The only thing that could stop IU after Saturday was rain. And ?lots of it.
IU (4-4) lost Friday against the College of Charleston 4-2 but responded by winning 15-1 against Charleston (5-3) Saturday.
“It was just finding holes and getting a good swing off,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “We have a talented group, probably have underperformed a little bit, but we have a talented group of hitters. When they get going you’re going to see a ?lot of that.”
But when IU and scheduled starting pitcher sophomore Jake Kelzer got to Patriots Point in Charleston, S.C., Sunday morning, it found a waterlogged field and a forecast that predicted rain through 6 p.m.
Due to IU’s travel plans back to Bloomington, the teams could not start playing an inning after 3 p.m., making playing the five innings required for an official game almost impossible.
Senior outfielder Will Nolden said he was disappointed that Sunday’s game couldn’t be played because of all the momentum IU had after Saturday’s win.
On Friday, IU was stymied by Charleston’s starting pitcher, Taylor Clarke, who pitched eight scoreless innings while striking out 11 Hoosiers and walking none.
IU was able to get 11 hits compared to Charleston’s five, but Charleston had three extra base hits to IU’s one. Two of those were Charleston home runs.
IU outhit Charleston 14-6 Saturday, but seven of those 14 hits were for extra bases, including two triples from senior 2nd baseman ?Casey Rodrigue.
But the biggest difference, Lemonis said, was IU’s ability to hit in key situations, whether that be with runners in scoring position, with two outs or both.
“We addressed it before the game and just talked about it,” Lemonis said. “I think we had a bunch of two-out hits, and I think we drove in a lot of runs with guys out there.”
Nolden played particularly well. After being subbed out in fifth inning last Saturday, Nolden entered the series with one hit in 19 at bats and no RBIs. Nolden went 3-for-8 with four RBIs in two games and eight at bats against Charleston.
Nolden also played both games in right field after starting the ?previous seven in center field. Nolden threw out a runner at the plate in Saturday’s victory.
Lemonis also moved Nolden down in the order from second to eighth, where he spent much of last season. The move made Nolden more comfortable at the plate, Lemonis said.
“I was just trying to grind out some at bats and it just so happened that there were a couple guys on base when I had some of my best at bats,” ?Nolden said.
Junior starting pitcher Christian Morris also won his first game Saturday after getting no decisions in his first two starts.
Morris pitched six innings, giving up only one unearned run and allowing five hits. Morris also struck out three and walked none. Lemonis said it was Morris’ best outing of the season.
“He just came out from the first pitch and attacked their hitters, and they’ve got a very good offensive lineup,” Lemonis said.
Morris said he was more locked in Saturday than his previous two outings, but he didn’t do anything different on the mound. Everything just clicked, like IU’s ?offense.
This is why Morris is ?disappointed.
“We wanted to go out there and see how we were going to pick up after a great win (Saturday) night,” Morris said. “It was disappointing, but we have to deal with it and move on and keep the intensity that we have right now.”
