IU ends regular season with sweep of OSU

A full recap of the series will be in Monday's print edition of the Indiana Daily Student.

About six minutes before first pitch, Sembower Field Public Address Announcer Mike Glasscott announced that Michigan State beat Penn State 8-2 in East Lansing.

The Spartan’s victory meant IU (30-26 overall, 16-8 in conference) clinched the two-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and with it, a first-round bye, before even taking the field.

Not that it deterred the Hoosiers from going for the win. They manufactured the third comeback victory in four games to sweep Ohio State on senior day (31-25, 11-13 in conference) and win the final game at Sembower in thrilling fashion.

IU will play in game four of the conference tournament at approximately 3:35 p.m. ET Thursday, at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.

“I think strategically to have the second seed is very important,” head coach Tracy Smith said. “It does allow you to kick back one less pitcher. I was thrilled absolutely thrilled that we got that 2-seed because we were so darn close and we’ve been playing well.”

Tied at two entering the bottom of the eight, Sam Travis started the winning rally with a one-out single to left off righty Josh Desze, who started the game at first base. Travis advanced to second when OSU leftfielder Patrick Porter bobbled the ball and was lifted for pinch-runner Will Nolden.
 
Desze then intentionally walked Micah Johnson and Dillon Dooney put the Hoosiers in front for good with an RBI-single to left that scored Nolden.

Nolden creatively avoided Buckeye catcher Greg Solomon’s tag by sliding toward the outside of the baseline while bending out of the way of Solomon’s mitt, and slapped the plate with his left hand to give IU a 3-2 lead.

Michael Basil then ripped a hanging-breaking ball between short and third to plate Johnson and extend the lead to 4-2.

Righthander Johnny Hoffman (7-1) worked the final 2 and 1/3 innings for the win. Lefty Andrew Armstrong (0-1) took the loss for OSU.

Ohio State got the scoring started when Ryan Cypret hit a towering, wind-aided home run to left for a 1-0 Buckeye lead.

In the top of the second, with David Corna on first and two outs, Solomon lined a ball to left-center. IU centerfield Justin Cureton slipped while fielding the sure base hit, enticing Corna to try and score from first.

A perfect relay by Cureton and the shortstop Basil appeared to nail Corna at home, but home plate umpire Scot Taylor called Corna safe, bringing IU head coach Tracy Smith out from the dugout to argue the call and giving OSU a 2-0 lead.  

IU starter Chad Martin was able to keep his composure despite the blown call.

“It’s my last college game on my home field and I really wanted to send it off with a bang,” Martin said. “Obviously things didn’t go the way I wanted it early, but I just fought back to keep us in the game.”

After allowing a run in each of the first two innings, Martin was able to toss 4 and 2/3 straight scoreless frames. In total, he lasted 6.2 innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on seven hits, with six strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman.

Smith was pleased with the way his starter battled.

He took control of the game,” Smith said. “That’s what seniors should do on senior day. I’m happy for him because we’re gonna need him as we roll into this thing.”

Martin allowed a two-out walk and double in the top of the seventh but was bailed out by Hoffman, who induced Desze to ground out to second and took his starter off the hook for a potential loss.

Hoffman struggled mighty in his first two seasons as a Hoosier, posting ERAs of 8.80 ERA and 6.23 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. But a retooled delivery, from over-the-top to sidearm, has completely turned his career around.

“If you keep doing the same thing and it’s not effective, why not try something different?,” Smith said. “He had the aptitude to do that, he had the desire, the want to do that and clearly it’s paid off for him.”

This season, Hoffman is 7-1 with a 2.36 ERA and is tied for the team lead in saves with five.

Held scoreless through the first five innings, IU answered back in the sixth. Two walks sandwiched around a Travis single loaded the bases for Dooney. A passed ball scored Kyle Schwarber from third and advanced Travis to third and Johnson to second, cutting OSU’s lead in half, 2-1.

A Dooney RBI single then tied the game at 2, setting the stage for the exciting finish.

“That’s definitely our M.O., is scratching and clawing and getting runs any way that we can, and I’m ok with that,” Martin said. “I mean it’s a little heart wrenching when you’re starting and down two runs in the sixth but I got faith in our guys.”

Despite the loss, the Buckeyes sneaked their way in to the conference Tournament as the six-seed because Illinois lost to Minnesota 8-3 earlier in the day.

In contrast, IU has steamrolled its way into the tournament en route to capturing the two-seed, winning 10 of its last 12 conference games and its last four conference series. Still, Smith refuses to let his team get overconfident.
 
“The regular season’s over now, I don’t care if it’s two-seed, one-seed, six, five,” Smith said. “Everybody is trying to win at this point.”