Strong pitching leads IU to series sweep against IPFW

IU coach Tracy Smith wants power from his lineup, but he didn’t get it this weekend.\nInstead, Smith got two wins playing small ball as his Hoosiers swept a shortened two-game series with IU-Purdue University at Fort Wayne at Sembower Field.\nIn two games, IU scored 10 runs on 18 hits, 14 of them singles, while the pitching staff shut down the Mastodons.\n“I wish we had a little more power,” Smith said following Saturday’s game, “but we’re fast so we’re going to play to what we do well, which is running the bases and putting pressure on the defense. That’s just the type of team we are.” \nAfter Friday’s game was canceled due to rain, the Hoosiers fell behind early in Saturday’s contest. Sophomore starter Tyler Tufts gave up two early doubles, putting the Mastodons up 1-0.\nIU responded quickly, scoring three runs of its own as IPFW starter Cole Uebelhor issued two walks while giving up a single and a double in the first.\nFollowing the shaky first inning, Tufts settled in, not allowing another run until the sixth. The sophomore finished with six solid innings while allowing nine hits and three runs, one earned, with seven strikeouts, a new career high.\n“(I felt) good,” Tufts said. “A lot of my stuff was working. It just felt good to get in another (quality) start before Big Ten.”\nUsing their team speed, the Hoosiers scored two more runs in the fourth with singles from sophomore center fielder Andrew Means, freshman second baseman Evan Crawford and freshman right fielder Sterling Mack. All three would also steal a base in the inning with Means and Crawford both crossing the plate.\n“Once we get on (base) and steal second, we’re just trying to get the guy over to third like we’ve been doing all year,” Means said. “Coach Smith’s system of baseball is to get them on and get them in.” \nIn relief of Tufts, junior Doug Fleenor pitched three shutout innings as he earned his first save of the season in IU’s 6-3 win.\nSunday afternoon, the Hoosiers continued their hot play, notching a three-spot in the second frame as the bottom three hitters in IU’s lineup all knocked in a run. Mack, starting in center in place of Means, continued his hot hitting of late, going 2-for-4 with one RBI.\n“(Hitting) coach (Bryan) Prince has been helping me a lot in the cages – coach Smith, too – so everything’s starting to click right now,” Mack said.\nOn the mound, freshman Matt Bashore threw five shutout innings of three-hit ball before being pulled so the bullpen could get some work. Four IU relievers combined to finish off Bashore’s shutout, giving the Hoosiers a 4-0 victory.\n“It wasn’t the best stuff I had so I just let my defense pick me up,” Bashore said. “My curveball was all right, my change-up was there a little bit today, and I was getting ahead of hitters.”\nThis weekend’s two wins lifted IU to 10-8 this season, including a current winning streak of six games. \nNext up for the Hoosiers is a Wednesday game at Xavier at 3 p.m. before they host Michigan State this weekend for a four-game set to open the Big Ten season.