Hoosiers top Cards to start CWS

OMAHA, Neb. -- IU started the first inning of the College World Series the same way it did in 28 of its previous 62 games: it scored a run.

Saturday, that one run in the top of the first was all the offense the Hoosiers needed.

IU defeated Louisville 2-0 Saturday in Omaha, Neb., in its first game of the College World Series, advancing to the winner's side of the bracket in the double-elimination tournament.

Junior pitcher Joey DeNato pitched nine innings and recorded eight strikeouts to shut down the Louisville attack and record the shut out.

He never allowed a runner to advance to third, and he only surrendered four hits.

IU will play Mississippi State, who defeated Oregon State 5-4 Saturday afternoon, on Monday at 8 p.m.

Coming into the game, Louisville had won 21 of its last 23 games, including a win against the Hoosiers March 8 in Louisville.

Junior outfielder Will Nolden got things started for IU in the top of the first with a walk. Sophomore catcher Kyle Schwarber followed with a single to put two runners on. Nolden was eventually picked off at third on a double steal attempt, but Schwarber advanced to second.

Sophomore designated hitter Scott Donley, the team's RBI leader, singled up the middle with two outs to score Schwarber from second to give IU the 1-0 lead that it would never relinquish.

Nolden set the tone again in the third when IU recorded its second run. He started the inning once again with a walk. Schwarber singled, again, too.

After sophomore first baseman Sam Travis walked to load the bases, Donley recorded a fly out that brought up senior shortstop Michael Basil.

Basil ripped a grounder through the left side to score Nolden to make it 2-0 IU, but Schwarber was thrown out at the plate.

In the third inning, Nolden gunned out Louisville's Sutton Whiting at the plate to keep the clean sheet for DeNato.

Whiting started on second, and was sent home on a Cole Sturgeon single to right field. But the sharply hit ball combined with the powerful right arm of Nolden resulted in Whiting being greeted by Schwarber with the ball in his hands when he met him at home.

Louisville would not threaten again the rest of the game.

Saturday morning, IU Coach Tracy Smith was announced as the National Coach of the Year by the National Baseball Writers of America.

The win came in front of the seventh largest crowd in College World Series history, and it was the largest crowd in TD Ameritrade Park history at 27,122.