picture (perfect for a desktop background!)

Blake Powers throws really well on the run according to the 3rd string ESPN+ color analyst

I'd like to spend some time with some final thoughts on the basketball team this year. But, not today.

I wanted to post a few notes on the football team.

First of all, Coach Hep will be sitting out the entire spring session of practice to focus on his health. This worries me. I hope that his health truly is getting better. I also hope that Bill Lynch, the assistant coach who is leading the team will do a better job than last year when he lead the team to an 02 record against Western Vermont Tech and Klondike Middle School Nuggets or whoever it was they lost to last year. If IU had won just one of those games, Kellen and I could have had a blast watching IU get thrashed by North Texas in the Music City Bowl.

Secondly, Blake Powers will be getting some play at tight end and on Special Teams. Watch out! I smell trick plays coming out of the wazoo. Perhaps Blake will be the next Randle El. Remember how well things went when Randle El started his senior season at wide receiver? That lasted all of two games. What a sweet sophomore year I had that year. I made it to all of the games, but it was hard because I was copulating with co-eds from Theta on my way to and from Collins.

And last but not least, IU's pass defense will be even worse than last year.