Amidst the gloomy weather in Bloomington, the Hoosiers 13-11 (5-4) took on the Bellarmine Knights in a midweek tilt. Indiana came into the game looking for a big win, coming off a series against UCLA where they took the opening game 5-1, then dropped Saturday's game 7-4 and the rubber match 6-3.
Indiana started the action right away, as Korbyn Dickerson ripped a 115 mph RBI double, driving in Wiggins to score their first run. They were not done though, as back-to-back home runs by Jake Hanley and Tyler Cerny (inside-the-park) made it a quick 4-0 lead. Hoosiers would add one more after T.J. Schuyler drives in Cooper Malamazian with a single to extend the lead to five.
The action didn’t stop in the second, as it began with a Devin Taylor Solo-HR, his ninth of the year. After a slow start, Taylor has caught fire, with his average climbing to .374 on the season. They would scratch across two more by way of a Tyler Cerny ROE, Hogan Denny double, and a Malamazian single to make it 8-0 After two.
After a scoreless third, Indiana got back to work in the fourth, as after a Korbyn Dickerson RBI single, freshman Cooper Malamazian hits a grand slam to make it 13-0. Indiana’s bats refused to be denied all day and didn’t strike out a single time throughout six innings.
“We played really well. Got a bunch of guys in, and that’s what these games are designed to do,” said head coach Jeff Mercer on today's game.
The pitching staff for Indiana was masterful Tuesday, shutting out the Knights across seven innings of work. Cole Gilley got the start, throwing a scoreless inning of work. He was then followed by Ryan Kraft, Grant Holderfield, Aydan Decker-Petty, Ryan Rushing, Trey Telfer, and Brayton Thomas, all of whom threw scoreless innings.
Indiana’s pitching has drastically improved over the last month, with Ryan Kraft and Gavin Seebold settling in and delivering solid outings and the emergence of Ben Grable as a weekend starter. Indiana will need them again as they find themselves right in the middle of Big Ten play.
Indiana takes home a dominant win, an important one leading up to a big series against USC, a must-win series in the heart of conference play.
