Defense Shines in 11-1 Baseball Victory over Western Illinois

Wednesday, March 14

Bloomington, Ind.

4:05 p.m.

Indiana University

12-4

Western Illinois

0-12

Western Illinois

Indiana

Defense Shines in 11-1 Baseball Victory over Western Illinois

3/14/2018 8:16:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It was perhaps too chilly to qualify as a weekend warm-up game.

But Wednesday afternoon's 11-1 romp over Western Illinois served Indiana's host Hoosiers well in prepping every aspect of the game heading into this weekend's series with Northern Illinois.

Offense? Check.

Pitching? Check.

Defense? Wow.

"That's the speech I just gave (to the team)," IU coach Chris Lemonis said post-game. "When you play that many guys on a really windy, sunny day – the sun was affecting some stuff – for us to play great defense was the biggest piece of the day for us."

And it started early.

Western Illinois got a leadoff ground-rule double from Steve McShane, who was then sacrificed to third. But when he tried to score on Deion Thompson's shallow fly to left, Matt Gorski nailed him with a perfect strike to the plate, capping an inning-ending double-play.

Asked if he was surprised McShane tried to score on the play, Gorski replied, "Yeah, I was just trying to hit the cutoff. And then I was like, 'I don't know where he's going.' But, it was fine."

Some other fine IU defensive moments included:
·        Logan Kaletha's full-out dive for a center field catch in the third, robbing Western's Caleb Jacobs.
·        Justin Walker's nifty, running, over-the-shoulder catch on a looper over second base to take a hit away from Justin Fitzpatrick in the fourth.
·        Logan Sowers' terrific full-speed running catch, utilizing all of his 6-foot-5 frame, of a C.J. Schaffer liner into the right field corner in the fifth.
·        Sophomore shortstop Jeremy Houston's brilliant diving stab of Fitzpatrick's sharp grounder up the middle to ignite a 6-4-3 double-play to end the Leatherneck sixth.

"It was awesome," Gorski said. "We'd been kind of struggling defensively a little bit. We got after it at practice the other day, so it was good to see it pay off."

Gorski also helped IU's first inning pay off for four runs with a sacrifice fly that followed leadoff hits from Kaletha, a single, and Matt Lloyd, a double – both of which caromed off Leatherneck leather. A trio of walks and a hit batsman helped fuel the frame as the Hoosiers batted around.

Indiana (12-4) added a pair of runs in the third. Gorski clubbed a leadoff double to center. He was sacrificed to third and, after a Wyatt Cross walk, scored on an error throwing after Houston's bunt single. Walker later brought Cross home with a sac fly.

The Hoosiers batted around again in a four-run fourth highlighted by Luke Miller's mashed solo homer to right-center, Cross' 2-RBI double down the right field line, a Gorski single and freshman Walker's first career hit.

IU capped its scoring with a single run in the sixth on four straight walks.

"Some of our best at bats were taking a walk," Lemonis said. "Just not swinging out of the zone, taking what the other team gives us and just keeping the inning going.

"And then we had some big hits with guys out there."

???????Gorski, riding a nine-game hit streak, was glad to see it.

"We needed to put some runs up on the board, because it's always good to get some younger guys some play," Gorski said. "It was good to get some runs early so they could get some opportunities."

Cross, who began his career at North Carolina, reached base in all four plate appearances – three via walks. Miller and Gorski had the only multiple-hit games, with two apiece, but IU had 12 hits, overall, doubling Western's total.

The Leathernecks (0-12) did get on the board in the seventh through leadoff triple by Johnathan Fleek and RBI single from Drue Galassi.

Connor Manous, who started at the University of Miami before transferring, threw four shutout innings and secured the win before departing on a pitch count. He was one of four freshmen hurlers utilized by IU, joining junior Tim
Herrin, in keeping Western in check.

"He just competed," Lemonis said of Manuous. " In this wind, he's a really good breaking ball pitcher. He struggled to find the breaking ball the first couple of innings, and then in the fourth seemed to find it and have one of his better innings of the day.

"Man, I thought Grant Sloan was one of the better ones we had out there. He came in and pounded the zone. Nick Eaton at the end there was really good. And good to have Timmy (Herrin) back out there, too."

The Hoosier homestand continues with Friday's 6:05 p.m. game with Northern Illinois, followed by a 2:05 p.m. game Saturday and a 1:05 game p.m. game Sunday with the Huskies.