TERRE HAUTE — The words “indoor baseball practice” and “snow postponement” are still new to the vocabulary of Indiana State baseball coach Lindsay Meggs.
Sunday’s game was originally to be a doubleheader but the Saturday night snow made Sycamore Field tough for groundskeepers to have ready for two games. ISU will try to play two today instead.
Meggs’ former team, Chico State, was a Division II national power playing in Chico, Calif., which gets pretty heavy rain during February — similar to Indiana in late April. Like ISU traveling south to start the season, Chico State avoided that wet winter weather by taking off across the Pacific Ocean to open the 2007 season in Honolulu.
ISU opened its season Feb. 23 at Georgia State in 60-degree weather, but Sunday’s home opener at Sycamore Field featured temperatures at or below freezing. The new ISU skipper credited his players for not complaining about the weather as the Sycamores opened the home schedule with a 6-2 win against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
The sub 30-degree temperatures are new to the lifelong California resident.
“How old am I, 44? It’s been 44 years since I’ve done [coached in freezing weather]. This is a first for me,” Meggs said after suggesting the interview continue in what was left of the sunlight.
Unpredictable spring weather in Indiana will be sure to impede ISU’s routine as the season goes along. In Meggs’ past, there’s hardly been a need for weathermen as spring progresses in California. Getting to know Kevin Orpurt will be a must.
A standout player at UCLA in the early 1980s, Meggs’ has full support of ISU director of athletics Ron Prettyman.
The ISU program had been competitive but not competitive enough in recent years. Bob Warn brought quality baseball players to Terre Haute throughout his long career, but a Missouri Valley Conference championship has been lacking since 1995. Even the Chicago Cubs have been to the playoffs twice since then.
A team full of Midwestern guys is adapting well to their new coach from the West coast. Sunday’s winning pitcher Ryan Hayes said it’s great to have a new guy come in and have a fresh start from the recent seasons’ struggles.
“We’re not expected to do a whole lot this year, but coach Meggs has kind of changed the attitude around here a little bit,” Hayes said. “Everybody’s having a lot more fun.
“It’s like a new life breathed into the program. It’s not necessarily that it was so down last year or anything, it’s just a different routine. Everybody’s getting into a different swing of things.”
One big change at Sycamore Field is the players have a lockerroom right next to the field rather than having to drive back to campus after practice or a game. New ISU facilities director Tim Troville helped turn the old concession stand into a small makeshift clubhouse.
The Sycamores are sporting new uniforms with a retro feel. The new lockerroom means the team is using the first-base dugout.
For 31 years, you could count on seeing Warn down the third-base line when the Sycamores were at the plate. Meggs prefers to be in the dugout.
Meggs made his first excursion from the dugout to argue a call on a bang-bang play at first base that had Chris Schmidt out on a sacrifice bunt.
“Everything for us is such a first time thing,” Meggs said. “New coaching staff ... first game at home for these guys, a lot of these guys .... first at-bat at home for a lot of these guys. It will be nice to get all that stuff out of the way and concentrate on the games.”
With all the recent trials and travails of the ISU men’s team sports, a championship-caliber baseball team would be a welcome respite.
Craig Pearson can be reached by email at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4356.
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