Late rally sets up Big Ten Tourney date with rival Purdue

COLUMBUS, Ohio--Despite spotting the Michigan State Spartans (36-20, 13-12 Big Ten) to a three-run lead, Indiana battled back with a four-run eighth inning to win 6-4 and remain in the winners’ bracket of the Big Ten Conference Tournament.

“These types of games show baseball is a crazy game,” IU Head Coach Tracy Smith said. “It’s never over until it’s over.”

IU (31-26, 17-8 Big Ten) will take on in-state rival and top-seeded Purdue (43-12, 18-7 in conference) at 7:05 pm. Friday, May 25.

Centerfielder Justin Cureton led off the eighth for the Hoosiers (31-26, 17-8 Big Ten) with a double to deep left-center field and advanced to third on a deep fly ball to center by Kyle Schwarber. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Sam Travis then drove Cureton in with a single to left, chasing Spartans starter Andrew Waszak from the game and pulling the Hoosiers within one at 4-3. Micah Johnson then singled to left, putting runners on first and second with one out.

After a Dillon Dooney strikeout, Michael Basil drove a 3-2 pitch to deep right-center for a two-out double that scored Johnson and Travis, giving Indiana (36-20, 13-12 Big Ten) a 5-4 lead. Basil would score on a Dustin DeMuth single to make it 6-4.

“We’ve had a lot of comeback victories lately,” Basil said. “We know we are never out of the game. We knew we could do it.”

The Hoosiers offense started slowly against Waszak, who shut down IU earlier in the year. At Sembower Field on April 15, Waszak allowed no runs on three hits in seven innings of a 6-0 MSU win. His dominant pitching against IU continued in Columbus for much of the game.

“I thought Michigan State’s starting pitcher did a good job shutting us down,” Smith said. “We felt like we were getting good swings, just making a lot of hard outs.”

Waszak allowed no hits and just one runner through the first three innings. He had two, 1-2-3 innings during his first run through the lineup.

The Hoosiers found themselves in a hole after just two innings. IU starter Joey DeNato pitched himself into trouble in the second, starting with a two-out walk to Michigan State’s Ryan Krill. MSU designated hitter Blaise Salter and catcher Joel Fisher then hit back-to-back home runs to left for a 3-0 Spartans lead.

“In the first inning I knew I didn’t have my best fastball today, location wise,” DeNato said. “I knew I had to get them out with off-speed pitches and movement, so after that inning I focused on hitting my spots and changing speeds.”

DeNato battled back and gave his offense a chance to get back in the game. He allowed just one additional run the rest of the way, in the fifth inning.

“I knew eventually our offense would get to their pitcher,” DeNato said. “Our offense has been consistent all year doing that.”

IU got on the board in the fourth. Schwarber led off the inning with a single to right and moved to third on a Travis double down the right field line. Schwarber then scored on a Johnson single to left that advanced Travis to third. Basil hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Travis and pulling IU within one, 3-2.

In the top of the eighth, DeNato allowed runners to reach first and second with two outs, ending his day and bringing out First Team All-Big Ten reliever Jonny Hoffman (8-1) from the bullpen.

DeNato lasted 7.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits with 134 pitches. He walked five and struck out four.

“I wanted to stay in as long as I could, it could be my last game pitching all season,” DeNato said. “I was surprised I threw that many pitches.”

Hoffman closed the eighth by inducing a weak tapper back to the mound, stranding both inherited runners.

The Spartans rallied against Hoffman in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs after a leadoff walk to Joel Fisher and back-to-back singles by Anthony Cheky and Ryan Jones.

“What I liked there was, there was no panic and the guy we had on the mound, Jonny Hoffman, has been that guy all season,” Smith said. “Nothing rattles him.”

But Hoffman battled back, forcing a fly out to center and striking out Spartans’ left fielder Jordan Keur. He sealed the win by snaring a line-shot back to the mound.

“It’s a win; you got to have a game like this in the Big Ten Tournament to keep alive,” Smith said. “It’s a good win, both teams played well, (it was) a good baseball game and we’re very fortunate to be on the winning side.”