With the 2018 season on the line for the IU baseball team, junior pitcher Pauly Milto delivered a classic performance.
Milto pitched his second complete game of the season, allowing just four hits over nine innings, as IU defeated Texas Southern 6-0 on Saturday to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament's Austin regional in Austin, Texas.
"The story of the game was probably Milto," IU Coach Chris Lemonis told reporters. "It was just a great effort, controlled out line up and then really helped us out being able to go a complete game shutout at regionals."
The Hoosiers were forced into an elimination-game scenario against the Tigers after losing to Texas A&M, 10-3, on Friday night, but they comfortably took care of business less than 24 hours later.
For the first three innings of Saturday's game, Milto and Texas Southern junior pitcher Aron Solis were equally effective on the mound. Neither team had much success when batting, until IU exploded for a three-run fourth inning.
The Hoosiers drew one walk and posted three extra-base hits with two outs in the fourth. Junior catcher Ryan Fineman and freshman infielder Justin Walker both recorded RBI doubles, while sophomore infielder Jeremy Houston hit an RBI triple.
IU added two more runs in the fifth as senior outfielder Logan Sowers hit an RBI ground-rule double, before sophomore infielder Scotty Bradley scored Sowers with a single.
The IU scoring was completed in the eighth inning when Fineman hit a solo home run to left field.
Milto's complete game outing will help the Hoosiers in terms of pitching depth, after IU Coach Chris Lemonis had to use five pitchers in Friday night's loss.
"I told him that was the best start I’ve seen in four years," Lemonis said. "So, it was pretty good, I’d rate that one pretty high."
The Hoosiers will have another elimination-game scenario to look forward to Sunday afternoon. At 3 p.m. Sunday, IU will play Texas A&M, again, after the Aggies lost to Texas on Saturday night.
The winner of that game will play Texas on Sunday night, while the loser will be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
Cameron Drummond
