It was a senior day to remember for Indiana baseball outfielder Logan Sowers.
Riding an eight-game hit streak, the West Lafayette native picked up four hits, five RBI’s and belted two home runs in his final game at Bart Kaufman Field.
His torrid day at the dish led Indiana to a 13-3 win Saturday and series sweep over Maryland. Indiana ends the regular season with a record of 37-15 overall and 14-9 in Big Ten play heading into the conference tournament.
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“I always get into these spurts where I see the ball real well and I hit for some nice power,” Sowers said. “I really haven’t done that a whole lot this year, I feel like, regarding the power. You know, it’s a good time to start doing it.”
After hitting just five home runs through Indiana’s first 45 games, Sowers has teed off for four long balls in the Hoosiers last seven.
In addition to his four home runs, Sowers is 13-for-29 with 13 RBI’s at the plate in that span leading the Hoosiers to six straight wins to end the regular season.
It’s the perfect time for Sowers to heat up as the Hoosiers head into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 5 seed next week and play No. 4 Illinois in the first round.
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“You know, we’ve been really hot, the last week-and-a-half, two weeks,” Sowers said. “We’re feeling really good. Confidence is a huge thing in baseball. I think, for the most part, everybody on our team is feeling pretty confident.”
The turnaround and strong finish at the end of the year was exactly what the Hoosiers needed. Indiana was ranked as high as No. 8 in the country at one point in the season with a record of 29-6.
But a steep decline in late April and early May saw them lose nine of 11 games, drop out of the top 25 and fight for position in the Big Ten standings to even make the conference tournament.
They took two of three at Nebraska last weekend, picked up a major mid-week extra innings win at Louisville and swept Maryland to end the year on a high-note.
Now, they’re a very dangerous five seed with a strong NCAA tournament resume.
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“I thought it was huge for us to be able to get into the five-seed and just keep building our resume, RPI, that, the feeling of the program,” IU head coach Chris Lemonis said. “I think some of our hitters feel like we're back and we're clicking. I've said it all year, but right now is probably some of the best baseball we're playing.”
Lemonis said early in the season when the Hoosiers were 23 games above .500, they still weren’t clicking as a team. Now with the increased play of Sowers, Luke Miller and Matt Lloyd at the plate, plus Jeremy Houston defensively at shortstop he feels like they have more of a chance.
Indiana has a legit shot to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament this season and head to its first College World Series since 2013. Lemonis said the keys to making a deep run are good starting pitching, solid defense and timely hits.
As Sowers career winds down, his 230 hits rank 10thall time in school history and 36 home runs have him tied for eighth all time. With all the success Sowers has had in his four years, he’s missing one thing: a championship ring.
After being bounced in the Lexington regional a year ago, he’s expecting bigger and better things from his team in 2018.
“This is the most confident I’ve ever felt, going into a post-season,” Sowers said. “I think we’ve got a really strong chance of going really far. And I’m really looking forward to it.”
Logan Sowers Strong Senior Day Sends Indiana Baseball into Postseason with Confidence
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