Indiana baseball had revenge on their minds Tuesday night in Terre Haute, looking to avenge a loss to Indiana State in Bloomington earlier this season.
Things looked bleak at first, as Jeff Mercer and company quickly found themselves down by five after the first inning. Nearly four hours later, they were 17-12 victors on what proved to be a wild night at Bob Warn Field.
Back on March 24, the two in-state foes combined for only nine runs. On Tuesday night, they matched that total in the third inning. A whopping 37 players were used throughout the contest. Hogan Denny, second on the team with a .341 batting average, was not among those players, as he continues to be day-to-day after suffering an injury running into the outfield wall over the weekend against Maryland.
The Hoosiers used right-hander Pete Haas as the opener, and he lasted just one inning, as the Sycamores went deep three times in the frame, headlined by a three-run shot from Caden Miller to open the scoring.
Five of Indiana’s eight arms gave up at least one run. The headliner of the staff Tuesday night was an unfamiliar face in left-handed pitcher Anthony Gubitosi. The former Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hen pitched two scoreless in relief of Haas while fanning three, and wound up being the winning pitcher.
Speaking of former Delaware players, Aiden Stewart made his first start since Feb. 17, playing second base. He was 0-for-1 with a walk. In 11 at-bats as a Hoosiers, Stewart is 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts.
Stewart was the only Hoosier in the lineup who did not have a hit. In fact, six different Hoosiers had multi-hit efforts.
The power was on full display from the cream and crimson. Five different players hit a home run, including sophomore Caleb Koskie, who went deep on two different occasions. The Minnesota native is currently on a 17-game hitting streak, the longest for an IU player since Sam Travis hit safely in 17 straight in 2012.
The bulk of Indiana’s work offensively came in the middle innings, scoring 15 of their 17 runs between the second and sixth innings, while holding the Sycamores scoreless from the second through the fifth.
Taking the lead in the fourth off of Koskie’s first home run, the Hoosiers didn’t look back. Freshman Ivan Mastalski picked up the final three outs in the ninth to seal the deal for Indiana.
Indiana will have to turn around very quickly, as they are once again out for revenge Wednesday night, this time against Evansville. The Purple Aces’ got the best of the Hoosiers in their 11-inning showdown down I-69 a few weeks back. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Bart Kaufman Field.
