Indiana taking advantage of Xavier’s struggles on the mound became a recurring theme of the weekend at Bart Kaufman Field. After earning a commanding 14-3 victory on Saturday, the Hoosiers responded on Sunday with a 11-7 triumph over the Musketeers on Sunday as they recorded sixteen total hits on the day and completed the sweep of the series.
Indiana was led by Craig Dedelow, Matt Lloyd and Logan Sowers who all had big days at the plate, while Pauly Milto had a strong outing on the mound.
Dedelow broke out first for the Hoosiers with a three-run home run in the first that scored Alex Krupa and Lloyd, giving Indiana an early 3-0 lead. The senior centerfielder struck again in the third with a right field double that scored Luke Miller.
In the fourth, it was Lloyd’s turn to do some damage. After Jake Matheny singled to left field, Xavier’s Greg Jacknewitz walked two consecutive batters to load the bases. That opened the door for Lloyd to rope a double into center field, scoring Matheny, Krupa and Tony Butler.
In the fifth, Indiana really started to pull away and take advantage of the Musketeers’ struggling pitching staff. Matheny’s single to left field scored Sowers who had just recorded his second of three doubles on the day to start things off. After Jeremy Houston’s single scored Austin Cangelosi and Butler’s double brought home Matheny and Houston, the Hoosiers had scored four runs in the inning and found themselves with a commanding 11-0 lead.
Meanwhile on the mound, Milto took control for Indiana and prevented Xavier from keeping up with the Hoosiers’ torrent offensive pace early on in the contest. The sophomore went six innings with five strikeouts and only allowing three hits and no runs.
Xavier managed to tack on seven runs in the eighth and ninth to prevent the shutout but it was a mostly dominant performance from the Hoosiers. Dedelow finished the game with three hits and four RBIs while Lloyd had three RBIs of his own and Sowers went three for five with three doubles.
Indiana (27-17-2) will travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky on Tuesday, May 9 for their next contest.