Bloomington Region 2014 Baseball World Series Breakdown
#4 Indiana, Indiana State, Stanford, Youngstown State
Fresh off a trip to the College World Series last season, Indiana is looking to improve on last year’s success. The Hoosiers are the number four overall seed and they feature a potent lineup that includes the Big Ten Player of the Year, Sam Travis, a potential first round pick, Kyle Schwarber, and an eighth round draft pick from last year’s draft, Dustin DeMuth. Travis leads the team in RBI’s, with 53, Schwarber leads in home runs, 12, and DeMuth leads in batting average, .381. All three are hitting at least .340. What makes the lineup even more dangerous is that the three hitters who follow them in the lineup are hitting over .300, led by Scott Donley, who is second on the team in RBI’s with 45. On the mound, Joey DeNato is the team’s ace, posting a 12-1 record and a 1.77 ERA this season. Christian Morris has emerged as a solid number two, going 6-3 with a 1.82 ERA. As a team, the Hoosier are fifth in the country in team ERA and they rank in the top 20 in home runs per game and slugging percentage. This team has the talent to make it back to Omaha and maybe even win the whole thing.
Indiana State, Stanford and Youngstown State will be the teams trying to knock off Indiana. Making its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three seasons after not making it to a regional since 1995, Indiana State is looking to improve on their 2012 success. The Sycamores are a balanced team, as nobody’s numbers jump off the page. Six different Sycamores have driven in over 20 runs and the top seven hitters have at least a .274 batting average, but no player is hitting over .305 or has driven in more than 35 runs. The same goes for the starting pitchers, as the top three have records of 7-4, 6-3 and 6-4, and have ERA’s in the similar range from 2.96 to 4.14. Ryan Keaffaber has done well as their closer though, saving 11 games. Stanford will bank on their team .977 fielding percentage behind their pitchers. The Cardinal rely on their top two starters, junior John Hochstatter, 10-1 with a 2.62 ERA, and freshman Cal Quantril, 5-5 with a 2.92 ERA, and will need big starts out of both. Alex Blandino, who leads the team in home runs, 11, and RBI’s, 36, will also need to have a big weekend. Youngstown State snuck into the field after winning the Horizon League Tournament, despite their 16-36 record. They will need some more magic to happen if they’re going to compete in this regional.
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