IU Opens Big Ten Tournament Play With Familiar Venue, Opponent
IU head coach Chris Lemonis had the chance to host numerous conference tournaments while playing for The Citadel.
Having the opportunity to play at home in conference postseason play can be enjoyable, but there’s a catch.
“It’s a lot fun, if you’re playing well,” Lemonis said. “That’s my advice to our guys. The fans are behind you and you’re playing well, it is a comfort to you but you’ve got to get out there and there’s expectations and everything else.”
The sixth-seeded Hoosiers begin Big Ten Tournament play against third-seeded Minnesota Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET at Bart Kaufman Field. For the Hoosiers, much like the host site, there’s also a sense of familiarity with the Gophers.
Both programs faced off in mid-April, with Indiana getting shutout 11-0 in Game 1 then rebounding from the loss to take the next two games and clinch the series.
Lemonis and Minnesota head coach John Anderson both distinctly remember that spring weekend.
“It was a crazy series,” Lemonis said. “Some big offensive games. We got thumped Friday night, but I give our kids a lot of credit for persevering. That was the biggest piece of our season. Bouncing back was a big part of it for us.”
“It was an outstanding, very competitive series,” Anderson said. “I think we’ll find the same tomorrow, a very competitive game. They have an outstanding team, and we feel like we’ll show up here and compete and see what happens by Wednesday morning. This a great opportunity and a very big challenge for us.”
Anderson will start junior left-hander Lucas Gilbreath tomorrow, while Lemonis will send out sophomore righty Jonathan Stiever.
Gilbreath was the same starting pitcher IU faced, while Stiever was also the Hoosiers’ starting pitcher in Game 1 of the April series.
Regarding Gilbreath, IU junior outfielder Logan Sowers views going up against the same pitcher twice as valuable from a preparation standpoint.
“You can always take things away,” Sowers said. “The way he pitched certain guys, and we keep all those kind of stats, what pitches he threw in certain counts, just everything we can learn from the first time facing him.”
There should be plenty for the Hoosiers to study. Gilbreath pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, two hits and one walk in the win.
On the other stand, it was a game Stiever wanted to put behind as quickly as possible with 13 hits and seven earned runs surrendered in a 4 1/3 inning outing.
“Personally, it was probably one of my rougher starts against them,” Stiever said. “But I got a little bit more familiar with how to attack them because we had a lot of success (the rest of the weekend), especially in the Sunday game, so hopefully I can use some of the tactics from that game and carry it over into my personal start. I’m feeling pretty good with the way we’re playing, so we should have a good game tomorrow.”
The stadium will be the same, the starting pitching will be the same, but there will be a slight difference tomorrow.
Indiana will wear its gray road uniforms and use what’s typically the visitor’s dugout instead of their regular one by the third base line.
Regardless of the stadium or setup, in the end it comes down to one thing according to Lemonis: Indiana’s performance.
“There’s things you overcome, but for our guys it’s about playing good baseball,” Lemonis said. “I don’t know if the venue’s going to change our results as much as how we play the game.”