MINNEAPOLIS — The game was tied and the bases were loaded with two outs in the eighth inning of an elimination game with senior designated hitter Scott Donley approaching the batter's box.
Ohio State was having a conference on the mound, discussing the plan for approaching Donley. The plan was relatively simple — let senior starting pitcher Ryan Riga feed Donley a heavy dose of outside fastballs and make him prove he can hit the pitch.
For Donley’s first three at-bats, he couldn’t hit the pitch. Donley was 0-for-3 entering the at-bat and hadn't made solid contact. For the first five outside fastballs of the eighth inning at-bat, Donley never swung.
Then with a full count, Donley swung and sent the same outside fastball he'd seen countless times Thursday into the gap in left center field for a 3-RBI double.
“I think it’s the first ball I’ve actually hit in about a week,” Donley said. “It just felt good to put one in play.”
IU held on to beat Ohio State 5-3, with Donley’s double the clinching blow, moving the Hoosiers into the next round of the Big Ten Tournament.
IU Coach Chris Lemonis talked to Donley before his eventual game-winning hit. He knew Donley was the best 2-out hitter IU had, he said as much. But Lemonis wanted to make sure Donley’s head was right after starting the tournament 0-for-6.
After talking to Donley, Lemonis said he knew his senior was going to be fine.
“That’s the ball he hits,” Lemonis said of Donley’s double. “When he’s good he hits that ball and stays through the ball a lot better. When it came off his bat it was a no doubter.”
As soon as senior catcher Brad Hartong crossed the plate for the fifth Hoosier run, Ohio State Coach Greg Beals was ejected. Moments later, Riga was ejected as well.
Both were upset about the pitch prior, an outside fastball they thought caught the corner of the plate for the third strike and the final out of the inning. Donley, Lemonis and home plate umpire Daniel Jimenez all said the pitch crossed over the opposite batters box.
Either way, Ohio State catcher Aaron Gretz said 2-2 pitch wasn’t the difference. The difference was the 3-2 pitch.
“The game wasn’t lost on the 2-2 pitch, we still had a 3-2 pitch to throw and Donley put a good swing on it,” Gretz said.
The 3-2 pitch gave the loss to the senior Riga, despite him having command over the Hoosiers for most of the game. The Hoosiers only managed six hits off the left-hander, but scored five runs.
Alternatively, Ohio State had nine hits, but only managed the three runs off the combination of juniors Kyle Hart and Scott Effross and senior closer Ryan Halstead. The Buckyes left four runners on base and had another three thrown out on the bases.
Hart said he didn’t try to do much on the mound in his six scoreless innings. He said he wanted the Buckeyes to hit the ball.
“It’s a law of averages,” Hart said. “I’ve got a 70 percent chance on a bad day that I’m going to get that guy out and he’s got a 30 percent chance he’s going to get on.”
Hart’s law of averages was key to another successful start for the Hoosiers. His performance lowered his season ERA to 1.48, the lowest on the Hoosiers.
But he’s still reluctant to call himself the team’s ace. But as he was in the process of starting to explain why he still doesn’t consider himself the Hoosiers’ ace, Lemonis interrupted him.
“Let me answer that for you. Yes.”
