He just missed it.
Ramos came around third base and sprinted toward home as Ohio State center fielder Troy Montgomery attempted to throw him out. The ball was on target for the catcher, and it looked to be a close play.
But he just missed it.
Donley’s hit put IU up 5-4 and resulted in a 6-4 win for IU (32-20, 12-10) to complete the sweep over Ohio State (35-18, 13-9).
IU Coach Chris Lemonis felt like these close wins have become the norm as the Hoosiers have won nine of their last 10 to end the regular season.
“It feels like the last two weeks that’s been every game we’ve had,” he said. “We’ve kinda got that big hit, bunt him over, get him in and make things happen. So it’s nice. That’s a sign of a good tournament team.”
IU took a 4-1 lead when freshman outfielder Logan Sowers drove a pitch up in the zone over the left field wall with the bases load, which was one of three balls that Sowers hit deep toward the warning track. The third inning shot gave IU a lead it would hold for three innings.
Then, in the seventh inning, junior relief pitcher Caleb Baragar loaded the bases.
He allowed one run to come in before being taken out so senior closer Ryan Halstead could come in. Two more runners scored under Halstead’s watch off a sacrifice fly and a single to tie the game 4-4.
“Nobody panicked,” junior pitcher Kyle Hart said.
“There’s a lot of guys on this team that have lost a lot of games. We know how to win, and we know how to lose.”
So the two runs in the bottom of the eighth put IU in position for the sweep and continued the Hoosiers’ momentum as they go into the Big Ten Tournament next week.
They were on the fringe of qualifying as a top-eight team in the conference until these three wins put them safely in the tournament mix.
“I really like where we are at,” Hart said. “In terms of hitting the ball is probably the most impressive thing right now. It seems like if we need two runs, we go get two runs.”
Hart compared IU ending the season on a strong note to how the teams that do well in the NCAA basketball tournament are often teams that come in hot.
The 2015 IU baseball team is one coming on the heels of the two previous teams that made late postseason runs in the NCAA Regional and the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. This squad did not have as much regular season success, but it still has its focus on the postseason.
“This game is so much confidence,” Lemonis said. “It’s feeling good about yourself, feeling like you can do it. We feel like we can come from behind right now.”
Heading in to the Big Ten tournament, IU may not be highly seeded, but it has more tournament experience than the field.
“There’s 13 guys in the Big Ten who have been to Omaha. They are all in Indiana,” Hart said. “So yeah, I think we are ready.”
