Baseball team sweeps Iowa

For the second straight weekend, IU baseball swept a Big Ten foe on the road.

Following up the dismantling of Ohio State last weekend, where the Hoosiers outhit the Buckeyes 42-19, the Hoosier bats picked up right where they left off against the Hawkeyes. IU (18-10, 8-1) beat Iowa (16-12, 3-6) in the final game of the series 5-3 thanks to a late game rally.

“When we got our pitches to hit,” junior catcher Kyle Schwarber said, “we didn’t miss them.”

In the first two games against Iowa, IU hit a total of eight home runs and never trailed. The Hoosiers outscored the Hawkeyes 20-6 in the first two games.

The series was moved to a Saturday-Sunday-Monday format because of rain showers on Friday, giving IU the chance to sweep the Hawkeyes on Monday.

In game three, IU’s offense was stagnant. Despite a solid combined outing from sophomores Will Coursen-Carr and Evan Bell, who threw a combined seven innings while giving up one run, the Hoosiers trailed Iowa 1-0 heading to the top of the eighth.

But the dormant Hoosier bats came alive in the eighth.

Junior preseason all-American Sam Travis recorded an RBI single to score one run, making it a 1-1 affair. After Scott Donley’s sacrifice bunt, Dustin DeMuth stepped up to bat. Iowa elected to intentionally walk DeMuth, and in the process snapped his 16-game hitting streak as the senior went 0-2 on the day with two walks.

That left a pivotal opportunity for junior Brad Hartong — bases loaded, one out, tie game in the eighth inning. Hartong, a junior college transfer playing in his first year for the Hoosiers, said he was ready to make a play for this team. In the sixth inning the Hawkeyes had also intentionally walked DeMuth. Hartong grounded out when the Hawkeyes intentionally walked DeMuth, squandering the potential scoring opportunity.

“I knew I just had to get a pitch elevated,” Hartong said. “Hopefully deep enough to get a sac fly or something.”

Hartong sharply hit a curveball between the third baseman and the foul line. The stand up double for the Long Beach, Calif., native plated two runs, giving IU the 3-1 lead. IU would score twice more in the frame, pushing the lead to 5-1.

IU Coach Tracy Smith said he “toyed around” with the idea of pinch-hitting for Hartong but ultimately left him in the game.

“We let him in there to get the job done,” Smith said. “And he got it done.”

In the bottom of the ninth, sophomore closer Scott Effross was having trouble putting the game away. He opened up the inning by giving up three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. Effross then struck out the next batter looking for the key out. Iowa ended up scoring two in the frame, but it was not enough to prevent the Hoosier sweep.

IU is currently riding a six-game winning streak, all on the road, and boast a plus 30 run differential in that span, but Smith said he isn’t content.

“We still have better baseball left to play,” he said.