Behind Best Hitting Of Season, IU Defeats Middle Tennessee 12-1
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana head coach Chris Lemonis was critical of his offense after an unproductive home opener on Friday. The next day, it was a completely different story.
Behind a season-high 23 hits, the Hoosiers knocked off Middle Tennessee State 12-1 Saturday at Bart Kaufman Field.
“With baseball, we’re fortunate we get to get that bad taste out of our mouth pretty quick,” Lemonis said. “We came out aggressive offensively, which I liked.”
Reshuffled lineup resulted in more production for Indiana which scored seven in one inning. It’s first time they’ve recorded 20 or more hits in a single game since notching 23 against Butler on March 23, 2016.
The new-look batting order was especially deadly in the early frames, with IU (5-7-1) sending 27 batters to the plate in the first four innings
“Just trying to shake some guys up and let them have a different feel in the game,” Lemonis said of the lineup change. “We know some of those guys are really good players and they’ve just struggled, so we tried to put ourselves in a little better situation in terms of how they’re playing now. I’ve been putting out a lineup from what I expected, but it hasn’t really panned out.”
Two-out RBI single by freshman shortstop Jeremy Houston in the bottom of the second got Indiana its first run of the contest. Senior outfielder Alex Krupa built the lead with a solo shot to right field to lead off the bottom of the third inning.
RBI singles by sophomore catcher Ryan Fineman, freshman catcher Jake Matheny, senior second baseman Tony Butler, and junior outfielder Logan Sowers further added to a big inning, as the Hoosiers bases kept loading batter after batter. Butler’s unearned run marked the seventh and final run of that inning after freshman infielder Matt Gorski flied out to left field.
Gorski was the only Hoosier in the starting lineup who failed to record an RBI, as 8 of 9 Indiana batters drove in a run. Senior outfielder Craig Dedelow led the Hoosiers with a 4 of 5 effort at the plate, including an RBI.
“It seemed like we had a lot more team at-bats than people going for their own personal agendas, and it showed on the field,” Dedelow said.
Middle Tennessee (7-7) cycled through three different pitchers, managing just three strikeouts combined against Indiana batters Saturday afternoon.
For the Hoosiers, junior right-hander Brian Hobbie (1-1) earned his first win of the season, while Middle Tennesee sophomore righty Carson Lester (0-3) picked up the loss. Hobbie tossed a season-high three strikeouts, allowing just three hits, one earned run and one walk in six innings.
“Being able to sit in and watch yesterday’s game, kind of learn from it, helped for today,” Hobbie said. “Just kind of through the ball in more, let the team try to hit the ball the other way. It worked well for me.”
Hobbie credited the run support for making his job on the mound easier. Now the Hoosiers hope to continue that offensive momentum heading into Sunday’s rubber match with the Blue Raiders.
“It’ll be a good game tomorrow,” Lemonis said. “It’ll be a lot more competitive, I’m sure. We’ll have to bring our best.”
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