Hoosiers defeat Wright State 14-6

Senior Gibran Hamdan's grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning instigated a 13-run inning that lifted IU over Wright St. 14-6 at Sembower Field last evening. The opposite field shot over the right field wall came one pitch after coach Bob Morgan was ejected from the game arguing balls and strikes.\n"Coach always has our backs out there, so it feels good to come through for him when I had the chance," said Hamdan, who hit his second home run of the year. \nHe finished the day 3-5 with a grand slam, a double and four RBIs to lead the Hoosiers. Senior Eric Blakeley went 2-5 with an RBI and junior Kennard Jones also added two hits, two RBIs and three runs scored for the Hoosiers.\n"I feel fortunate to come back and get that victory," Morgan said. "We were six outs away from a loss and the team responded well. It was a good come-from-behind victory for us. We came up with some big hits, especially the grand slam."\nBig Ten Player of the Week Vasili Spanos smacked a two-RBI double to start the scoring in the eighth, bringing the game to 6-3. The junior is among the Big Ten's elite in numerous categories. He leads the conference with 34 RBIs, is tied for the conference lead in home runs with eight, is second in batting with a .455 average and leads the conference in slugging percentage while being second in doubles.\nSophomore Joe Kemp stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth after the Hoosiers had already scored nine runs in the inning. He roped the ball down the right field line for a triple that scored three more and gave the Hoosiers a 13-6 lead.\nLeft-handed sophomore starter Casey Abrams shut IU down the first seven innings before the Hoosiers got to him in the eighth.\n"Things didn't look good but we came back. That is the sign of a good team," Morgan said. "Even when we haven't played well, we have hung around to where we could go out and win the ballgame. I just wish we wouldn't live like that."\nJunior reliever Nick Vitielliss shut down the Raiders for an inning and earned his second victory of the season to improve to 2-0. Freshman Matt Ousley pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end the game.\n"If we keep playing the way we are, we'll be in good shape," Ousley said.\nIU improves to 16-3 on the season. Wright State's record drops to 2-9.\nThe Hoosiers open their Big Ten Conference season this weekend with a four-game set against Illinois at Sembower Field.