Indiana University Athletics
INDIANA DEFEATS DEFIANCE
3/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
INDIANA DEFEATS DEFIANCE
Boxscore
Bloomington, Ind.--Vasalli Spanos continued his hot hitting
and Indiana posted its first shutout since March of 1999 as the
Hoosiers blanked Defiance 5-0 at Sembower Field. The win improved
Indiana to 15-7 on the season and 7-0 at home.
Spanos went 3-for-4 on the day and has now collected 14 hits in his last 25 at bats for an average of .560. He leads the team in hitting on the season with a .515 average. He was a part of each of the Hoosier's five runs on the afternoon.
"I feel good at the plate," said Spanos. "I'm staying back, and hitting the ball well. I'm hitting line drives and not popping them up."
"He's strong and powerful and can drive the baseball ," said head coach Bob Morgan of Spanos. "He's going to be a good player for us, and hopefully he can continue what he's doing right now."
Indiana pitchers were just as strong striking out eight while allowing just five hits on the day. David Ferris worked the first three innings and fanned four while Nick Otte worked the next three innings and struck out three. Ferris was credited with the victory to improve to a team best 4-0 on the season.
Tom WIllerer and Chris Wilson each worked an inning to close out the contest. Indiana has now lowered its team ERA to 3.19 on the season.
The shutout was the first by the Indiana staff since the Hoosiers blanked Princeton 4-0 on March 19, 1999.
Indiana got on the board first in their initial at bat as Spanos drove home Tim McNab with a two-out single to give his team a 1-0 lead. Spanos singled in his second at in the fourth inning and quickly scored when Blake St. Clair cracked a two-run homerun just inside the foul pole down the right field line to give Indiana a 3-0 lead.
Spanos struck again the following inning with a single to score Benji Clause making the score 4-0. He then scored a run in the seventh on a St. Clair single to give Indiana a 5-0 lead.
Indiana returns to Sembower Field tomorrow to face Taylor
at 1:30 p.m.
