On a day where the Hoosiers were supposed to score runs at a premium, they instead leaned on their pitching, defense and timely hitting to carry the club to victory.
Playing a doubleheader against Northwestern (10-32, 2-15), IU (25-16, 10-4) scored just two runs in the second inning of game one and didn’t tally another run for 14 more innings. They struck for three in the eighth inning of game two to tie the game before eventually winning in the ninth on a bizarre walk off.
Senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart took the mound for game one allowing just one earned run. The run came in the first, when a two-out bloop single to left field dropped between three Hoosiers putting IU in an early deficit.
Hart worked in and out of trouble all night scattering nine hits over 6.2 innings pitched. The lead off man for the Wildcats reached base in every inning except the sixth, but Hart was able to maneuver his way around it every time.
“He just competes, he’s an escape artist,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “He never gives up the run it seems like. He’ll give us some base runners at times but when he’s got runners out there, you get his best from him.”
IU worked a two out rally in the second inning to give Hart all the run support he needed grabbing his NCAA leading ninth win on the season. Junior Austin Cangelosi led off with a single and moved to second after a sacrifice bunt by junior outfielder Alex Krupa.
As Cangelosi stood on second with two outs, freshman designated hitter Luke Miller and junior second baseman Tony Butler pieced together two RBI singles to give IU the 2-1 lead ultimately winning by that score.
The Hoosiers struggled to pick up on what Northwestern starting pitcher Joe Schindler was tossing in game two. He and reliever Jake Stolly kept the Hoosiers scoreless for the first seven innings of the game.
“They were mixing their pitches pretty well and locating away really too,” senior shortstop Brian Wilhite said. “We saw that on their scouting report and should have picked up on better.”
Wilhite finally ignited the Hoosier offense leading off the eighth. He shot ball to right field as it dropped right in front of the diving effort from Grant Peikert. As the ball continued to roll to the fence, Wilhite raced around the bags with his helmet flying off at second base sprinting home with a head first dive into the plate to get the Hoosier fans on their feet.
With one out Krupa singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Junior outfielder Craig Dedelow brought Krupa home on a RBI double in the following at-bat cutting the Wildcat lead to one.
A walk and intentional walk loaded the bases, and Cangelosi sent a towering fly ball to the left field warning track as Dedelow tagged up from third and scored to tie the game.
Junior relief pitcher Jake Kelzer took the Wildcats down in order in the top of the ninth, and the first two Hoosiers in the bottom half were retired in order. Back to back two-out singles by Butler and Krupa brought Dedelow to the plate with the winning run at third.
Dedelow chopped a slow grounder to first as first baseman Zach Jones fielded the ball back on his heels. With Dedelow sprinting down the first base line, Jones made a mad dash to the bag but then tried to flip the ball to the pitcher who was covering. The flip was unsuccessful as Dedelow dove head first into the base and the Hoosiers walked off a 4-3 winner.
“I saw the first baseman playing a little bit far back so I knew I had at least somewhat of a chance to get down there,” Dedelow said. “I mean it wasn’t a great swing, but it made it happen.”
