IU saw its eight-game winning streak snap Sunday in extra innings against Iowa, but that didn’t take away from the Hoosiers’ positive weekend.
As the Hoosiers closed their seven-game homestand, they were able to get six wins against two conference opponents and a quality nonconference team.
“It’s great especially in Big Ten play,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “We beat a good team mid-week, too, and they’re just enjoying playing the game right now so that’s a lot of fun.”
The Hoosiers found a power surge against the Hawkeyes and slugged six home runs in the three-game series with at least one in each game. Game one featured three Hoosier long balls backed by a complete game performance from senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart in a 7-1 victory.
The power was shown immediately in game two against the Hawkeyes after junior outfielder Alex Krupa led off the game with a single.
Junior outfielder Craig Dedelow sent a rope out to deep right field nearing the 408 feet sign beyond the wall to put the Hoosiers up 2-0.
Three run-producing singles in the second inning put IU up 7-0 to knock out Iowa starting pitcher Tyler Peyton and give IU starting pitcher senior Caleb Baragar more than enough run support.
Baragar tossed seven innings and allowed just one earned run while scattering six hits and striking out four in his third victory of the season. The senior has allowed just five earned runs in his past 43.2 innings pitched and has struck out 41 in the process.
“It’s weird, it seems like every time Kyle throws well, I throw well too,” Baragar said. “I don’t know why there’s that mojo, I just try to do my own thing and throw strikes, really.”
Going for the series sweep Sunday, the Hoosiers jumped out to a quick two-run lead after two innings of play. Junior second baseman Tony Butler sent a towering fly ball to left in the second, just clearing the wall for his second home run of the series.
Senior starting pitcher Evan Bell had faced just one batter over the minimum through his first three innings before getting into trouble in the fourth.
With two outs, Bell gave up three consecutive singles to allow Iowa to tie the game at two. Sophomore reliever BJ Sabol entered the game for Bell but walked the first two batters he faced to force home a run and give the Hawkeyes the lead.
Freshman designated hitter Scotty Bradley came up clutch for the Hoosiers in the fifth. After an RBI single in the first, Bradley had the bases loaded with no outs and shot a base hit to right to score two and give IU the lead once again.
“I’m seeing the ball decently well right now, and I think I’m getting better at being able to lay off some of the tougher pitches,” Bradley said. “The ball is just kind of falling my way, and when you put the barrel on it, good things happen.”
With a two-run lead IU turned to junior relief pitcher Thomas Belcher, who had not allowed a run in his previous 17 innings pitched.
Belcher gave up two runs in the eighth as the Hawkeyes tied the game and took it into extra innings. Another earned run allowed by Belcher sealed the victory for Iowa, as IU had no answer in the bottom half.
“Sometimes you lose, sometimes you get beat,” Lemonis said. “We’re moving forward and excited for a big week coming up.”
