Hamdan's hot bat helps Hoosiers win

It may not have been pretty at times, but a win is a win.\nIU survived multiple rallies by Miami University (Ohio) and used its own late inning heroics to come away with a hard-fought 10-7 victory Tuesday.\nWith the win, the Hoosiers improved to 24-6.\nAt first, things did not look good for the Hoosiers, when after the first two pitches of the game, the RedHawks already had two runners aboard. But freshman pitcher Matt Ousley buckled down and only allowed one run in the first. \nThe Hoosiers refused to be outdone in the inning. First baseman Gibran Hamdan's two-run single highlighted a three-run inning.\nMiami, however, did not roll over and die, and soon the game became a seesaw battle.\nThe RedHawks lit the scoreboard up for four runs in the fourth to recapture the lead, 5-4. But the Hoosiers answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead.\nIU suffered a scare when junior Vasili Spanos left the game after hurting his arm while making a tough throw from deep in the hole at third base. \nBut head coach Bob Morgan has many options on his bench this year, and one of those options came through for him. Senior Mark Minor knocked in a key run as Spanos' replacement in the sixth to keep IU one run ahead of the RedHawks.\n"(Spanos) goes out of the lineup, and that takes a big cog out of the wheel," Morgan said.\nWhen Spanos left the game, a huge void needed to be filled, but Hamdan and the other IU batters knew that everyone would step up to the plate.\n"A lot of guys came through with hits for us today," Hamdan said. "That's been the story for us all season. It's not the starting nine that makes a team strong; it's the guys you have behind them."\nIU could not put Miami away for good though, and the RedHawks knotted the game at seven in the eighth inning.\nThen, as he as done numerous times this season, Hamdan came through in the clutch for the Hoosiers. He drove in the winning run in the eighth, and the Hoosiers added two more insurance runs to put the game out of reach.\n"We came up big in the eighth with some key hits," Morgan said. "We were just fortunate to get the win. We have to play small ball a little better as far as our bunts and moving people over." \nHamdan finished the day batting a perfect 4-for-4 and had three RBIs.\nSenior Eric Blakeley also contributed four hits and three RBIs, including a two-run blast, his sixth home run of the year.\n"Anyone we put in there will step up and do a good job for us," Blakeley said. "Last year we lost a lot of one-run games, but this year we've won a few one-run games. And that just helps with our confidence to come from behind"