IU wins Big Ten Tournament

Nebraska had just tied the game 3-3 with a three-run fifth inning.

Even though it was technically a home game for IU, the 19,965 patrons were mostly wearing Nebraska’s shade of red, and they were loud in their support of the Huskers. No. 2 seed Nebraska was back in the game against No. 1 IU.

After leadoff hitter Casey Rodrigue struck out, first-team All-Big Ten catcher Kyle Schwarber stepped up to bat.

On a 1-0 count, Schwarber crushed the pitch to deep right field. Schwarber said he knew it was a home run as he walked a few steps out of the batter’s box and flipped his bat.

IU took the lead and would not relinquish it the rest of the day. The Hoosiers knocked off Nebraska 8-4 in the Big Ten Championship game. For the second consecutive season, IU won both the regular season and tournament title.

And for the second consecutive year, IU beat Nebraska in the tournament title game.

“They took the momentum there a little bit,” Nebraska Coach Darin Erstad said of Schwarber's home run.

During the week, IU Coach Tracy Smith told Schwarber to try and keep the ball out of the air because of how big TD Ameritrade Park is. The park is so big that nobody has ever hit a home run to center field.

The fifth-inning bomb was Schwarber’s second home run of the tournament. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 Big Ten Tournament after the game.

“I was trying to hit line drives,” Schwarber said. “But I got under a couple, and they happened to go out.”

IU played four games in five days and went 4-0 to win the Big Ten crown. The team outscored its opponents 25-10, and the closest game was a three-run dispatching of Michigan State on Saturday.

When Nebraska second baseman Pat Kelly popped out to shortstop Nick Ramos to seal the victory for IU, there wasn’t an overdone celebration on the field by the Hoosiers. All season IU has said its goal has been to return to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series.

“What I liked best is that we just won a championship in front of 20,000 fans rooting against us,” Smith said. “And when it was over, we just went out and slapped five.”

IU will be host to a regional next weekend. According to national projections, the Hoosiers will be a national seed.

IU will also be host to a super regional the following weekend, June 6-9, if the team gets out of regional play in good shape.

It would be the first time a Big Ten team has ever been a national seed.

The Hoosiers (42-13) are one of the hottest teams in the nation. After a mediocre 12-10 start, IU is 30-3 in its past 33 games.

The NCAA tournament selection show is Monday at noon and will air on ESPNU. The Hoosiers will learn what other teams will be in their regional, and if they are indeed a national seed.