Perhaps a bit more anticlimactic than the prior two, but a wild pitch by Michigan State closer Tony Wieber allowed junior shortstop Michael Basil to score from third, giving the Hoosiers a 3-2 win and their third consecutive walk-off win at Sembower.
It was made possible by redshirt freshman left fielder Will Nolden. Center fielder Jordan Keur brought a .388 batting average into the game. He stepped in to the batter's box in the top of the ninth to face Jonny Hoffman with the bases loaded and one man retired.
He lined a ball to Nolden, who caught the ball and made a perfect throw to Kyle Schwarber, and the freshman catcher applied the tag on pinch runner Anthony Cheky to preserve the 2-2 tie.
"There was a guy on third, anything middle-to-deep in the outfield, I figured they were going to go," Nolden said. "I just tried to get everything I could behind it, and just let it go.
"It's a ton of momentum. ... I think that rattled Michigan State a little bit and let us do our thing."
The first three innings featured a pitching duel between sophomore Joey DeNato and Spartan starter Tony Bucciferro, as only two batters reached second base.
In the fourth, sophomore designated hitter Dillon Dooney got the Hoosiers on the board first with a home run down the left field line that just stayed on the proper side of the fair pole.
His home run was also the Hoosiers' first hit of the game. Bucciferro had only allowed eight walks entering Friday's game, but issued one in each of the first three innings to Hoosier batters. He was able to strand them to preserve the scoreless tie.
Then Dooney connected on an off speed pitch.
"I was focusing on driving the ball mostly, putting it in play and trying not to strike out," he said. "Something happened, it got in the jet stream and went out."
The Spartans responded in the top of the fifth as DeNato allowed a leadoff double to designated hitter Blaise Salter. First baseman Ryan Krill hit a seeing eye infield single, advancing Salter to third. Shortstop Justin Scanlon tied the game, as he reached base on a 6-3 fielder's choice.
Indiana regained the lead in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore second baseman Dustin DeMuth led-off with a single. He was eliminated trying to steal second. Freshman right fielder Chris Sujka struck out swinging trying to bunt DeMuth into scoring position.
With two outs, Nolden singled through the right side. He scored on junior center fielder Justin Cureton's RBI triple.
In the top of the sixth, Spartans second baseman Ryan Jones doubled down the left field line to lead off the inning. DeNato, by striking out third baseman third baseman Torsten Boss and left fielder John Martinez, was an out away from escaping the inning unscathed. On a 1-2 count, Wieber, who began the game in right field, delivered an RBI single to tie the game.
A base running miscue in the seventh cost the Spartans. Instead of having men on first and second with two out, the inning ended via your everyday 6-4-5 putout.
A fielding error by DeMuth allowed catcher Joel Fisher to reach base to lead off the ninth for Michigan State. Nolden's play preserved the tie and gave IU an opportunity on which they capitalized.
Worth noting:
Joey DeNato picked up, though he wasn't involved in the decision, a quality start as he allowed two runs - both earned - on seven hits. He struck out three and walked only one.
In series openers, IU had scored double-digit runs in three series-opening wins. It was nice to see that they were able to pull out a win today. It's unrealistic that the Hoosiers need to score 10+ runs to win a conference game.
Now, I'm interested to see if they can win their first Saturday contest in Big Ten play. It's a point that does not escape Smith, as he tweeted this.
