IU crushes Miami (Ohio), will play Redhawks in Kaufman Field opener Wednesday

OXFORD, Ohio — IU will open brand new Bart Kaufman Field riding a seven-game winning streak after an 11-2 win against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks Tuesday in Oxford, Ohio.

IU Coach Tracy Smith said it is purely coincidence that his squad will face his former team and alma mater in the stadium’s inaugural game Wednesday at 4 p.m.

“We were all geeked when we opened up this stadium (Miami’s McKie Field), went out and got our butts kicked,” Smith said. “We’re not taking them lightly at all. We’re going to come ready to play and hopefully put on a good show for the fans.”

Sophomore righty Aaron Slegers is slated to start for the Hoosiers opposite RedHawks lefthander Alex Brown in the second game of the home-and-home series.

Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley said he and his teammates must be ready to swing the bat from the first pitch, as the Hoosiers drew a season-high nine walks Tuesday.

Double-digit winds did not blow IU’s offense off-course at McKie Field — the Hoosiers won their 12th contest in the last 13 games.

Miami starter Brian Thene did not allow a hit during the first two innings. Sophomore left fielder Chris Sujka got IU on the board first as his single flew over leaping second baseman Ryan Elble, scoring right fielder Casey Smith from second. Elble, equidistant between first and second, cheated in a couple steps on the infield grass and could not leap high enough to catch the liner off Sujka’s bat.

IU added two runs in the next frame. Donley knocked in the Hoosiers’ second run via a fielder’s choice groundout. Junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth’s RBI single through the right side delivered what proved to be the game-deciding tally.

The Hoosiers doubled their lead in the fifth. Thene walked Sujka, who stole second.
Redhawks’ manager Dan Simonds pulled Thene in favor of Seth Varner. Senior center fielder Justin Cureton then drew his 13th walk of the season.

 After sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber grounded out to the first baseman, Miami’s new hurler intentionally walked sophomore first baseman Sam Travis to load the bases.

Donley deposited a 1-1 offering into left-center field to clear the bases. He said there really isn’t a better feeling in baseball than to make a pitcher pay after an intentional walk.

“When they walked Sam, I just went up there and, it’s a big at-bat, I wanted to go put the ball in play and make them try to get me out,” he said. “It ended up working out.”

The RedHawks knocked two runs off their deficit in the bottom of the fifth against sophomore reliever Luke Harrison. With one out, Alex Johnson and Kevin Bower singled in successive order. Catcher Tommy Riccardi hit an RBI double down the third base line.

The RedHawks added their second run via a fielding error. Third baseman Chad Clark did not cleanly catch Schwarber’s throw after the IU catcher attempted to throw out his catching counterpart for the second time.

Freshman reliever Scott Effross earned the win for the Hoosiers.

Freshman starter Will Coursen-Carr allowed five hits in three and two-thirds innings of work, but did not surrender a run. He worked himself out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, as Riccardi flew out to Smith a step into foul territory.

Smith said his southpaw starter lacked an effective out pitch.

“He wasn’t sharp,” Smith said. “(He was) getting ahead of hitters and hitting guys with breaking balls, (but) he didn’t really have the sharp put-away pitch. The last straw was going 0-2 to a lefty. The game was still pretty close, and he hits a guy with another hanging breaking ball.     

“He’s a young guy. It was nice he had enough rope today, but he hung himself. He’ll have plenty of opportunity to get better at that stuff.”