The fifth inning came and went.
Squandering a major opportunity to do damage against Xavier in game two of the weekend series, IU left the bases loaded and the game within reach for the Musketeers.
From that moment on, the series flipped for the Hoosiers. In the next 11 innings of baseball, IU’s bats exploded and the team scored 21 runs, helping them sweep Xavier and take their fourth straight series.
In the first game of the series, IU beat Xavier 1-0 in a pitcher’s duel.
IU’s one run in the game came on a solo home run by senior infielder Tony Butler in the third inning. Sophomore pitcher Jonathan Stiever pitched a gem for the Hoosiers, going seven and two-thirds innings, giving up only five hits and no runs.
In game two of the series, IU got out to an early 4-2 lead, but missed an opportunity to extend its lead in the fifth inning, leaving the bases loaded.
“Definitely glad to get a second chance there,” sophomore infielder Matt Lloyd said. “Leaving base runners on is huge momentum for the other team. So, it was nice to be able to shut them down and come back out and get another opportunity to score.”
The Hoosiers scored four runs in the sixth inning and ended up winning game two 14-3.
This was the most runs IU had scored in a game all season.
“I just think we got some pitches to hit and I think we did a good job of the strike zone of not chasing outside the strike zone,” IU manager Chris Lemonis said. “So the walks and we got some innings going and some big hits on top of it.”
Freshman pitcher Cal Krueger started for IU and went four and two-thirds innings, giving up six hits and two runs. Lemonis said he thought Krueger pitched well, but started to give up some hard hit balls in the fifth.
“He was a little juiced early and didn’t make it through the whole game or get through the fifth,” Lemonis said.
IU pitchers gave up 13 hits, but were able to avoid too much damage.
IU completed the sweep of Xavier on Sunday, winning 11-7, as the Hoosiers continued to hit the ball well. The team finished with 16 hits matching Saturday’s total.
The runs came early and often as Craig Dedelow belted his team-high 12th home run to get three runs on the board in the first. He finished with three hits and four RBI on the day after getting a single hit in the previous two games.
“We kind of switched our approaches,” Dedelow said. “We tried to swing at better pitches today and yesterday and I think we did a good job at that.”
IU’s offense continued to roll, but it was good pitching and defense that held a shutout until the eighth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Pauly was stellar on the mound, throwing six scoreless innings, five strikeouts and only allowing three hits.
“He was dominant today,” Lemonis said. “He threw six full innings and 70 pitches, but it feels like he barely threw a ball all day.”
The Hoosiers are now 27-17-2 on the year and only have two Big 10 series left in the regular season.
Senior infielder Austin Cangelosi said this team could have mailed it in months ago, but turned the corner and have put together a strong NCAA Tournament resume.
“It’s huge,” Cangelosi said Saturday. “We’re playing good baseball right now. We just have to build a resume. We want to play in a regional; we want to win the Big Ten. You cannot just take a weekend off like this even though [it’s] nonconference. We’re out here to win.”
Austin Ghirardelli contributed reporting.
