Indiana Baseball: Hoosiers Top Illinois on Collin Hopkins' Walk-Off Homer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The numbers defied the moment. Indiana catcher Collin Hopkins was hitting .067 on the season, with just two hits in 30 at-bats, including three harmless outs against Illinois on Friday night at Bart Kaufman Field.
But in the bottom of the ninth with the scored tied, Hopkins his a towering home run to left field, giving the Hoosiers a dramatic 6-4 win, snapping a five-game losing streak.
The blast was stunning and unexpected since he's been struggling so much. But he came through when Indiana needed it the most, grabbing the first game of the series and raising their record to 12-7.
"I was definitely taking until I got a strike,'' Hopkins said of his approach on the final at-bat. "I was just trying to stay simple, like (Coach Jeff Mercer) always tell me. It was a 3-1 count and it was a hitter's pitch, and I got it.''
It was the fourth home run of the night for Indiana, which had only 15 dingers in 18 games prior to Friday. All six of their runs came via the long ball.
Indiana starter Tommy Sommer was sharp early and freshman first baseman Kip Fougerousse broke the scoreless drought in the third with a homer down the left field line off of Illinois starter Nathan Lavender. Fougerousse got the start at first against the left-hander, and the paid off despite the fact that he came into the game hitting just .095 (2-for-21) and had been hitless in his last 16 at-bats.
Things unraveled a bit for Indiana in the top of the fifth. Jackson singled to lead off the inning, but then Sommer got two straight strikeouts. But then Janas followed with a drive deep into the right-center field alley to tie the game at 1-1. Three more hits followed, and Illinois took a 3-1 lead on an infield single.
But the Hoosiers, who have only hit 15 home runs all year before Friday, started thumping away to get back ahead. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Drew Ashley hit a two-run blast to tie the game at 3-3, scoring Grant Macciocchi, who had singled to lead off the inning.
Indiana took the lead 4-3 in the sixth on a Cole Barr solo homer, his third of the year.
John Modugno relieved Sommer, who left after five innings, throwing 96 pitches. Modugno was very good, allowing just one hit in two scoreless innings.
Left-handed reliever Braden Scott took the mound for the top of the eighth to face lefty hitter Jackson Raper, who already had three hits in the game. He ripped a homer deep to left-center on a 2-2 pitch to tie the game at 4. But then minutes later, the game was stopped for a lightning delay at 7:15 p.m. ET.
The delay last 1 hour, 48 minutes. Nathan Stahl, who had started to warm up when the delay started and pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth. It got a little nerve-wracking in the ninth when Illinois got three straight two-out hits, but Stahl got Raper to fly out to Grant Richardson in center.
And then, after a Fougerousse single, Hopkins ended it.
"We had a really good week of practice, and I think the game tonight was a product of that,'' Hopkins said. "I think we're starting to get our feet back under us again and we're starting to build some momentum.''
The two teams meet again on Saturday. McCade Brown, who leads the Big Ten is strikeouts, will start for the Hoosiers. He is 3-2 with a 2.57 earned run average and 49 strikeouts. Game time is at 2 p.m. ET. The series finale is on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Related stories on Indiana baseball
- MERCER GLAD TO BE HOME: After losing five straight games on the road, Indiana coach Jeff Mercer is glad to be back in the Hoosiers' home ballpark for a weekend series with Illinois. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: It was a really bad weekend at Ohio State for Indiana, which got swept in a four-game series, but that's all it is – just one weekend. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete 44-game schedule, which is made up of all Big Ten games this season. Dates and links to previous game stories are all in the file. CLICK HERE