Indiana Baseball: Hoosiers Win 3rd Straight With More Solid Pitching
MOBILE, Ala. — Indiana keeps winning baseball games, and the Hoosiers are doing it with some impressive pitching. For the second straight day, they didn't give up an earned run and won again, beating No, 30-ranked South Alabama 4-2 on Saturday.
The Hoosiers (3-2) have now won three games in a row and have looked good in doing it, even by late-February standards. They got a great performance from starting pitcher Gabe Bierman, who had a career-high 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings and allowed only two unearned runs. Closer McCade Brown ended it with a solid ninth inning, working around two walks to seal the deal.
The arms are doing their thing. In two days, Indiana pitchers have allowed only four unearned runs, and they've struck out a combined 27 batters. The two starters, Bierman on Saturday and Tommy Sommer on Friday in the 3-2 win over Tennessee-Martin, pitched a combined 11 2/3 innings and walked only two batters.
"Gabe was as good today as I've ever seen him as far as executing all of his pitches and handling some adverse situations,'' Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said. "He was able to stay emotionally stable and just handle his business and go back and execute his pitches. He was outstanding today.
"Gabe is a really tough kid. He's a really confident, tough kid, and he's worked incredibly hard. I can't say enough about his continued growth.''
VIDEO: Jeff Mercer talks about his pitching staff
Bierman worked into the seventh inning, throwing 105 pitches. Cruising with a 4-0 lead, he gave up two unearned runs in the seventh after a Cole Barr error at third base. Indiana had three errors on the day. Grant Sloan came in out of the bullpen and got two outs, and Cal Krueger did the same. McCade Brown pitched the ninth inning, and sweated through two walks before ending the game on a called third strike.
It was a nice bounce-back from last week for Bierman, who gave up five runs in four innings at LSU in his first start. Everything Saturday was just better, and he could feel the difference. He felt good, from start to finish.
"I just wanted to come out and pound the zone,'' he said. "A team like (No. 30-ranked) South Alabama, you've got to hit your spots. You get in a groove, and it's a lot easier to get ground balls and get fly balls.
"I felt good (with 105 pitches), right through the last pitch. I wanted to be more efficient and spot up my fastball a little better than I did last week, and I feel like I did that with all my pitches, really.''
Indiana struggled to finish innings on Friday, leaving 12 men on base, and they wanted to be more productive on Saturday. They did just that right from the get-go, scoring three runs in the first inning.
Four of the first five hitters reached base for Indiana. Drew Ashley and Elijah Dunham walked, and Barr had a single in between. Jordan Fucci drove in a run with a single, Collin Hopkins drove in a run on a groundout and Dunham scored on a passed ball.
Dunham has been on fire this weekend. After having three hits Friday, he had three more on Saturday, two singles and a double.
Indiana center fielder Grant Richardson, the Big Ten Player of the Week last week after his 6-for-12 performance at LSU, homered for the Hoosiers in the fifth inning. He missed Friday's game with a minor undisclosed injury, but seemed fine on Saturday.
Mercer is thrilled with what his team has accomplished so far this weekend. There's one more game on Sunday, at Noon ET against Siena.
"I've got a ton of confidence in all those guys,'' Mercer said of his pitching staff. "I've said it before, and I know in the preseason we normally paint with a positive stroke, but I always felt like our pitching staff, while young and inexperienced, will continue to grow and learn.''
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