Hoosiers stay hot, roll past Indiana State

In a 3-2 count with 2 outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th, freshman Justin Walker and Indiana was looking to take the lead against their in state rivals from Terre Haute. Walker stepped in, and waited for his pitch. Sycamore pitcher Tyler Whitbeard grooved Walker a fastball, and the middle infielder didn’t miss it. Walker drove a double into the left centerfield gap to score a pair of runs and give Indiana a 3-1 lead.

Clutch hitting would be a theme for the Hoosiers, as Indiana would get all six of their runs on the night with 2 outs as they completed the season sweep of Indiana State with a 6-1 victory.

After starter Tim Herrin escaped a 2-on, 1-out jam in the top of the first, the Hoosiers struck first in the bottom half of the frame, as catcher Ryan Fineman stayed hot for Indiana, as he knocked a 2 out RBI single up the middle to give the Cream and Crimson an early 1-0 lead.

Herrin settled down after the first, and faced the minimum in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. However, Herrin got into some trouble in the 5th after allowing 1 out walk to center fielder Luke Fegen. After a fielder’s choice moved Fegen to 2nd, nine hole hitter Hayden Jaco laced a RBI single to tie the game at one. After Clay Dungan flied out to end the frame, Herrin’s night was done after a strong 5 inning outing where he gave up just the single run on 2 hits and a pair of walks. Herrin also struck out 4 on the ballgame.

After scoring in the first, the Hoosier offense was held hitless by Indiana State starter Weston Rivers and reliever Dalton Laney through the fifth inning. But Indiana finally had a chance to break through with one out in the sixth after Logan Sowers walked and Fineman was hit by a pitch. Indiana State brought in Whitbeard to face Matt Gorski. Gorski slapped a single into right to what looked like would give Indiana the lead, but a great relay from Roberto Enriquez and Whitbeard nailed Sowers at the plate. After Whitbeard pitched around Scotty Bradley to load the bases, Walker came through with the big 2 RBI double.

The Hoosiers added another insurance run in the 7th, as Sowers made up for getting caught at the plate by drilling a 2 out, RBI double to extend the lead to 4-1.

2 out hitting was the key all night for the Hoosiers, as they went 5-12 (.417) at the plate with 2 outs on the night. The final 2 out hit came from Jeremy Houston, who in the eighth inning drilled a 2 RBI triple into the opposite field gap to extend the lead to what would be the final score of 6-1.

The Hoosier bullpen took it from there. Behind four innings of shutout baseball from Tommy Sommer and BJ Sabol. Over the four frames the bullpen combined to give up just a pair of hits and two walks as the Hoosiers coasted to the 6-1 win.

The win gave Indiana (23-6, 3-2 Big Ten) a season sweep of Indiana State (16-11, 2-4 MVC). The Hoosiers beat ISU in Terre Haute 5-3 back on March 28. The Hoosiers will continue their homestand at the Bart on this weekend against Northwestern. First pitch on Friday night is set for 6:05.