He was just trying to find his glove and get on the field.
Sophomore outfielder Laren Eustace had to leave the game because of a hamstring injury, and the Hoosiers needed a new center fielder.
So IU Coach Chris Lemonis turned to senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart, who made two catches in the final two innings of IU’s 7-6 win to help the Hoosiers sweep Purdue.
“I didn’t even know where I was playing, I just grabbed my glove,” Hart said. “I didn’t even know which glove to grab. I thought I was getting a first baseman’s mitt or something.”
Hart has never played a game in center field in his five-year IU career. What he has done was shag balls in batting practice every day. He’s even in center field running down fly balls on the day he’s supposed to pitch.
So before he started IU’s 10-9 win Friday, before he watched IU win 3-2 Saturday and again Sunday, Hart was in center field preparing for the improbable.
Before every game, Hart is preparing for the chance he plays in the outfield that day.
“He takes reps out there all day in practice,” sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers said. “He was even taking fly balls with us before the game so he was ready. That was something he’s been wanting to do, so I’m happy for him.”
He said he jokes with Lemonis that a situation will come where he will need to play the field. On Sunday, that happened, and he played the field well.
He caught the first ball hit at him in the eighth inning, a line drive that required Hart to take a few steps in and to his left, with a little help from junior outfielder Craig Dedelow.
“I kind of knew it was one of those balls that was right at me, and thankfully it was,” Hart said. “Craig was hollering at me. I told him before, ‘You have to tell me exactly where to be.’”
The second ball hit at Hart was more difficult. It was also more important. With one out in the ninth, Kyle Wood was at the plate. He already had a home run Friday and an RBI single Sunday.
Then, he drove a ball deep to center field. Hart handled it like someone who plays every day in center field.
He broke back toward the fence tracking the ball before reaching up for a running, over-the-shoulder catch for the second out of the inning.
“The biggest difficulty I think is it’s getting darker, and the rain is kind of coming in sideways and hitting you in the face,” Hart said. “It’s just a tough time to play outfield honestly. It’s not like BP when it’s 3:00 in the afternoon and you can see everything. There’s actually runners on base.”
Had the ball got down, Wood most likely would have ended up on second. If he had scored, the game would have been tied. Hart would have been due up fifth for the Hoosiers in the bottom of the ninth.
Don’t worry, that’s where Lemonis draws the line.
“He wouldn’t have hit,” Lemonis said. “Don’t worry about that.”
