Evansville pitcher Alex Weigand stood up from his crouch on the mound after receiving the pitch signal from his catcher and stared straight at IU junior outfielder Logan Sowers on third base.
Sowers had advanced to third on a passed ball and was called safe on a close play at third after sophomore designated hitter Matt Lloyd slid in for the first run of the bottom of the fourth inning. The Hoosiers led, 4-2.
Weigand lifted his knee to his chest, and Sowers sprinted toward home. At the plate, senior second baseman Tony Butler laid down a bunt and ran to first.
Weigand picked up the ball and airmailed it to his first baseman, which allowed Butler to advance all the way to third and pushing the lead to 5-2.
That was just the kind of night Butler had Tuesday. He recorded three hits in three at-bats, aside from the squeeze, and four runs batted in to lead IU to its 10th victory in 11 games, 6-3.
“They just moved the infield in, and the guy was throwing a good ball to bunt,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “I thought we had two there. We had two back-to-back because we were just getting the right pitches.”
Lemonis pushed IU’s luck a little too far on the next at-bat, when a called suicide squeeze was blown up and Butler was tagged out at third. However, IU was able to leave Bart Kaufman Field with a win against Evansville, a team that’s competed with IU in the last three seasons.
Lemonis said the Hoosiers are beginning to relax and finding ways to win through two-out batting, small ball and the home run — any means necessary. That’s how IU pulled out the win against Evansville.
It seemed that the Purple Aces would once again leave Bloomington with a win in the first inning, when sophomore pitcher Tim Herrin allowed two runs in the game’s first three batters on two doubles and a single.
Those were the only two runs the sophomore would allow, though. He weaved his way through four more innings of scoreless ball and held off the Aces for his offense to come to his rescue.
“Somebody’s got to get up there and compete,” Lemonis said. “Lately the game’s been fighting us a little bit at the beginning and end of games, so it was nice to see him get his feet under him.”
It didn’t take too long for the offense to respond to Herrin’s stability. The Hoosiers posted three runs in the second inning via a Sowers single and a Butler 2-RBI double. Herrin held off the Aces for two more innings, and IU scored on the squeeze. IU also added another run in the sixth inning to cushion the lead with Butler’s second RBI double of the game.
Sowers went 2-for-4 with three runs and a double of his own, and sophomore National Player of the Week Matt Lloyd went 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs scored. Those three carried the load for the offense, as five Hoosiers and pinch-hitting senior Austin Cangelosi didn’t record hits.
IU is winning in different ways now, Lemonis said, and that’s exactly the way the coach wants to be winning. With winning comes a change in edge, Butler said, and it’s been showing for the Hoosiers lately. IU takes a five-game winning streak into Wednesday’s mid-week matchup against Indiana State in Bart Kaufman Field.
“The big difference in the past 10, 11 games has really just been our energy,” Butler said. “At the beginning of the year, we really lacked a mental edge. I think we’ve gained that back and it shows on the diamond, especially getting down early today and getting right back.”
