Hart Gets His Chance in Center
4/10/2016 9:57:00 PM | Baseball
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - When Kyle Hart isn't busy leading Indiana's rotation, he spends his time practicing for his second dream gig with the Hoosiers—being an outfielder.
Every batting practice, the senior Friday starter trots out to center field to chase down fly balls. It's not just for fun, either. He's preparing for that one freak incident to leave Indiana without a center fielder so head coach Chris Lemonis could send him out there as needed in case of emergency.
Sunday night, Hart finally got his chance.
Hart fielded two innings of Indiana's 7-6 win against Purdue out in center field to secure a three-game sweep at Bart Kaufman Field. He finished the game with a pair of catches in place of normal center fielder Laren Eustace, who was pulled out of the game after agitating his hamstring.
"That's probably the highlight of his career, honestly," junior relief pitcher Luke Stephenson said. "Not even joking."
When Lemonis called Hart's name in the dugout right before the start of the eighth, Hart didn't even take time to register what was going on. He ran into the dugout to grab a first baseman's glove unaware of where he'd even be playing on the field.
After Indiana finished scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh following a lengthy rain delay, Hart sprinted out into center and took the defensive stance he's gotten used to taking in batting practice. The only difference was any play he was making would count in a one-run ballgame.
So when a Purdue's Alex Olund hit a liner right at him, Hart said he only had one thought running through his mind.
"Catch it," Hart deadpanned. "The biggest difficulty I think is it's getting darker and the rain was kind of coming in sideways and hitting my face. It's just a tough time to play outfield, honestly. It's not like it's BP when it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon and you can see everything."
Hart made that catch—much to the pleasure of second baseman Tony Butler who threw his arms into the air after the grab—and then another on the warning track off Kyle Wood's bat in the bottom of the ninth.
"He's probably one of our best guys," Lemonis said. "We were going to let him play that one time through the lineup until his spot came up. He wouldn't have hit, so don't worry about that."
Hart's outing in center field encapsulated what was a strange game at Bart Kaufman Field.
The Hoosiers (17-13, 4-2) were down 5-1 before a nearly two hour lightning delay during the top half of the seventh inning. When Indiana took its turn in the bottom half of the frame, IU strung together five runs all with two outs.
The Boilermakers (4-24, 0-9) retook the lead in the top of the eighth inning before sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers hit a solo shot to center in the bottom of the inning to push passed the winning run to complete a three-game sweep.
"Hopefully were growing, moving in the right direction," Lemonis said.
