Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Building Confidence After Series Win
3/28/2016 3:23:00 PM | Baseball
By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tony Butler wasn't supposed to be swinging.
With one on in a tie game in the bottom of the 10th, the junior infielder was supposed to be bunting in the hopes of advancing senior Brian Wilhite into scoring position. But after the first pitch landed in the strike zone and the third went foul, the Hoosiers had to change their game plan.
Butler would have to swing.
The swing sent the ball soaring left-center and outside the confines of Bartman Kaufman Field to win Indiana the game and the series, 5-3 against Indiana State.
"I wish I would have got the bunt down first," Butler said, "but I guess I'll take that."
It might have been Butler's heroics at the end of the game that clinched Indiana's third series win in two weeks, but it was Logan Sowers that kept the Hoosiers in it long enough to set up the walkoff in extra innings.
Four days after returning to the lineup from injury, the sophomore outfielder plated two home runs and three RBIs, accounting for all of the Hoosiers' runs until the final shot by Butler. It was Sowers' first career multi-home run game, good for a team-high active 10 career shots.
Sowers admits Butler's hit wasn't one he typically makes in practice. Butler said it was his first walkoff homer since little league. Nonetheless, the JUCO transfer's first NCAA career home run was good for the win in the Hoosiers' Big-Ten leading sixth game in extra innings this season.
"It was going to come down to something like that I thought," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Our challenge was just being able to match toughness out there. Tony misses two bunts and hits a jack, so that takes a little bit of toughness."
Wilhite delivered the other big hit in game one of the series, knocking out his second career grand slam to push the Hoosiers ahead 4-1 in an eventual 7-5 victory at Terre Haute. He singled in the 10th inning of the series-deciding win in Bloomington, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
"I'd say confidence, especially at the plate," Sowers said. "Wilhite was huge for us the other day, Tony tonight."
Indiana's has been lights out on the mound over nine wins in 11 games, and Sunday was no exception. Junior right hander Thomas Belcher stepped in in relief during the middle of a tie-game two-man jam in the seventh and did not allow a single Sycamore to get a hit the rest of the game. It was the second game of the series (both wins) in which the Hoosier bullpen pitched a shutout.
Indiana knew at the beginning of the season that it had a strong rotation. It knew it could make tough defensive plays. It also knew hitting would come tough at times.
But if the Hoosiers can continue to get steady production from Wilhite, Sowers and Dedelow — who combined for 12 hits, eight RBIs and seven runs against the Sycamores — then Indiana, now tied for the most games above .500 it has been on the season at 12-10, should find itself confident heading into Big Ten play next weekend.
"We feel ready," Sowers said. "We're just trying to play some good baseball up until then."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tony Butler wasn't supposed to be swinging.
With one on in a tie game in the bottom of the 10th, the junior infielder was supposed to be bunting in the hopes of advancing senior Brian Wilhite into scoring position. But after the first pitch landed in the strike zone and the third went foul, the Hoosiers had to change their game plan.
Butler would have to swing.
The swing sent the ball soaring left-center and outside the confines of Bartman Kaufman Field to win Indiana the game and the series, 5-3 against Indiana State.
"I wish I would have got the bunt down first," Butler said, "but I guess I'll take that."
It might have been Butler's heroics at the end of the game that clinched Indiana's third series win in two weeks, but it was Logan Sowers that kept the Hoosiers in it long enough to set up the walkoff in extra innings.
Four days after returning to the lineup from injury, the sophomore outfielder plated two home runs and three RBIs, accounting for all of the Hoosiers' runs until the final shot by Butler. It was Sowers' first career multi-home run game, good for a team-high active 10 career shots.
Sowers admits Butler's hit wasn't one he typically makes in practice. Butler said it was his first walkoff homer since little league. Nonetheless, the JUCO transfer's first NCAA career home run was good for the win in the Hoosiers' Big-Ten leading sixth game in extra innings this season.
"It was going to come down to something like that I thought," head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Our challenge was just being able to match toughness out there. Tony misses two bunts and hits a jack, so that takes a little bit of toughness."
Wilhite delivered the other big hit in game one of the series, knocking out his second career grand slam to push the Hoosiers ahead 4-1 in an eventual 7-5 victory at Terre Haute. He singled in the 10th inning of the series-deciding win in Bloomington, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
"I'd say confidence, especially at the plate," Sowers said. "Wilhite was huge for us the other day, Tony tonight."
Indiana's has been lights out on the mound over nine wins in 11 games, and Sunday was no exception. Junior right hander Thomas Belcher stepped in in relief during the middle of a tie-game two-man jam in the seventh and did not allow a single Sycamore to get a hit the rest of the game. It was the second game of the series (both wins) in which the Hoosier bullpen pitched a shutout.
Indiana knew at the beginning of the season that it had a strong rotation. It knew it could make tough defensive plays. It also knew hitting would come tough at times.
But if the Hoosiers can continue to get steady production from Wilhite, Sowers and Dedelow — who combined for 12 hits, eight RBIs and seven runs against the Sycamores — then Indiana, now tied for the most games above .500 it has been on the season at 12-10, should find itself confident heading into Big Ten play next weekend.
"We feel ready," Sowers said. "We're just trying to play some good baseball up until then."
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