Hoosiers Get 2 Easy Wins Over Minnesota in Doubleheader Sweep
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's baseball team continued its winning ways on Friday afternoon, pounding Minnesota 9-3 in the first game of a doubleheader and then sweeping the nightcap, 7-1.
The Hoosiers (17-8) have now won six of their past seven games and are 10-1 at home at Bart Kaufman Field this season. The sweep helped them keep pace in the Big Ten, where they're still nipping at the heels of Nebraska and Michigan.
"You always know where you are in the standings, who's chasing you and who you're chasing,'' said Indiana outfielder Drew Ashley, who had five hits on the day, including one homer and a second that was wrongly ruled a double after it hit off a TV camera beyond the center field wall and bounded back into play. "We knew this was big, with a doubleheader today. We needed them both, and we got them.''
The Hoosiers did it with plenty of hitting in both games and more solid performances from starters Tommy Sommer and John Modugno, who got the call instead of usual Saturday starter McCade Brown. Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said he didn't want to push Brown up a day because of the doubleheader, so he gave him the weekend off.
Minnesota (4-22) came into the game with a league-worst 7.93 earned run average, and it showed in the first game. The Hoosiers' offense took advantage of 12 walks and two hit batsman to win comfortably. Designated hitter Tyler Van Pelt walked four times.
Ashley was the hitting star in the opener for the Hoosiers, He was 3-for-5 in the game, driving in three runs. He drove in the Hoosiers' first run in the second inning on a single, and then drove in two more in the fifth with a double.
It should have been a home run. The long drive to straightaway center hit the Big Ten Network camera just behind the wall and bounced back into play.
Center fielder Grant Richardson had a multi-hit day as well, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Freshman Morgan Colopy had a two-run single as well.
Sommer (5-1) pitched into the seventh inning, and struck out 11 batters, his third double-digit strikeout game of the season. He was sharp and on point in keeping guys off balance. He allowed three runs, two on a Ronald Sweeny homer in the fourth an a solo shot by Easton Bertrand that ended his day with two outs in the seventh. He had four walks.
"Any time you're able to mix things up and keep them guessing and off-balance all day, you start to really open up the plate and keep them on their heels a little bit,'' Sommer said. "As you execute pitches and are being aggressive down and away with fastballs to those left-handed hitters, you get a lot of those freeze fastballs for (called) strikes. I thought that really worked in our favor today.''
Grant Macciocchi, making his first appearance on the mound this season, finished the game off. He pitched 2 1/3 innings of hitless ball, allowing only one walk.
In the second game, John Modugno got his first start of the season and was sharp, pitching 4 2/3 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits. He was one pitch away from getting credited with the win.
"We had confidence in John to be able to manage it,'' Mercer said. "We didn't want to put McCade in a compromising position by moving him up a day. John did a really good job, and the sinker/cutter combination was really good today. It just felt like he was running out of gas out (in the fifth inning, after 72 pitches) and we wanted him to finish on a high note.''
The Hoosiers used four relievers to close out the game. Braden Scott, who threw one pitch to end the fifth innings was credited with the win. Nathan Stahl pitched two innings and gave up the only run, a homer by Bertrand in the sixth. Ty Bothwell and Matt Litwicki each pitched a scoreless inning in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
Ashley had another big hitting day in the nightcap. He was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a towering home run to left field in the third inning. The Hoosiers scored three times in both the third and fourth innings to blow the game open.
Ashley also had a great catch in left field to end a threat, and center fielder Grant Richardson did the same thing a few innings.
"Sure, that means as much (as a big hit),'' Ashley said. "It's all about scoring more runs than them, and if we can take runs away, that's a good thing, too.''
Another unlikely hitting hero was catcher Collin Hopkins, who came into the game hitting just .065. But he went 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI and raised his average to .122. "Drew's hits, and Hopkins' hits, they were huge. We needed them,'' Mercer said.
The teams will take Saturday off because of impending weather, and then wrap up the series on Sunday with Gabe Bierman getting the start. He's gone 15 2/3 scoreless innings in his last two-plus outings. The game has been moved up to 11 a.m.
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