Remember all that talk about a 5 game losing streak, and what is wrong with Indiana baseball? That was so last week.
On its Senior Night, the Hoosiers finished off a 3-game sweep of Maryland, winning 13-3 at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington. IU won its sixth in a row overall to wrap-up the regular season. Indiana heads to post season play at 37-15 overall, and 14-9 in the Big Ten.
IU is firmly in the eight-team Big Ten Tournament that starts next week. The Hoosiers will finish 5th overall in the regular season conference standings.
While Maryland put up good fights on Thursday and Friday, Saturday’s regular season finale was all about the Hoosier bats. That started early with this “no doubter” by senior Logan Sowers in the bottom of the first. All you have to do is watch the Maryland center fielder.
PSA: @LoganSowers51 just ripped the cover off that ball. 🤯#IUBASE 3, Maryland 0 | B1 pic.twitter.com/NziPyi35dI
— Indiana Baseball (@IndianaBase) May 19, 2018
The three-run shot put the Hoosiers in front 3-0. Maryland would hang around early, cutting the IU lead to 4-3, but the Hoosier hits just kept on coming, thanks in large part to Sowers. When the day was over, the Lafayette, Indiana native had gone 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in. He now sits in 9th place on the IU all-time home run list with 36.
Luke Miller and Scotty Bradley also had nice days at the plate for IU. The surging Miller went 3 for 4 with 2 runs and a run batted in. After dealing with injuries earlier in the season, Miller is now 12 for 24 with 4 home runs and 9 runs batted in over the last 6 games, coinciding with Indiana’s 6 game win streak.
Bradley was 2 for 2 with a couple runs batted in.
Tim Herrin had a solid start for Indiana, going 6 innings and giving up just 1 earned run while striking out 4. He gave up just 3 hits on the night.
The bullpen trio of Brian Hobbie, Cal Krueger and Austin Long each threw one inning of shutout relief.
THE SENIORS
It was the final regular season home game at Bart Kaufman Field for seniors Laren Eustace, Brian Hobbie, Kade Kryzsko, Chris Lowe, B.J. Sabol and Logan Sowers.
THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
The Hoosiers will face No. 4 seed Illinois at 10 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The tournament is an eight team, double elimination format.
IU last won the tournament in 2014 and has won it four times overall. You can see more about the tournament on the Big Ten’s site here.
The Hoosiers and Illini squared off in late April in Bloomington, with IU taking 2 of 3 in the series.
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