Hoosier bats stay hot to take series from San Diego

Indiana continued their blazing hot start to the 2018 campaign on Sunday, as the 17th ranked Hoosiers stomped #13 San Diego 8-4 to take three out of four against the Toreros.

After falling behind 1-0 early on, the Hoosier bats got rolling in the top of the third, thanks to a pair of infield hits from Jeremy Houston and Logan Kaletha. Matt Lloyd then came to the plate and demolished the first pitch he saw for a three run moonshot. Lloyd’s bomb not only cleared the fence, but it also landed on the roof of the Manchester apartments, which are a full 452 feet away from home plate. According to Indiana baseball’s twitter, Lloyd became the first person to hit the roof of the apartment building since San Diego’s Shane Buschini in 2005.

Indiana kept the pressure on in the 5th by loading the bases with no outs. Matt Gorski took advantage with a 2 RBI double to centerfield. Gorski then produced another run on a double steal. Gorski got caught up in a rundown while trying to steal second, and distracted the Torero infield long enough for Ryan Fineman to scamper home from third to give Indiana a commanding 6-1 lead.

After Garrett Calvert hit a SAC fly to cut the lead to 4, Gorski went back to work in the top of the 7th. After Logan Sowers scored on a balk, Gorski banged his second double of the ballgame to plate Elijah Dunam and give Indiana an 8-2 lead.

Cal Krueger came on in relief to escape a pair of jams in the 6th and 7th innings, but Tim Herron failed to do the same in the 8th. After a hit and a pair of errors, the Toreros got a pair of runs on a SAC fly and a wild pitch to trim the lead to the eventual final score of 8-4.

Gorski went 4-4 with 2 doubles and and 3 RBIs to lead the Hoosiers. Lloyd also added a trio of RBIs as he went 1-4. Logan Kaletha also reached base 3 times on the day.

On the mound, Cameron Beauchamp made his first career start for the Hoosiers, and pitched well. Beauchamp pitched four strong innings for Indiana, only giving up 1 run on 3 hits and a pair of walks, to go along with 4 strikeouts. Nick Eaton, Kruegar, Herrin and Lloyd pitched 5 innings out of the bullpen, giving up 3 runs in five innings pitched.

With the win, Indiana (9-2) leaves San Diego having taken 3 out of 4 from the Toreros (8-5) and having won nine of their last ten overall. This weekend could also go a long way for Indiana’s RPI, as IU now has a trio of quality wins over a Top-15 and well respected San Diego squad.

After starting the season with 11 consecutive road games, the Hoosiers will finally be back in Bloomington this week for a 10-game home stand back at Bart Kauffman Field, beginning on Wednesday against Cincinnati.