No great shakes? That doesn’t apply to IU baseball.
5/18/2019 8:12:00 AM | Baseball
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's host Hoosiers had just taken the field when Rutgers first base coach Tom Conley made a point to greet IU first sacker Scotty Bradley, shaking his hand.
Bradley is, after all, a son of New Jersey whose walk-up music for at-bats is Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." And Bradley's dad, Scott, is a former Rutgers assistant baseball coach who now heads up Princeton's program.
But Bradley spent more of Friday evening shaking hands with teammates. Often enough after Hoosier home runs.
There were four of those, two off Bradley's bat, as Indiana romped, 11-4.
Matt Gorski's solo shot in the first set a new single-season school record as IU's 86th round-tripper of the season. And the current team total of 89 homers re-establishes the national lead in that desirable category.
But the lead the Hoosiers really relished was the half-game edge in the Big Ten regular-season race that Friday's result forged.
And that meant, regardless of results from Friday's Michigan-Nebraska double-header in Lincoln (where the host Huskers won the opener, 7-0), Indiana controls its own destiny heading into Saturday's 12 p.m. series finale with Rutgers.
If the Hoosiers win Saturday, they win the Big Ten title.
"Yeah, it's exciting," IU coach Jeff Mercer acknowledged post-game. "We've continued to push the guys to be able to put (ourselves) in this position … we have to go execute the same way.
"We're going to play the game the same way we've played the 54 games before this and live to that standard. If we do those things, I'll be the happiest guy in the world, no matter the outcome.
"If we compete, if we have great enthusiasm and passion and we follow a game plan and execute, no matter what happens – baseball is a goofy game, anything can happen – I'll be a very happy guy and a very proud guy whatever the outcome is."
Friday's outcome was settled pretty early as the Hoosiers rode a strong start from junior Tanner Gordon, errorless defense and a potent offense that tallied runs in five of the first six frames.
Gorski got it started by driving a long solo homer to center, his 12th of the season.
IU made it 2-0 in the second when Justin Walker whacked a clutch, two-out ground-rule double down the right field line to score Bradley, who had been hit by a pitch and had taken second on a wild pitch.
Rutgers (20-30 overall, 9-13 Big Ten) rallied in the third to tie on Kevin Welsh's two-run homer to right, his second in as many days.
But the Hoosiers responded immediately as Bradley began to seriously bedevil his homestate team.
Elijah Dunham and Cole Barr worked walks before Bradley blasted a three-run shot to right that put his team ahead for good in the bottom of the third.
"Cole and Elijah did an incredible job working tough walks to get on base," Bradley said. "I was just looking to be aggressive early in the count and got a first-pitch fastball.
"(Rutgers starter Tevin Murray) had a little bit of life, where his fastball had a little bit of rise to it, so it was making sure you get it down a little bit and making sure you put a good swing on it. I had a good feeling it would get out and, luckily, it did."
Mercer saw it coming, in a sense.
"There was a point yesterday when (Bradley) hits that double to left-center, but then the next at-bat he takes a pitch," Mercer recalled, "and you could tell from his body position and his confidence, the way he took it, it was like, 'Oh, Scotty's back.' I looked at Coach (Justin) Parker and I was like, 'He's ready to roll.'
"He was great … I know I say it all the time, but you look at his ability to be resilient and respond and bounce back … you could just tell the way he took a pitch that he was right again. He went out and changed the game (today). He really was the catalyst for the whole club today."
Hoosier freshman Grant Richardson's ninth homer of the year, a solo shot to right, ensued an out later to make it 6-2 and prompt the first of five Rutgers pitching changes Friday.
Bradley then led off the IU fifth with a rocket to right-center, making it 7-2.
"Being able to see a lot of pitches, especially fastballs in that 3-2 count, fouling off a bunch of pitches, I think gave me a good chance to have it timed up," Bradley said of the second fastball he deposited over the fence on the day.
The Hoosiers then basically eliminated any remaining doubt regarding the outcome with a four-run sixth.
Drew Ashley got things going with a leadoff bunt single, followed by a Gorski walk, a check-swing single by Matt Lloyd to load the bases and a RBI single by Dunham. Barr then walked to force in another run before Ryan Fineman's single made it 11-2.
Rutgers pinch-hitter Luke Bowerbank belted a two-run homer in the eighth to complete the scoring, but the home team remained comfortable.
And Indiana (35-19, 16-7) has a chance Saturday to notch its first Big Ten title since earning back-to-back crowns in 2013 and 2014.
"No question about it, when you come to Indiana," Bradley said of that particular goal. "All the people who came before you – Kyle Schwarber, Sam Travis, Kyle Hart, Ryan Halstead, all those guys, they just kind of lay the foundation for you.
"It's about being part of a brotherhood and doing special things out on the field together. We're excited to get our opportunity tomorrow … we just control our own destiny now. I said to the announcers on BTN as well that we're just going to come out here tomorrow and pour everything we can onto the field, and whatever happens happens."
That's all Mercer, in his first campaign as the Hoosier head coach but with deep family ties to the program's history, feels about it, too.
"I would just be really happy for the boys," Mercer said when asked what a title would mean to him in his first year. "I really mean that, because they've gone through a lot in the last year. It's exciting for me, to get to come home, but also they had a coaching change.
"They had a couple guys that have been all-conference players that have been out for the majority of the year (Fineman, Logan Kaletha). For everything that they've been through, to be resilient and to go and be able to pull it off would be a great feat.
"Honestly, I would be so happy just for the Indiana baseball community, the one that I grew up in. (It) means so much to me to be able to represent Indiana in the right way. It's always fun to win the championship. I've been fortunate to be a part of a lot of them, but you get most excited for all the people and the families that poured their entire lives into these boys, and the boys poured their entire
lives into this kind of a season.
"That's what would go through my mind if that were to happen. We'll go play it out, and if it doesn't happen — and we play the way we should – I'll be just as happy as if it did."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's host Hoosiers had just taken the field when Rutgers first base coach Tom Conley made a point to greet IU first sacker Scotty Bradley, shaking his hand.
Bradley is, after all, a son of New Jersey whose walk-up music for at-bats is Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." And Bradley's dad, Scott, is a former Rutgers assistant baseball coach who now heads up Princeton's program.
But Bradley spent more of Friday evening shaking hands with teammates. Often enough after Hoosier home runs.
There were four of those, two off Bradley's bat, as Indiana romped, 11-4.
Matt Gorski's solo shot in the first set a new single-season school record as IU's 86th round-tripper of the season. And the current team total of 89 homers re-establishes the national lead in that desirable category.
But the lead the Hoosiers really relished was the half-game edge in the Big Ten regular-season race that Friday's result forged.
And that meant, regardless of results from Friday's Michigan-Nebraska double-header in Lincoln (where the host Huskers won the opener, 7-0), Indiana controls its own destiny heading into Saturday's 12 p.m. series finale with Rutgers.
If the Hoosiers win Saturday, they win the Big Ten title.
"Yeah, it's exciting," IU coach Jeff Mercer acknowledged post-game. "We've continued to push the guys to be able to put (ourselves) in this position … we have to go execute the same way.
"We're going to play the game the same way we've played the 54 games before this and live to that standard. If we do those things, I'll be the happiest guy in the world, no matter the outcome.
"If we compete, if we have great enthusiasm and passion and we follow a game plan and execute, no matter what happens – baseball is a goofy game, anything can happen – I'll be a very happy guy and a very proud guy whatever the outcome is."
Friday's outcome was settled pretty early as the Hoosiers rode a strong start from junior Tanner Gordon, errorless defense and a potent offense that tallied runs in five of the first six frames.
Gorski got it started by driving a long solo homer to center, his 12th of the season.
IU made it 2-0 in the second when Justin Walker whacked a clutch, two-out ground-rule double down the right field line to score Bradley, who had been hit by a pitch and had taken second on a wild pitch.
Rutgers (20-30 overall, 9-13 Big Ten) rallied in the third to tie on Kevin Welsh's two-run homer to right, his second in as many days.
But the Hoosiers responded immediately as Bradley began to seriously bedevil his homestate team.
Elijah Dunham and Cole Barr worked walks before Bradley blasted a three-run shot to right that put his team ahead for good in the bottom of the third.
"Cole and Elijah did an incredible job working tough walks to get on base," Bradley said. "I was just looking to be aggressive early in the count and got a first-pitch fastball.
"(Rutgers starter Tevin Murray) had a little bit of life, where his fastball had a little bit of rise to it, so it was making sure you get it down a little bit and making sure you put a good swing on it. I had a good feeling it would get out and, luckily, it did."
Mercer saw it coming, in a sense.
"There was a point yesterday when (Bradley) hits that double to left-center, but then the next at-bat he takes a pitch," Mercer recalled, "and you could tell from his body position and his confidence, the way he took it, it was like, 'Oh, Scotty's back.' I looked at Coach (Justin) Parker and I was like, 'He's ready to roll.'
"He was great … I know I say it all the time, but you look at his ability to be resilient and respond and bounce back … you could just tell the way he took a pitch that he was right again. He went out and changed the game (today). He really was the catalyst for the whole club today."
Hoosier freshman Grant Richardson's ninth homer of the year, a solo shot to right, ensued an out later to make it 6-2 and prompt the first of five Rutgers pitching changes Friday.
Bradley then led off the IU fifth with a rocket to right-center, making it 7-2.
"Being able to see a lot of pitches, especially fastballs in that 3-2 count, fouling off a bunch of pitches, I think gave me a good chance to have it timed up," Bradley said of the second fastball he deposited over the fence on the day.
The Hoosiers then basically eliminated any remaining doubt regarding the outcome with a four-run sixth.
Drew Ashley got things going with a leadoff bunt single, followed by a Gorski walk, a check-swing single by Matt Lloyd to load the bases and a RBI single by Dunham. Barr then walked to force in another run before Ryan Fineman's single made it 11-2.
Rutgers pinch-hitter Luke Bowerbank belted a two-run homer in the eighth to complete the scoring, but the home team remained comfortable.
And Indiana (35-19, 16-7) has a chance Saturday to notch its first Big Ten title since earning back-to-back crowns in 2013 and 2014.
"No question about it, when you come to Indiana," Bradley said of that particular goal. "All the people who came before you – Kyle Schwarber, Sam Travis, Kyle Hart, Ryan Halstead, all those guys, they just kind of lay the foundation for you.
"It's about being part of a brotherhood and doing special things out on the field together. We're excited to get our opportunity tomorrow … we just control our own destiny now. I said to the announcers on BTN as well that we're just going to come out here tomorrow and pour everything we can onto the field, and whatever happens happens."
That's all Mercer, in his first campaign as the Hoosier head coach but with deep family ties to the program's history, feels about it, too.
"I would just be really happy for the boys," Mercer said when asked what a title would mean to him in his first year. "I really mean that, because they've gone through a lot in the last year. It's exciting for me, to get to come home, but also they had a coaching change.
"They had a couple guys that have been all-conference players that have been out for the majority of the year (Fineman, Logan Kaletha). For everything that they've been through, to be resilient and to go and be able to pull it off would be a great feat.
"Honestly, I would be so happy just for the Indiana baseball community, the one that I grew up in. (It) means so much to me to be able to represent Indiana in the right way. It's always fun to win the championship. I've been fortunate to be a part of a lot of them, but you get most excited for all the people and the families that poured their entire lives into these boys, and the boys poured their entire
lives into this kind of a season.
"That's what would go through my mind if that were to happen. We'll go play it out, and if it doesn't happen — and we play the way we should – I'll be just as happy as if it did."
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