Joey DeNato is 8-1 with a 2.12 ERA this season for the Hoosiers.
Indiana is finally looking like the team it was expected to be.
Coming off its first College World Series appearance, the Hoosiers were ranked as high as No. 3 in the preseason. But they started 12-10 and had two pitchers go out with season-ending injuries.
With a month left in the regular season, the Hoosiers (25-11, 11-1) have won 13 of 14 and lead the Big Ten by two games over an Illinois team they'll face this weekend on the road.
"We weren't winning," coach Tracy Smith said, "so the rough start is defined by the wins and losses. But I felt good about the way we were playing. We hit the ball but weren't getting hits. Our pitching was solid and our defense was solid."
Dustin DeMuth, Sam Travis and Kyle Schwarber are the big bats, as expected, and the Hoosiers' 25 home runs lead the Big Ten. But they're not the same as they were offensively a year ago. They're batting .279, 23 points below their 2013 average, and scoring 5.5 runs a game compared with 6.7.
Indiana has been winning with strong defense and a pitching staff that has had to adjust to the loss of weekend starter Kyle Hart and closer Ryan Halstead. The Hoosiers have allowed just two runs their past 41 innings.
Left-hander Joey DeNato (8-1, 2.12 ERA) has been a rock on Fridays, and Christian Morris (2-2, 2.49) has been solid in place of Hart on Saturdays. Will Coursen-Carr was outstanding as a freshman, but he's struggled. Enter senior lefty Brian Korte, who made his first Big Ten start since 2011 on Sunday and gave up one run in 6.1 innings against Michigan State.
Scott Efross, Luke Harrison, Thomas Belcher and Jake Kelzer have anchored the bullpen.
"We know they're good, we've seen them in practice," Smith said of redshirt freshmen Belcher and Kelzer. "The only thing missing was game time. I'm not surprised by results of some of the guys who have been getting the ball."
A look around the country:
TITAN TROUBLES: Cal State Fullerton placed coach Rick Vanderhook on paid leave last week. The school said in a statement "the university has received allegations that it is obligated to review." The preseason No. 1 team in two major polls, the Titans are 18-16 overall and 3-6 in the Big West after getting swept by Cal Poly. Assistants Mike Kirby and Jason Dietrich are serving as co-coaches.
LONGHORNS LASSOED: TCU swept Texas for the first time since 1994, allowing one run in three games against a team that had gone into the weekend with wins in 15 of 17 games. Texas dropped from first to third in the Big 12, two games behind Oklahoma State and one behind TCU. The Longhorns host OSU this week.
MARTIN MILESTONE: Florida State's Mike Martin became the third coach in Division I history with 1,800 wins, joining Texas' Augie Garrido and former Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson. Martin reached the milestone with Saturday's 4-3, 13-inning win against Wake Forest.
TROJANS FINALLY SWEEP: Southern California won three in a row against Arizona for its first conference sweep since 2009. The Trojans (20-17, 9-9), who've had four consecutive losing seasons, have won five in a row and are sixth in the Pac-12.
GATORS BOUNCEBACK CONTINUES: Florida's under-.500 season in 2013 sure looks like an aberration now. The SEC East-leading Gators (27-13, 12-6) swept Georgia for the first time since 2010 and have won six in a row. They've won 11 games in come-from-behind fashion.
FALCONS FLYING HIGH: Air Force has won five in a row — its longest streak since 2002 — and eight of its past nine. When the Falcons (14-25, 5-13 Mountain West) won three in a row against a UNLV team rated as high as No. 20, it marked their first sweep against a nationally ranked opponent and their first against the Rebels since 1970.
