Junior outfielder Kevin Williams, Jr. stepped up to the plate for Samford in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday and accomplished a feat that every young baseball player dreams of.
Down two runs with two teammates on base and one out in the final frame, Williams hit a three-run walk off home run to claim the 6-5 victory over IU.
A ninth inning miscue came back to haunt IU, who moved to 4-5-1, as Samford third baseman Greg Mula reached on a throwing error by Hoosier third baseman Luke Miller to lead off the final frame Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.
Two big hits yielded all five of the Hoosiers' runs and IU once again struggled to get hits with runners on base, going just 2-15 in those opportunities and a meager 1-10 with runners in scoring position.
Samford, now 4-5, also didn’t fare well with runners on base, going 4-17 with runners aboard and 1-6 with runners in scoring position.
Junior pitcher Brian Hobbie was dominant out of the gate for IU and threw only 34 pitches through the first four innings. After giving up two hits in the fifth, Hobbie was able to keep the Bulldogs off of the scoreboard until the following inning.
The junior was credited with two runs allowed in the sixth and finished with a final line of 5.1 innings pitched, five hits, two runs and two strikeouts.
First baseman Matt Lloyd initiated the scoring for the Hoosiers, blasting a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning.
Sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman stepped up with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning by clearing the bases on a double to left center to extend IU’s lead to 5-0.
Samford began chipping away at IU's lead in the bottom half of the sixth inning, plating two. Bulldogs first baseman Austin Edens added a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth off of Hoosier freshman Cameron Beauchamp to pull to within two runs.
IU sophomore Pauly Milto entered the game for Beauchamp and was able to get out of the eighth before being called upon to pitch the ninth inning as well.
Mula began the inning for the Bulldogs by reaching on Miller’s throwing error.
Freshman shortstop Branden Fryman hit a one-out single that moved to Mula over to second base. Next, Williams walked up to the plate and took a 1-1 pitch deep to end it.
IU and Samford will play the series’ rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m.
Spencer Davis
