Perfection was maintained.
The Hoosiers are undefeated on Friday night against Big Ten foes, as a seven-run inning gave the Hoosiers and sophomore starter Joey DeNato plenty of breathing room as their 12-3 win moved into a tie for first place in the Big Ten.
In Game One each of the Hoosiers' three Big Ten series, they've amassed double-digit runs. In the Saturday contest, they've lost each, combining for three runs.
Though Illini starter Kevin Johnson had a 4.05 ERA, he came into Friday night's game against the Hoosiers with a 5-1 record. The first two innings, he allowed only one walk.
The Hoosiers tagged him for seven runs -- all earned -- in the third and knocked him from the game with two outs in the inning.
Freshman left fielder Chris Sujka began the inning with a bunt single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch by Johnson. Redshirt freshman right fielder Will Nolden put the Hoosiers on the board first with an RBI single. He took second on the throw home.
Junior center fielder Justin Cureton bunt singled back to the mound. Nolden scored from third on freshman catcher Kyle Schwarber's RBI double. Freshman first baseman Sam Travis doubled the Hoosiers' lead with a two-run double.
The hit extended his hitting streak to 17 games. He has now reached base at least once in every game of his career.
Junior shortstop Michael Basil walked. Sophomore designated hitter Dillon Dooney singled to score Travis. Basil advanced to third on the play, and scored when freshman third baseman Chad Clark grounded out to third.
The Hoosiers led 6-0 with only one man retired in the third.
Sophomore second baseman Dustin DeMuth grounded out to second. It was another productive out, as Dooney advanced to third. Sujka, making his second plate appearance of the frame, doubled home Dooney, and knocked Johnson out of the game.
Nolden flew out to center, and the top of the inning drew to a close. But not after the Hoosiers sent 11 men to the plate, and scored seven runs.
The Illini never threatened, as DeNato allowed two runs - both earned - on six hits in 6.2 innings of work.
Kyle Hart will start Game Two for the Hoosiers tomorrow at 4:05 EST as the Hoosiers look to win their third conference series. It will be interesting to see if Indiana can show any consistency offensively.
Worth noting:
The Hoosiers did not commit an error.
Travis drove in five runs.
Basil said he remembered what happened against the Illini last year. After a performance like this, I cannot argue.
I'm guessing, based on this tweet by Coach Tracy Smith, that the Hoosiers played well. (For what it's worth, he corrected the spelling in a later tweet.)
Here is the recap from iuhoosiers.com.
