Indiana University's Club Baseball Program began the 2022-2023 season with a vision to increase and grow the game of baseball to continue to allow more kids to play baseball in college. This led to the creation of IU's second club baseball team: IU Club Baseball DII. With two teams, the IU Club Baseball Program was able to provide playing time, practices, travel weekends, and competitive club involvement to 50 students, nearly doubling the previous club capacity.
The two club baseball teams opened their season in the Charleston Invitational Tournament, playing three pool play games each. The Division I team went 2-1 with victories over West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. The Division II team went 2-1 with victories over Bloomsburg and Miami of Ohio and qualified for bracket play but did not advance.
On October 8th, 2023, IU Football hosted Michigan and IU Club Baseball's Program hosted Michigan Flint and Michigan for doubleheaders. The Division I team went 1-1 against Michigan and the Division II team went 0-2 against Michigan Flint.
IU Club Baseball went to Nashville for Fall Break to play Western Michigan at Rose Park, home of Belmont Baseball. The Division I and Division II team beat WMU and then played a friendly scrimmage against each other.
The next weekend, the Division I team traveled to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for a conference series and went 1-2 on the weekend, losing 1-2 and 3-6, while winning 1-0. Two weeks later, the Division I team hosted Illinois State for a conference series and went 1-2 on the weekend, losing 1-4 and 3-6, while winning 10-5. This concluded the Fall Season for the Club Baseball Program.
To start the spring, the Division II team hosted Xavier for a conference series and went 1-2 on the weekend, winning 2-1 and losing 4-5 and 1-3. The next weekend the Division II team hosted Eastern Kentucky for a conference series, going 3-0 on the weekend winning 2-1, 5-2, and 9-5. The next weekend the Division II team hosted Michigan State while they were on their way down to NCBA's Swing Into Spring. The Division II team went 0-3 on the weekend.
IU Club Baseball's Division I team participated in NCBA's Swing into Spring in Panama City Beach, Florida. The Division I team went 4-1, beating Chattanooga, Tennessee, Marquette, and Eastern Kentucky, and dropped a game to Ohio State Division I.
The next weekend, the Division I team hosted Ball State for a conference series and went 3-0 on the weekend, winning 9-3, 8-1, and 12-2. The Division II team traveled to Akron for a conference series and went 0-3, losing 2-4, 4-5, and 1-15.
Two weeks later, the Division I team traveled to play Purdue and went 2-1 on the weekend, losing 3-4, and winning 15-0 and 6-3. A week after, the Division II team finished their season at home for a conference series against Ohio State Division II, going 0-3 on the weekend. They lost 0-6, 1-8, and 3-9.
A week later, the Division I team hosted Notre Dame for a conference series with a trip to Regionals on the line. They went 1-2 on the weekend, winning 7-4 and losing 3-6 and 3-5. Both the Division I and Division II team did not advance to Regionals.
The Division I team finished 16-10 on the year, going 8-7 in conference and finishing in 3rd place of the conference. The team awards were voted on by players on the team. Matthew Fried was voted MVP for his pitching, batting, and fielding efforts. The MVPitcher was Logan "Jesus" Banks. The Teammate of the Year was Preston Sepe, who unofficially never missed a practice or event.
The Division II team finished 7-15 on the year, going 4-8 in conference. The team awards were voted on by players on the team. The MVP was Scooter Beverly for his batting and fielding efforts. The MVPitcher was James Vogt who worked from RP1 to SP2. The Teammate of the Year was Yusuf "Yus" Meghji, who invented the RF Yus Shift.
IU Club Baseball is grateful for the long time contributions from our 4 graduating seniors; James Vogt, Matthew Fried, Spencer Puett, and Yusuf Meghji. We are especially grateful for our team photographer, media maker, and social media editor, Giselle Marsteller (@marstellermedia on instagram) for capturing smiles, big moments, and memories for our 50 members. We also want to give a special shoutout to Bloomington North Baseball for their amazing host site, hospitality, and flexibility.
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