This time second basemen Casey Rodrigue was the hero, as his walk off single in the bottom of the 12th inning gave IU (24-11, 10-1) the 2-1 victory over Michigan State (20-16, 5-6).
It was great, it was great," Rodrigue said. "But this game was a team win. Our pitching was outstanding, only holding these guys to one run."
With runners on first and third with one out, Rodrigue stepped up to bat. He then drilled a line drive over the Michigan State center fielder's head. His team rushed the field, mobbing Rodrigue in celebration.
"Found a way to push one across," IU Coach Tracy Smith said of the nail-biter victory. "It was a great baseball game."
IU used four pitchers and most notably, closer Scott Effross threw four innings of shutout relief. He gave up only three hits but also three walks to always make things interesting, but ultimately killed every Spartan rally.
Efross's ERA is down to 1.28 on the year, the lowest in the Big Ten. The sophomore from Twinsburg, Ohio, has assumed the closer's role after senior Ryan Halstead -the all-time saves leader in IU history - tore his ACL in a March 5 game against Xavier, sidelining him for the season.
"I have a lot of confidence in that kid," Smith said of Effross. "Win, lose or draw, I was going to be comfortable with it. Because he's our guy."
In a potentially scary moment in the top of the 10th inning, a line drive by a Spartan batter hit Effross in the backside. The coaching and training staff surrounded him, and he stayed in.
After the game when Effross was talking to the media, he sat down with an ice pack under him and was very honest with reporters about where the ball hit him.
"Yea, right in the butt," Effross said. "It didn't really hurt too bad it's starting to tighten up a little bit right now, but in the moment you get so much adrenaline...you don't really think about it too much."
After Effross stayed in during the 10th inning, a call made by the first base umpire gave Michigan State one of their best chances to score in the game.
A Spartan batter hit a grounder to third baseman Dustin DeMuth - who has reached base in 32 consecutive games now - who rifled the ball to first basemen Sam Travis. The first base umpire ruled that Travis' foot was off the bag. The Spartans had the bases loaded with two outs in a tie ball game.
Travis was visibly upset with the call, and Smith came out to argue. Smith would say after the game he asked the umpires to get together and talk about it. The crew did get together, and overturned the call on the field. The Spartan was ruled out and the Hoosiers avoided a bases loaded situation.
The first base coach for Michigan State was irate, and yelled at the umpire. He was then thrown out of the game. The head coach for Michigan State, Jake Boss, argued the call. He was not thrown out but he did argue the call for several minutes.
According to Smith, Travis and IU catcher Brad Hartong, Travis's foot was on the base. Even though it didn't happen at first, the right call was eventually made.
"I give them (the umpires) a lot of credit," Smith said. "...That's an excellent job by our Big Ten officials."
Game three of the series will feature Brain Korte on the mound for the Hoosiers. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. as IU goes for the sweep, which would be the third this season of a Big Ten opponent.
IU wins via another walk-off victory
For the second time in three games, IU players were mobbing one of their own at Bart Kaufman Field.
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