Hoosiers fall to Illinois in Pitcher's Dual; 2-1

Friday, May 13

Bloomington, Ind.

6:05 P.M.

Indiana University

Illinois

Hoosiers fall to Illinois in Pitcher's Dual; 2-1

5/13/2016 10:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana Baseball fell on the wrong side of a pitcher's dual on Friday night, as the Hoosiers (29-18, 13-6 Big Ten) dropped a tough 2-1 decision to the Illinois Fighting Illini in 11 innings.

Senior Kyle Hart tossed a near-perfect eight innings, allowing just four hits over the course of his outing and fanned nine Fighting Illini. Junior Thomas Belcher picked up the final three innings, allowing one hit and retiring an additional two batters.

Junior Alex Krupa picked up his fourth-straight multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 showing, while sophomore Logan Sowers and freshman Luke Miller also collected two hits each. Miller delivered the Hoosiers' only RBI of the game.

After giving up an infield hit with two outs in the first, Hart retired the next eight batters he faced, which included striking out the side in the third. His streak came to an end when the Illini's Pat McInerney hit a solo home run to center field that just cleared the fence to give Illinois a 1-0 lead.

The Hoosiers stormed back in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Ryan Fineman led off the inning with a flare to right field in some empty space, which allowed him to leg out a double. After junior Austin Cangelosi moved Fineman over to third on a groundout, freshman Luke Miller reached on an infield single to score Fineman and knot the game up at one.

Indiana got two runners on base in the seventh inning with singles by Miller and Krupa, but would leave two stranded. Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth frames to send the game to extras.

A lead-off walk in the top of the 11th translated into the go-ahead run for Illinois following a single down the left field line. The Hoosiers positioned themselves to find an answer in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff single from Sowers, who was then positioned on second by Fineman's sacrifice bunt. Cangelosi knocked a single through the left side to give the Hoosiers runners on first and third. Then with two outs, senior Brian WIlhite gave his offering a ride, but an over-the-shoulder catch by the Illinois' center fielder ended the game.

Indiana is back in action on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. from Bart Kaufman Field. Saturday's game will be the annual Bark in the Park game. In addition, Indiana's 1996 Big Ten Championship squad will be honored before the game.