The first five Hoosier hitters saw first-pitch strikes from Michigan freshman starter Evan Hill, who enjoyed a 1-2-3 first frame, an inning that must have seemed so distant in the eyes of the Wolverines.
The No. 17 Hoosiers' (33-8, 10-4) scored a touchdown's worth of runs in the third to establish an eight-run lead for the second consecutive contest and, going away, won their seventh straight game, 9-3 before an audience of 1,648 Saturday evening at Bart Kaufman Field.
The Wolverines struck first when center fielder Patrick Biondi, who stole a Big Ten-record six bases Tuesday in a 15-10 loss to Eastern Michigan, crossed the dish via an RBI groundout by fellow outfielder Michael O'Neill. The leadoff walk bit sophomore starter Kyle Hart, as U-M manufactured a run.
"I was a little honked off at him there in the first inning, coming out walking the lead-off (hitter)," IU Coach Tracy Smith. "But I thought he settled in there very nicely, competed for us."
Hart said he got into a little bit of trouble with Smith after the first inning.
"I thought I threw some good pitches to him," Hart said.
Things came unraveled for Hill in the second, as he fell behind 1-0 to five of the eight hitters he faced. Freshman second baseman Nick Ramos, the sixth hitter of the inning, pounced on the first pitch and softly lined a two-run single over the drawn-in infield to discontinue the Wolverines' brief lead.
Sophomore left fielder Scott Donley, who scored IU's first run, also reached on an inning-opening base on balls. In all, Hill walked four in two and one-third innings pitched.
"That (Hill) was supposed to be their guy," sophomore first baseman Sam Travis said. "I was expecting him to settle in a little bit, but the first two guys walked, and obviously that's not good for a pitcher. He got rattled pretty quickly."
The Hoosiers capitalized an inning later. Travis and Donley began the tertiary inning with singles back up the middle. After senior shortstop Michael Basil struck out swinging, junior third baseman Dustin DeMuth collected his second infield single to load the bases. Junior right fielder Casey Smith notched his second RBI in as many innings -- again without an official at-bat -- as he drew a walk to force home Travis.
Hill's day was over. The Hoosiers greeted relief pitcher Matt Ogden -- the first of four Wolverines relievers -- rudely. Sophomore catcher Chad Clark and Ramos delivered a two-run single and double, respectively, to double the Hoosiers lead. Senior center fielder Justin Cureton grounded out to third and sophomore designated hitter Kyle Schwarber drew a walk.
Travis' line drive bounced out of third baseman Brett Winger's glove, and he could not make the barehanded catch falling to his right. Ramos scored the Hoosiers' ninth run on the play. Eight of them were driven in by the bottom three hitters in the order, including Ramos' career-high four RBI.
He said he noticed that Hill was leaving fastballs up in the zone.
"That's the nice part about the balance that we have," Smith said. "I thought that (Ramos's two-run double) was kind of the dagger right there. It's good to see those guys produce down there."
Hill, who went seven shutout innings in his last start at Northwestern, surrendered seven runs as the Hoosiers gained another half-game on the first-place Nebraska Cornhuskers, playing their compulsory non-conference weekend.
Meanwhile, Hart picked up his staff leading seventh win--against no defeats.
Hart said his weekly goal is to one-up the Hoosiers' starter from San Diego.
"Every time I go out there, I try to beat Joey DeNato," he said. "Tonight, I think he got me"
