Hoosiers Take First Game at No. 23 Michigan State, 3-2

Friday, April 22

East Lansing, Mich.

3:05 P.M.

Indiana University

Michigan State

Hoosiers Take First Game at No. 23 Michigan State, 3-2

4/22/2016 6:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Indiana Baseball (22-14, 7-3 Big Ten) earned its 10^th win in 11 games by picking up a 3-2 victory at No. 23 Michigan State on Friday afternoon. A three-run sixth inning proved to be the difference in the win for the Hoosiers.

Senior left hander Kyle Hart picked up his Big Ten leading eighth victory to improve to 8-2 on the year. Hart gave up six hits over seven quality innings, surrendering two runs and striking out two. Junior Thomas Belcher tallied his sixth save the season, tossing two perfect innings and striking out two.

Indiana collected seven hits in the victory, highlighted by a 3-for-4 effort from freshman catcher Ryan Fineman. Fineman, junior Austin Cangelosi and sophomore Isaiah Pasteur each drove in runs for the Hoosiers.

Sophomore Logan Sowers and Fineman tagged two-out singles in the first but would be left stranded, while senior Brian Wilhite found himself stranded following a two-out double in the second frame. Hart worked around a lead-off single in the home half of the first to retire the side and utilized a 6-4-3 twin-killing in the home half of the second to keep the Spartans off the board.

After shutting the Spartans down in order in the third, Michigan State got the game's first run courtesy of a solo home run from Jordan Zimmerman in the fourth.

The Hoosiers fought back with a three-spot in the sixth inning with the help of two RBI singles. A free pass to junior Craig Dedelow put the Hoosiers' leadoff runner on base for the first time in the game. A walk to Logan Sowers pushed Dedelow into scoring position, which set up an RBI single to left field by Fineman. Cangelosi then gave Indiana its first lead on a sacrifice fly to plate Sowers, while an RBI single by Pasteur moved Fineman around to score the Hoosiers' third run. The final two runs of the frame came with two outs.

Michigan State got a run back in the bottom half of the inning but a groundout to short stranded the tying run. Hart came back in the seventh to get the first two batters which included a diving grab by Sowers in right field. After allowing a two-out walk, Hart forced a groundout to third to put up a zero in the frame.

Belcher retired the six batters he faced in relief of Hart, including Marty Bechina on a fly out to left to end the game.

The Hoosiers and Spartans will be back in action on Saturday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. Senior left handed pitcher Caleb Baragar will start on the mound for the Hoosiers.