Hoosiers split with Northwestern, set sights on Butler, Michigan State

The IU baseball team headed up I-65 this weekend for one of two pivotal end-of-season series that will help determine whether they qualify for their first Big Ten Tournament in five years. After a 2-2 series split against host Northwestern, the Hoosiers now control their own destiny heading into next weekend’s regular-season finale against Michigan State.
Game four was a barn-burner Sunday. After a long rain delay, the two teams battled back and forth, scoring almost at will.
But the Hoosiers prevailed 14-12 in extra innings thanks to good hitting and some small ball at the top of the order. Sophomores Josh Phegley and Kipp Schutz both homered for the Hoosiers in the series finale, and Phegley knocked in RBIs No. 63 and 64.
The Hoosiers will conclude their home schedule at 3 p.m. Wednesday when they take on Butler at Sembower Field, but the focus will quickly shift from that matchup to the Hoosiers’ four-game set against Michigan State next weekend.
The Spartans, as well as Northwestern – who is set to play conference powerhouse Michigan on the last weekend of the regular season – sit between the Hoosiers and sixth place in the Big Ten standings.
IU coach Tracy Smith pointed on Monday to midseason struggles against Illinois, Iowa and Penn State as a major reason for their current position. However, the team responded to that slump by going 5-3 against the top two teams in the conference, Michigan and Purdue, to put themselves right back in the thick of the Big Ten race.
“Where we stubbed our toe during the middle of the season, it kind of put us in a position where we had to fight in the end,” Smith said, adding that he was proud of his team for turning their season around against the Big Ten’s two best teams.
There are two ways IU can overtake Northwestern for the sixth spot. Should IU take three of four at Michigan State and Northwestern lose three of four to Michigan, or IU sweep Michigan State and Northwestern split with Michigan, the Hoosiers would be in. They own the tiebreaker in either scenario.
Though Smith said it’s nice for the Hoosiers to be in control of their own destiny, he expects his team to focus on each game one at a time, ignoring the bigger picture.
“I told the kids, when this current IU team locks it in … if they’re in that mindset, we are a tough team to beat,” Smith said by phone Monday. “(If we do that) I think we’ll be pretty pleased at where we are.”