After a game the Hoosiers couldn’t seem to string any hits together, senior pitcher Caleb Baragar knew he needed to start quickly in the second game of the doubleheader.
He said he needed to attack the strike zone and work quickly to get the Hoosiers to on offense quickly. In the first inning he retired Western Carolina in order in just eight pitches.
The scoreless first inning was one of six for Baragar, who picked up his first win of the season in IU’s 9-1 win against Western Carolina in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday. The Hoosiers dropped the first game 4-1 but won Friday night 3-2 for their first series win of the season.
“It was huge for us,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “We’ve been fighting that a little bit with not being able to bounce back. We’re starting to build a little bit of toughness and we got a great start from Caleb obviously which helped.”
The Hoosiers were once again led by senior third baseman Brian Wilhite. After driving in all three runs of IU’s win Friday night, Wilhite flashed his glove Saturday.
He made a few plays deep in the hole at shortstop, and on once occasion, charged slow bouncer before fielding the ball bare-hand and firing to first for the out.
The bare-handed play prevented a potential bases loaded situation in Baragar’s final inning on the mound. But he also was a threat again offensively.
In the second game Saturday, Wilhite went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the final game of the series.
“I just struggled at the beginning of the season,” Wilhite said. “It’s been good for me. I’ve had a lot of pull-side hits that have really worked out for me. I’ve been working on getting my hands through the zone a little bit better. It’s been great for me to get back on track a bit.”
But Wilhite went 0-for-2 in the first game as the Hoosiers universally struggled to make solid contact against Western Carolina starter Bryan Sammons.
Entering Saturday, Sammons was sporting a 7.64 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. In his second win of the season Saturday, he pitched eight innings allowing one run and striking out nine Hoosiers. The one run was also the least Western Carolina has allowed in any game this season.
“He was throwing a lot of off-speed,” Wilhite said. “For our offense we’re very aggressive with the first pitch and very aggressive with the fastball. He was locating off-speed pretty well below our knees so we chased a little and got ourselves into some bad counts.”
But the offensive struggles didn’t continue into the second game Saturday, something Lemonis said he is proud of. He didn’t say much to his team, partly because he didn’t have much time to.
Wilhite said he had just about enough time to only eat a sandwich, some chips and get back on the field for the second game.
But with a reshuffled lineup, the Hoosiers responded, which is all Lemonis can ask for. At this point in the season, the mental toughness he team showed was enough.
And while the Hoosiers didn’t sweep the Catamounts, winning series is enough after the slow start to the season.
“We talked about before the weekend winning the series," Lemonis said. "We haven’t put together enough good days to talk about sweeping so we’re just in there trying to win series and get some momentum going forward.”
