Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Michigan State
Hoosiers Claim First Big Ten Win, Split Twinbill with Spartans
4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 1, 2006
Box Score
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Head coach Tracy Smith earned his first Big Ten victory, and the Indiana baseball team (8-13, 1-2) secured its first conference win of the season after splitting a doubleheader against Michigan State (11-10, 2-1) at Oldsmobile Park on April 1. The Hoosiers dropped the opener to the Spartans, 2-1, before bouncing back with a 12-7 victory in game two.
The pitchers took center stage in the first game of the afternoon, but the hitters, mainly center fielder Reggie Watson, designated hitter Cameron Satterwhite and second baseman Keith Haas, stepped into the spotlight in the nightcap.
Watson collected four hits in four at-bats with two RBI and two runs. He also stole two bases in two attempts, giving him 13 straight steals and a team-leading 18 in 21 tries.
Satterwhite carded his first career three-hit game, drove in his first two runs, stole his first base and scored a career-high three times. Meanwhile, Haas capped the afternoon with a 2-for-3 effort to go along with two RBI and one run. In the two games, Haas went 4-for-6 and also stole two bags. Overall, the Hoosiers accumulated 16 hits and swiped seven bags in eight attempts.
Back-to-back sacrifice flies by right fielder Ryan Basham and center fielder Adam Tripp staked Michigan State a 2-0 at the end of one.
Getting his second start of the day and his third of the season, Satterwhite took advantage of the opportunity, lacing a two-bagger into the right-center field gap against right-hander Mark Sorensen. Haas continued his big afternoon in the second, ripping a base knock into center field to plate Satterwhite with the Hoosiers' first run of the ballgame.
Satterwhite and Haas struck again in the fourth, with some help from shortstop Tyler Cox, to catapult Indiana to its first advantage of the day at 3-2. After reaching on a two-out error, Satterwhite swiped second, and Haas stroked his fourth single of the afternoon through the left side to drive in the Cincinnati native.
Cox followed with a base hit to left that brought in Haas and moved the Hoosiers in front. Right-hander Mike Monterey (2-3) relieved Sorensen and left runners on first and third to end the inning.
Meanwhile, IU southpaw Joe Vicini (3-1) settled in and retired eight of the next 10 batters he faced until catcher Kyle Day opened the bottom of the fourth with a double into right-center field. Second baseman Alan Cattrysse then reached when Vicini threw wildly to first on his sacrifice bunt, allowing Day to race home to tie things up at 3-3.
After a hits batsman and a wild pitch put Spartans on second and third with one, Vicini kept the game deadlocked by striking out first baseman Steve Gerstenberger and popping up shortstop Troy Krider.
The Hoosiers fed off of Vicini's effort the next half inning. Watson led off with a single to center and scurried to third on a shot up the middle by first baseman Tad Reida. Right fielder Zach Boswell pushed Watson across with a fielder's choice to move IU back in front.
Third baseman Steve Head lined Indiana's third hit of the inning to center field, and Satterwhite crushed a ball over left fielder Tony Clausen's head to score Boswell and Head, giving the Hoosiers a three-run cushion. Two batters later, David Trager, who entered the ballgame at shortstop the previous inning, capped the four-run outburst with a rocket two-bagger over Tripp's head.
In the fifth, IU racked up four runs on five hits to build a 7-3 edge heading into the home half of the fifth, where MSU battled back with a pair of runs to cut its deficit in half. Right-hander Chris McCombs relieved Vicini and induced Gerstenberger to ground out to Haas with the bases loaded and two out to keep the Hoosiers in the lead.
Watson kicked off a two-run sixth with an RBI single to left, plating catcher Billy O'Conner, and Indiana regained its four-run advantage when Watson trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Boswell.
For the sixth straight half inning, a tally went on the scoreboard as the Spartans stopped McCombs scoreless streak at 13 2/3 innings on a two-run single by second baseman Alan Cattrysse. The two-run base hit brought MSU within two at 9-7, but McCombs left runners on first and third with a strikeout of designated hitter Sean Walker.
IU continued the offensive attack in the seventh, tacking on three additional runs to grab a 12-7 lead. Satterwhite led off with his third hit of the game, and pinch-runner Trevor McConnell stole second. Haas sacrificed McConnell to third, where he scored on a dropped fly ball by Basham.
O'Conner, who finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs and a steal, followed with a run-scoring single and touched the plate when Watson bounced one through the left side. McCombs struck out the side in the seventh for the final 12-7 margin.
Vicini scrapped through four innings to earn his third victory of the season in four decisions, while McCombs threw the final three frames and matched a career high with six strikeouts to garner his second save of the season and the third of his career.
After the two teams combined for 24 runs in the series opener, the pitchers took control in game one of the twinbill. In cold and windy elements, Hoosier starter Clint Crosier and Spartan right-hander Jeff Gerbe dominated.
Crosier (2-1) gave up just one earned run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and five punchouts. Gerbe (3-2) did not allow an earned run and scattered four hits with three bases on balls en route to his second complete game of the season.
M SU held a 1-0 lead, with an unearned run in the second, until the sixth inning. In that frame, IU finally broke through with a clutch two-out single through the right side off the bat of designated hitter Steve Head. Left fielder Jay Brant, who reached on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by center fielder Reggie Watson, came home with the game-tying run.
However, the Spartans regained the lead the next half inning when right fielder Ryan Basham scored on a fielder's choice for the deciding tally.
The Hoosiers attempted a two-out rally in the seventh as shortstop David Trager walked, and Brant delivered a base hit to left to put runners on first and second. But as was the case all game, Gerbe shut the door, fanning Watson to give Michigan State its second straight win in the four-game set.
Prior to the sixth, second baseman Keith Haas was the Hoosier offense. The North Olmsted, Ohio native singled up the middle in the third and fifth innings and proceeded to steal second in both frames. Haas, who finished the game 2-for-3, advanced to third base in the third and second base in the fifth but was stranded on both occasions.
The Spartans looked to add an insurance run in the fifth, placing runners on second and third with two outs, but Crosier struck out Jamey Embree to enable the Hoosiers to tie the game in the sixth.
IU looks to split the series in the finale on Sunday afternoon, April 2. First pitch has been moved from 1 p.m. to noon (EDT).
