IU Coach Chris Lemonis’ pep talk didn’t work. Initially, at least.
With his team trailing by one run in the seventh inning, he pleaded with his team to just have fun the last three innings. IU couldn’t muster any runs in the seventh inning, but in the eighth, Lemonis reaped the benefits of his speech.
The Hoosiers scored three runs in that eighth inning to help secure a 6-4 win Thursday against Ohio State.
Freshman outfielder Logan Sowers tied the game with a solo home run to left. A home run that broke a streak of three straight strikeouts. Three at-bats Lemonis called some of the worst of his season.
The key at-bat though was senior outfielder Will Nolden’s double to left center, scoring sophomore outfielder Craig Dedelow from second to give the Hoosiers the lead.
“I knew I would get a breaking ball at some point and I eventually got it and was able to put it in the gap,” Nolden said.
But Nolden’s game-winning RBI was made possible by Dedelow earlier in the at-bat. With Nolden down 0-2 in the count, Ohio State pitcher Kyle Michalik threw a pitch low and inside to the left-handed Nolden.
Dedelow recognized the catcher would have to shift his stance and extended his secondary lead. When he saw the ball get away from the catcher, he took off for second base.
“I knew I had to get on my horse and get there,” Dedelow said.
The heads up base-running was one of many highlights Dedelow had Thursday night. He went 3-for-4 at the plate while driving in three runs, in addition to scoring the winning run in the eighth inning.
One of those hits was a second inning solo home run, his second in the past week, extending his total to a team-high five this season.
“I was looking for a fastball in and luckily that’s where it was and luckily I put a good swing on it,” Dedelow said.
Dedelow also added two more RBIs with his third inning single to left field, producing two of three Hoosier runs scored with two outs Thursday.
The way the Hoosiers have been playing recently with two outs against them gives Lemonis confidence for what this team can do in the postseason.
“In the postseason it seems like there’s always a guy at second or third you have to get home,” Lemonis said. “We’ve been able to do that here with all the pressure and everything.”
IU officially qualified for the postseason tonight. The win guaranteed the Hoosiers a place in the Big Ten Tournament next week, but the seed is still undetermined.
Four Hoosier pitcher contributed to the win Thursday, including junior Will Coursen-Carr, who earned his first win of the season after pitching two scoreless inning of relief.
Lemonis said Coursen-Carr was the difference maker Thursday after coming in for a lefty-on-lefty matchup, and said he probably should have put Coursen-Carr in the game sooner.
Senior Luke Harrison started the game for the Hoosiers, his first start since his freshman year. He lasted four innings, giving up three runs, two of which were earned.
All three Buckeye runs against Harrison were scored on a fifth inning home run from Pat Porter, who drove in all four of Ohio State’s runs.
After Porter’s home run the Hoosiers did not lead again until their eighth inning rally, but the Hoosiers were never worried. Part of this was because of its recent success coming back, the Hoosiers have come back to win three of their last four games.
But this confidence was also due to their faith in the bullpen, a bullpen Dedelow calls one of the best in the country.
The bullpen, along with the Hoosiers timely hitting will look to remain successful this weekend because the Hoosiers say they are not done yet.
Yes, they qualified for the Big Ten Tournament. But the Hoosiers can still improve their seeding. But more importantly, the Hoosiers still need to solidify their NCAA Tournament berth.
“The NCAA Tournament has been the goal all year so we have some things to take care of the next two days,” Nolden said.
