MINNEAPOLIS --- Give a good team extra outs, and it will make you pay.
What had been a back-and-forth, deadlocked contest turned into a rout thanks to a crucial fielding miscue by the Buckeyes.
The IU baseball team scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth, all coming after a throwing error by Ohio State starter Brian King, to beat the Buckeyes 11-3 Friday at Target Field.
The win puts the Hoosiers in the driver's seat for a Big Ten Tournament championship as the only undefeated team remaining. Ohio State will face Nebraska in an elimination game tomorrow, and the winner of that game would have to beat IU twice to win the tournament.
IU was down 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth. Senior center fielder Justin Cureton led off with a single to left, and moved to second after Chris Sujka bunted to the mound and King's throw pulled Buckeyes shortstop Kirby Pellant off the second base bag.
From there, the Hoosiers (42-13) didn't have to necessarily hit the ball all the hard to keep the line moving.
After a flyout, Sam Travis hit a sac fly to center to knot the game at 3-3. Scott Donley followed with an infield single to third, and Basil knocked in Sujka with a single up the middle. Junior third basemen Dustin DeMuth then caught the defense off guard with a perfectly placed bunt to the left side.
On the next two play, it became clear this was IU's inning.
Casey Smith followed with a soft single to right that scored Basil, but got caught rounding to far off first. Smith looked dead to rights in the rundown, but limboed underneath an attempted tag by Pellant and reached second, allowing DeMuth to score.
Chad Clark hit a nubber to the right side of the mound that first baseman Brad Hallberg charged. Hallberg flipped it to a covering King, who tried to barehand the feed but dropped it and slipped to his knees. Meanwhile, Chad Clark husteld around from second and scored, sliding in just ahead of King's throw.
IU starter Joey DeNato (8-2) went seven innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
The Hoosiers added a run in the sixth and two in the eighth. King (7-6) gave up eight runs (two earned) on 12 hits with three strikeouts and no walks for the Buckeyes (35-22).
