After a pitcher’s duel on Friday night that saw 54 outs recorded without scoring after Indiana hung the lone run of the game on the second pitch, the Hoosier offense exploded on Saturday for a 12-9 win.
The clubs matched each other step-for-step in the first two innings Saturday, as neither team could register a hit in the first and both scored two runs on four hits in the second. But the Hoosiers pulled away in the Top of the 3rd when Luke Miller and Matt Lloyd went back-to-back with solo shots to give the Hoosiers a 4-2 lead. Those were the second and third Indiana homers on the day as Logan Sowers opened the scoring with a two-run bomb in the Top of the 2nd.
The Hoosiers blew it wide open in the Top of the 4th when Tony Butler reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Jeremy Houston. Then Craig Dedelow promptly doubled, driving home two runs to make it 7-2.
Michigan got two runs back in the Bottom of the 4th, but a four-run Top of the 5th extended the Indiana lead. Matt Gorski scored on a Ryan Fineman doubled down the left field line to make it 8-4. Laren Eustace then doubled to score Fineman. Butler reached safely thereafter and Miller cleared the bases with a two-run double to make it 11-4 Hoosiers.
Michigan got one back in the Bottom of the 7th, then Butler tacked on another run in the Top of the 8th with a SAC Fly that scored Fineman to give Indiana an extra run of insurance. That run might not have mattered ultimately, but it surely allowed the Hoosiers to breathe a little easier after Harrison Wenson, the No. 9 hitter in the Wolverine lineup, blasted a grand slam to cut Indiana’s lead to 12-9.
The Hoosiers finally put Michigan to bed in the Bottom of the 9th when Kade Kryzsko induced a fly ball to center field for the first out and then Lloyd closed out the final two outs.
Cal Krueger picked up the win for Indiana, going 4.0 IP in relief and allow just one run on three hits. Brian Hobbie, who got the start, struggled through just 3.0 IP, giving up four runs on seven hits, but Krueger was able to salvage the afternoon with one of his finest outings in cream and crimson, which allowed the Hoosiers to create separation over the middle innings.
Indiana (21-15-2, 8-5-1) will have an opportunity to sweep the Wolverines (30-9, 6-5) on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET.