Senior relief pitcher Thomas Belcher had loaded the bases in the top of the ninth. The game was tied at four, and he was in his fourth inning of work.
What followed next can only be defined as crazy. Tyler Stieb struck out after trying to bunt a pitch that hit him for the first out. Next, Davi Olmedo-Barrera hit a soft grounder to senior second baseman Casey Rodrigue.
Rodrigue, playing at double play depth, charged the ball, fielded the short hop and fired home to senior catcher Brad Hartong. Hartong fielded the throw, short by a couple feet, keeping his foot on home plate.
After Hartong caught the ball he was barreled into by the Cal State Fullerton runner. The runner was called out for the second out but IU Coach Chris Lemonis came sprinting out of the IU dugout, irate at the home plate umpire.
The two umpires conferenced and ruled interference on the runner coming home from third. The batter was ruled out and IU was out of the bases loaded jam.
An inning later in the bottom of the tenth senior designated hitter Scott Donley hit a groundball to third to drive in the winning run in IU’s 5-4 win against No. 23 Cal State Fullerton.
Luke Harrison pitched a scoreless 10th inning to garner the win, his second of the season. IU starter Christian Morris went five innings allowing four runs on eight hits, throwing 103 pitches.
Cal State Fullerton starter Thomas Eshelman pitched eight innings allowing four runs on 10 hits, throwing 106 pitches.
Maxwell Gibbs took the loss for Fullerton, despite all three batters he faced in the tenth inning reaching via error. Two were committed by shortstop Tommy Richards, the other by Gibbs himself. Richards had three of Fullerton’s five errors in the game.
Game two of the double header starts at 4:25 p.m. at Bart Kaufman field.
Caleb Baragar will get the start against Cal State Fullerton's Justin Garza.
