Omaha Report: DeNato shines, Hoosiers prepare for Miss. St.
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
A dominant pitching performance allowed Indiana to overcome an off-night by their hitters, and the Hoosiers beat Louisville 2-0 on Saturday night in the College World Series. Josie Janavicius, who regularly covers Hoosiers baseball for IU Student Television, checks in with us from Omaha, Neb., where Indiana is set to face Mississippi State on Monday at 8 p.m. She answers our Five Questions below, looking back at a memorable CWS debut and also eyeing the road ahead.
1. How great was Joey DeNato on Saturday? 
The Hoosiers got what they hoped for and more out of DeNato against Louisville. Games like this are why Tracy Smith recruited him in the first place. Smith told the story in practice Sunday about how he told Joey he was coming out to see him back when he was in high school but if he wanted to get an offer he had to throw more strikes; DeNato went on to punch out 14 that night. Smith said last night was reminiscent of that. This was the best game I have personally seen out of DeNato. He is always solid, but last night he was the star.
2. What were your impressions of being in Omaha on a CWS game day? How well did the Hoosiers faithful travel?
Omaha is incredible. It has to be one of the friendliest cities in America. I highly recommend making the trip out. After just one day, I plan on coming back. The city really embraces the CWS and could not be prouder to be its home. I got to the stadium kind of early on Saturday so there weren’t as many IU fans out at that time. There was a good showing of them in the crowd, though. What was surprising to me was how many people come without a rooting interest. They come for the atmosphere and pick a team to root for as they go along – mostly these people are locals – but college baseball fans come from all over.
3. How does DeNato going all nine innings set up Indiana’s pitching moving forward?
DeNato’s complete game helps out a lot. Smith said after the game that he was prepared to put in Aaron Slegers, Kyle Hart or Will Coursen-Carr if needed. Obviously, he did not have to do that, so he has the same game plan for Mississippi State. As of Sunday morning, a starter had not been named, but Smith does have the luxury of a day off to find the best left and right matchups. DeNato was iced up in the press conference after the Louisville game, and did not practice Sunday, so I have to think it’ll be a couple games before he’ll pitch again. Smith will at least go through Slegars, Hart and Coursen-Carr before he puts DeNato in again for significant innings. Hart has not pitched since the Big Ten tournament so he is by far the most rested of the starters.
4. What are the strengths of IU’s next opponent, the Bulldogs?
Mississippi State plays in one of the most competitive conferences in college baseball, the Southeastern Conference, so they are battle-tested pretty much every series and are used to the large stage that is the College World Series. They also have an opening day victory over Oregon State, the champion of the Pac-12, another conference that has two teams in the CWS. Mississippi State has strong relievers and is not afraid to use them. Also, look out for the right fielder, Hunter Renfroe, who was a first-round MLB pick of the San Diego Padres.
5. Potentially, Aaron Slegers – himself a draft choice in the fifth round by Minnesota – gets the start Monday night. What’s he like?
Slegers, in my opinion, is the best pitcher Indiana has. Very deserving of the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award he received. He did not have a strong game in the Tallahassee regional, but that was very unlike him. Slegers is a commanding force on the mound, and that is not just because of his 6-foot-10 stature. He will set the tone early. Slegers also usually has longer outings, going about six innings on average, something that is helpful if Indiana’s run continues.
