IU beats Youngstown State, 10-2

The Hoosiers struck early in the pitch count against the Penguin pitching staff Friday night.

In its first game of the NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed IU beat No. 4 seed Youngstown State, 10-2.

“I thought that was a perfect scenario for us,” IU Coach Tracy Smith said after the game.

On the offensive end, the top hitters stepped up.

In junior catcher Kyle Schwarber’s first two at-bats, he was swinging on the first pitch. And on the both of the first pitches, Schwarber placed a ball into right field.

The first went for a single in the first inning, and it was the first of 15 Hoosier hits on the day.

In his second at bat, Schwarber lined the ball to the right-center gap for a triple.

“Schwarber’s definitely the wrong guy to throw in the middle of the plate,” Youngstown State Coach Steve Gillispie said.

After not reaching base in his third at-bat, Schwarber drilled a pitch over the center field wall for a three-run home run, which put the Hoosiers up 9-1.

The catcher finished the day 4-for-5 with three RBI, and a double short of the cycle.
But when asked if Schwarber had any thoughts of trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh inning to give him the cycle, Schwarber was clear in his answer.

“No,” he said.

He wasn’t the only Hoosier to have a prolific day at the plate. Sam Travis went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, Scott Donley was 3-for-4, and DeMuth went 3-for-5 with three RBI.

The Hoosiers chased Youngstown State starter Jared Wight out of the game early. Wight only went 2.1 innings and gave up eight hits that led to six earned runs.

Sophomore Scott Effross earned his first start of the year and delivered. His final line included 4 innings pitched, 3 hits, one run, one earned run, one walk and 4 strikeouts on 58 pitches.

“After the first inning,” Effross said, “I kind of just treated it like a relief appearance.”

Going into the game, Smith was deciding whether or not to hold ace Joey DeNato until later in the weekend or throw him against the Penguins.

Youngstown State came into the game with a 16-36 record, and DeNato alone had 75 percent of the number of wins they had – he’s 12-1 on the year.

By throwing Effross and sophomores Evan Bell and Will Coursen-Carr on Friday, this leaves IU with its top three starters, DeNato, Christian Morris and Brian Korte, available for the rest of the weekend.

When Coursen-Carr came in the game with an eight-run cushion, the game was still of great interest to IU fans.

After going 5-0 last year with a 1.93 ERA, the sophomore has struggled this year and was replaced in the rotation.

He’s struggled with his control, and Smith has said throughout the season Coursen-Carr doesn’t have the confidence necessary to be effective.

Coursen-Carr hit one batter, but was otherwise effective. He went 1.1 innings without giving up a hit or a walk.

“I thought that was a huge positive on tonight’s game,” Smith said. “That kid kind of put us on the map last season with his pitching in postseason play.

"He’s struggled, no secret about that … Regardless of his scenario before tonight, that was pretty electric stuff.”