Friday, March 16
Bloomington, Ind.
5 p.m.
Indiana University
13-4
18
vs
0
Northern Illinois
4-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Indiana
6
0
2
0
3
0
0
7
X
18
17
1
No. 14 Hoosiers Blank Northern Illinois, 18-0
3/16/2018 9:30:00 PM | Baseball
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana leadoff man Logan Kaletha rather decisively deposited the second pitch he saw over the left field wall Friday night.
That seemed to set a tone.
IU pounded out season-high totals for runs and hits during an 18-0 romp to start this weekend's series with visiting Northern Illinois.
Kaletha and Matt Lloyd both had 4-for-6 days at the plate, with Lloyd adding four RBI. That RBI total was then matched via one swing by freshman Justin Walker with his grand slam that highlighted a seven-run eighth.
The Hoosiers had at least one hit in every inning and 17 overall.
Hoosier starter Jonathan Stiever set a tone of his own, too, with a quick 1-2-3 first that sparked six shutout innings, with six strikeouts, and 48 strikes thrown in 62 pitches.
Andrew Saalfrank and Austin Long were then similarly stingy in completing the shutout.
"We were pretty good tonight," IU coach Chris Lemonis understated. "Just the offense coming out early and the Stiever start. Those two pieces (were important).
"Northern Illinois has a good team and we were just hot tonight, had some really good at-bats."
Starting with Kaletha – a Michigan City native who transferred into IU from John A. Logan College – right from the start.
"He did that down in Florida, too," Lemonis said of Kaletha also supplying a leadoff homer in a win against Boston College. "It's nice.
"As a leadoff, he can do a lot of things. He can steal. He's a pretty good (batting) average guy and he's got some pop. It's nice to have him."
Kaletha's homer wasn't the only nice thing about the first inning for the home team. He had a single, too, in his second at-bat as IU sent 11 men to the plate. In between during the six-run rally were singles by Lloyd, Luke Miller, Matt Gorski and Ryan Fineman.
Northern Illinois starter Donavin Sims entered the game with a fine 1.46 earned-run-average on the season. By the time Friday's first frame Friday ended it was 4.97.
The No. 14-ranked Hoosiers (13-4) didn't score in the second, but not for lack of trying. A Logan Sowers turf-hop single and a walk preceded successive lineouts to deep left by Gorski and Fineman, with both balls absolutely scalded.
IU wasn't denied in the third. After a leadoff single by Laren Eustace, a Jeremy Houston walk and a groundout that advanced the runners, Lloyd laced a 2-RBI single to left.
Indiana sent eight men to the plate and scored three times in the fifth. Kaletha legged out a leadoff double, Lloyd drove him home with a single. Three walks, a sac fly by freshman Elijah Dunham and a run-scoring wild pitch ensued.
"Yeah, even in BP we all started swinging really well today," Kaletha said of the on-going offensive explosion. "We're always upbeat. Came out with a lot of energy."
Meantime, Stiever didn't have to expend all that much energy during a very efficient outing on the mound as 10 Major League Baseball scouts observed.
"I was able to get ahead in the count, which was good, and the offense really jumped on them from the start," Stiever said. "Being able to pitch with such a big lead early on, you really can be in control and go after the hitters even more.
"With the offense providing so much, there really isn't any reason to nibble at all. I was going after them with the fastball, which was working, and they were swinging pretty early in the count, which helped."
Hoosier hitters kept swinging and connecting.
After Sam Crail and Wyatt Cross drew walks to start the IU eighth, Scotty Bradley followed with a RBI single to center. Another RBI single for Lloyd and a pair of hit-batsmen then preceded Walker's slam into the left field bullpen.
"I think that's the first home run he's hit in practice or anything," Lemonis said of Walker. "But good for him. He's been working hard lately and it's good to see that pay off."
Walker was one of five true freshmen who Lemonis played Friday along with three others in their first seasons at IU in Kaletha, Cade Bunnell and Wyatt Cross. Pretty much all of them contributed.
Lemonis said one of the tougher aspect of his job right now is filling out the starting lineup for the happy reason of having too many good options.
"One of the hardest things I got right now is keeping some of our other guys happy, because we do have some talented guys (coming off the bench)," Lemonis said. "They're coming to work every day, too. They want to play. That competitive balance we got right now is pretty good."
"… It's a nice lineup. We can run, we can hit a little bit, we have enough left(-handed bats) and we got some power, I think."
He thinks correctly.
The Hoosiers will try to maintain their momentum as their current nine-game homestand continues today with games Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.) against Northern Illinois (4-12).
IU then is slated to host Wright State for a 4:05 p.m. game Tuesday before starting Big Ten play next weekend at Iowa.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana leadoff man Logan Kaletha rather decisively deposited the second pitch he saw over the left field wall Friday night.
That seemed to set a tone.
IU pounded out season-high totals for runs and hits during an 18-0 romp to start this weekend's series with visiting Northern Illinois.
Kaletha and Matt Lloyd both had 4-for-6 days at the plate, with Lloyd adding four RBI. That RBI total was then matched via one swing by freshman Justin Walker with his grand slam that highlighted a seven-run eighth.
The Hoosiers had at least one hit in every inning and 17 overall.
Hoosier starter Jonathan Stiever set a tone of his own, too, with a quick 1-2-3 first that sparked six shutout innings, with six strikeouts, and 48 strikes thrown in 62 pitches.
Andrew Saalfrank and Austin Long were then similarly stingy in completing the shutout.
"We were pretty good tonight," IU coach Chris Lemonis understated. "Just the offense coming out early and the Stiever start. Those two pieces (were important).
"Northern Illinois has a good team and we were just hot tonight, had some really good at-bats."
Starting with Kaletha – a Michigan City native who transferred into IU from John A. Logan College – right from the start.
"He did that down in Florida, too," Lemonis said of Kaletha also supplying a leadoff homer in a win against Boston College. "It's nice.
"As a leadoff, he can do a lot of things. He can steal. He's a pretty good (batting) average guy and he's got some pop. It's nice to have him."
Kaletha's homer wasn't the only nice thing about the first inning for the home team. He had a single, too, in his second at-bat as IU sent 11 men to the plate. In between during the six-run rally were singles by Lloyd, Luke Miller, Matt Gorski and Ryan Fineman.
Northern Illinois starter Donavin Sims entered the game with a fine 1.46 earned-run-average on the season. By the time Friday's first frame Friday ended it was 4.97.
The No. 14-ranked Hoosiers (13-4) didn't score in the second, but not for lack of trying. A Logan Sowers turf-hop single and a walk preceded successive lineouts to deep left by Gorski and Fineman, with both balls absolutely scalded.
IU wasn't denied in the third. After a leadoff single by Laren Eustace, a Jeremy Houston walk and a groundout that advanced the runners, Lloyd laced a 2-RBI single to left.
Indiana sent eight men to the plate and scored three times in the fifth. Kaletha legged out a leadoff double, Lloyd drove him home with a single. Three walks, a sac fly by freshman Elijah Dunham and a run-scoring wild pitch ensued.
"Yeah, even in BP we all started swinging really well today," Kaletha said of the on-going offensive explosion. "We're always upbeat. Came out with a lot of energy."
Meantime, Stiever didn't have to expend all that much energy during a very efficient outing on the mound as 10 Major League Baseball scouts observed.
"I was able to get ahead in the count, which was good, and the offense really jumped on them from the start," Stiever said. "Being able to pitch with such a big lead early on, you really can be in control and go after the hitters even more.
"With the offense providing so much, there really isn't any reason to nibble at all. I was going after them with the fastball, which was working, and they were swinging pretty early in the count, which helped."
Hoosier hitters kept swinging and connecting.
After Sam Crail and Wyatt Cross drew walks to start the IU eighth, Scotty Bradley followed with a RBI single to center. Another RBI single for Lloyd and a pair of hit-batsmen then preceded Walker's slam into the left field bullpen.
"I think that's the first home run he's hit in practice or anything," Lemonis said of Walker. "But good for him. He's been working hard lately and it's good to see that pay off."
Walker was one of five true freshmen who Lemonis played Friday along with three others in their first seasons at IU in Kaletha, Cade Bunnell and Wyatt Cross. Pretty much all of them contributed.
Lemonis said one of the tougher aspect of his job right now is filling out the starting lineup for the happy reason of having too many good options.
"One of the hardest things I got right now is keeping some of our other guys happy, because we do have some talented guys (coming off the bench)," Lemonis said. "They're coming to work every day, too. They want to play. That competitive balance we got right now is pretty good."
"… It's a nice lineup. We can run, we can hit a little bit, we have enough left(-handed bats) and we got some power, I think."
He thinks correctly.
The Hoosiers will try to maintain their momentum as their current nine-game homestand continues today with games Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 p.m.) against Northern Illinois (4-12).
IU then is slated to host Wright State for a 4:05 p.m. game Tuesday before starting Big Ten play next weekend at Iowa.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Stiever, Jonathan (2-1)
L: SIMS, Donovin (1-2)
Batting:
2B: SZCZASNY, Tommy 1
Batting:
2B: Kaletha, Logan 1
HR: Kaletha, Logan 1 ; Walker, Justin 1
RBI: Kaletha, Logan 2 ; Lloyd, Matt 4 ; Lowe, Chris 1 ; Dunham, Elijah 1 ; Walker, Justin 4 ; Gorski, Matt 2 ; Fineman , Ryan 2 ; Bradley, Scotty 1
SF: Dunham, Elijah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kaletha, Logan 2 ; Lloyd, Matt 3 ; Miller, Luke 2 ; Ashley, Drew 1 ; Lowe, Chris 1 ; Dunham, Elijah 1 ; Walker, Justin 1 ; Gorski, Matt 1 ; Crail, Sam 1 ; Fineman , Ryan 1 ; Cross, Wyatt 1 ; Eustace, Laren 1 ; Bradley, Scotty 1 ; Houston, Jeremy 1
SB: Gorski, Matt 2 ; Eustace, Laren 1
CS: Lloyd, Matt 1
HBP: Ashley, Drew 1 ; Lowe, Chris 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
2
H
4
RBI
2
2b/1b
AB
6
R
3
H
4
RBI
4
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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