Hoosiers pound Purdue in Big Ten Tourney

IU took an early lead and never looked back Wednesday afternoon during its 9-1 victory against Purdue in its first Big Ten Tournament game.

A leadoff home run by senior Chris Hervey in the bottom of the first began the onslaught of run support to come for junior pitcher Eric Arnett.

The Hoosiers scored a run in the third and fourth and then poured it on in the fifth and capitalized on a Boilermaker error to lead off the inning.

IU scored three runs off of two doubles by junior Michael Earley and freshman Vince Gonzalez. Gonzalez would reach home as well after a single by junior Jake Dunning. Lambert would also rack up his second RBI of the day, sending in Dunning. By the end of the inning, IU had a commanding 8-0 lead.

The Hoosiers tacked on additional run support in the sixth on yet another Purdue error. The Boilermakers made four errors on the day.

IU batters made contact and got on base 15 times during the contest.

While the offensive explosion was appreciated, Arnett didn’t need it. The pitcher of the year semifinalist got his 12th win of the year against the Boilermakers, pitching seven full innings of shutout ball and only gave up four hits with ten strikeouts. The Hoosier relievers followed up in similar fashion, giving up only one run.

The Hoosiers go back into action Thursday at 3:35 p.m. They will play the No. 2-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers. IU split its last series against the Golden Gophers, losing 12-5 in the first contest and battling back for a 3-2 win in the second.