Team takes two of four split against Spartans

The Hoosiers came away with a much-needed split in their first away series in Big Ten competition.\nIU (26-7, 8-4 Big Ten) swept the double header Saturday against Michigan State (22-8, 6-5) behind dominating pitching and defense. \nIn the first game of the doubleheader Saturday, the offense was only able to produce one run. Luckily, that was all IU needed for the win. Senior Zach Otte was outstanding, throwing seven innings of five-hit ball to shutout the Spartans 1-0. The complete-game victory for Otte raised his record to 6-1 on the season. The lone run came in the second innning, when senior Gibran Hamdan hit a single up the middle to drive home Joe Kemp. Center fielder Kennard Jones was the lone Hoosier to get more than one hit.\nIn the second game Saturday, the offenses of both teams seemed anxious to make their presence felt, as a combined 12 runs were scored by both teams in the first three innings. From there the pitchers shut the door, and IU went on to win 8-4. Junior Nick Vitielliss limited the Spartans to eight hits and shut them down after they scored four runs in the first two innings. The junior pitched his third straight complete game, improving his record to 5-0.\nSophomore Mark Calkins and Jones each went 3-for-4 with a combined five RBIs for IU, and Eric Blakeley had two hits. \nThe sweep Saturday raised the Hoosiers' record when playing Saturday to 9-1. \nBut Michigan State's bats could not be silenced in Friday and Sunday's games. Michigan State took the game Friday by a score of 13-6 and took the final game Sunday 10-6.\nThe game Friday found the Spartans jumping to a 7-0 lead after two innings before the Hoosiers started to fight back. IU had cut the lead to four after its half of the seventh behind an RBI single by Nick Evans and an RBI double by Calkins. It just wasn't in the cards for IU on Friday, though, as MSU put up four more runs in the home half of the seventh to put the game away. Jones, Kemp and Jay Brant each had three hits for the Hoosiers, while MSU was led by second baseman Charlie Braun's three RBIs.\nSunday was a story of home runs, with Michigan State hitting three to earn the 10-6 victory. The Spartans used a three-run home run to take a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning and a solo shot to take a 7-6 lead after IU had tied the game in the sixth. Another three-run shot provided the final scoring.\nKemp had three hits for IU along with an RBI, and Jones went 2-for-5 with an RBI himself to lead the six-run burst from the IU offense. \n"If you can split on the road, especially against a good team, it's good," coach Bob Morgan said. "But after we lost the first one and swept on Saturday we liked our chances to take three out of four, but it just didn't happen. It was a good weekend, but it could have been a great weekend." \nIU will go on the road again Wednesday for a game against Wright State.