Hoosiers rout San Diego, stretch winning streak to 7

Indiana Baseball continued their early-season road trip by heading out to San Diego, and added on to an already six-game winning streak with a 10-4 thrashing of the home team.

The Friday night matchup set Indiana up against Torero ace Paul Richan, who entered the game with a 0.61 earned run average in his previous two starts, including an eight-inning, nine-strikeout performance against Michigan in which he gave up just one run. The righty was also coming off of back-to-back WCC Pitcher of the Week selections.

The Hoosiers got on top early, as Scotty Bradley drove in the first run of the game on a groundout in the top of the second inning. It was Bradley’s second RBI of the season.

In the fourth inning, Indiana really broke it open. Ryan Fineman drove in a pair of runs on a double down the left field line to make the score 3-0, then Matt Gorski singled to bring another run around to score. Logan Kaletha then drove in his eighth run of the season with a single to left field to make the score 6-0.

San Diego finally scratched a run across the plate in the bottom of the 4th, making the score 6-1. But in the 5th, the Hoosiers got right back to work.

Ryan Fineman continued his hot start by mashing a two-run homer over the left field fence, extending the IU lead to 8-1. After the Fineman home run and a single by Bradley, San Diego finally went to their bullpen. Richan finished with eight runs allowed on nine hits across four and two-thirds. He also struck out five batters.

Jon Stiever was solid for the Hoosiers on Friday, giving up just one run through the first five innings of play, but he got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning. Stiever gave up three runs in the inning before getting the hook and being replaced by Kade Kryzsko. Stiever ended up earning the win, his final stat-line included four runs allowed on seven hits and seven strikeouts across five and two-thirds innings.

From that point on it was smooth sailing for Indiana, as they didn’t give up another run for the rest of the game. Kryzsko earned the save, going three and a third and giving up just one hit. He also struck out a trio of batters.

In the eighth, Matt Lloyd drove in a pair of runs with a double down the left field line. He came into the game hitting just .214 on the season, so he’s still looking to get going in this young season.

The Hoosiers and Toreros will continue their series later today when they play a doubleheader. Pauly Milto will get the ball for Indiana in game one, which begins at 4 p.m. EST and freshman Tommy Sommer will make his first start as a Hoosier in game two, which is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST but is subject to change based on game one.