Hoosiers beat Wolverines, 5-0

Heading into the sixth inning, neither team had recorded a hit.

The difference was the Hoosiers were eventually able to capitalize on Michigan starter Brett Adcock, while the Wolverines couldn’t touch Hoosier starter Christian Morris all night.

During the pitcher’s duel, IU (40-13) had just one big inning to propel the team to a 5-0 victory against Michigan (29-28-1) to move on in the Big Ten tournament.

All five Hoosier runs came in the seventh inning. Dustin DeMuth led things off with a double. After an RBI infield single by Will Nolden to make it 1-0, second baseman Casey Rodrigue broke the game open with a two-out, two-RBI triple to the right-center gap to make it 3-0.

Catcher Kyle Schwarber added the final insurance runs when he blasted a two-run home run to right field that plated Rodrigue. The Schwarber bomb gave IU the comfortable 5-0 lead, which would be more than enough for the IU pitching staff.

Starter Christian Morris showed why he was named to the first team All-Big Ten with a gem. His line included seven innings pitched, one hit, no runs, two walks and four strikeouts on 90 pitches.

The Wolverines had trouble all night against the sophomore righty, and they couldn’t make a substantial run at him all night. Scott Effross and Jake Kelzer took care of the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, without allowing a Wolverine base runner to complete the one-hit staff shutout.

IU improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten tournament and 40-13 overall. It marks the first time since the 1986 and 1987 seasons that IU has had back-to-back 40 win seasons.

After the final out was recorded at 1:26 a.m., the Hoosiers get the day off on Friday. They’ll play at 2:00 p.m. Saturday. Their opponent has yet to determined.