Hoosiers fail to cut down Sycamores

Strong winds and weak pitching proved to cause IU's demise as Indiana State University's five home runs outslugged the Hoosiers 11-9 Wednesday at Sembower Field. Sycamore seniors John Purdom and Ben Vannatter both homered twice to pace ISU's (18-5) offensive onslaught.\nA stiff breeze blew all day carrying would-be flyouts into home runs. Two Hoosiers joined in the hit parade as senior Vasili Spanos, and junior Ryan Donley homered. Donley's shot was a towering blast to left-center. And Spanos' hit was a high blast to straight-away center that barely cleared the wall with a lot of help from the Wrigley Field-like winds.\nDespite a strong offensive showing, IU's inconsistent defense and lackluster pitching led to the loss for Coach Bob Morgan's club. \n"The bottom line is we made too many errors and walked too many guys," Morgan said. "We just didn't play very well defensively, and we just didn't pitch very well enough to win the ball game."\nThe Hoosiers' errors and defensive miscues started early. Freshman starting pitcher Troy Ragle wasn't backed up by his defense as ISU scored five runs in the first inning on only two hits. Junior first baseman Kevin Mahar's overthrow on an attempted double play scored the first run. And Spanos' fumbled grounder scored ISU's second run. \nFollowing a Sycamore RBI-groundout, Vannatter's first homer, a two-run blast, extended ISU's lead to 5-0.\nMorgan said the first inning set the tone.\n"We should've helped Ragle out in the first inning," Morgan said. "We should've been out of the inning with no runs, and they end up getting five because we made some mistakes."\nIU turned the tables in the bottom of the second, evening the score at 5-5. Donley's three-run blast was the big blow with Mahar and senior Brad DeStefano's RBI single contributing to even the tally.\nThe Sycamores didn't waste any time regaining the advantage as a wild pitch by Ragle scored one before Vannatter struck again with an RBI-double to reclaim the lead 7-5. \nIn the bottom of the third, Spanos' solo homer cut the Sycamore's lead to 7-6. Spanos said he's been swinging the bat better of late, but the wind definitely helped him out today.\n"I was just out front and got the barrel on it," Spanos said. "It was a nice windy day and there's nothing better than a wind-blown home run. I'll take it and hopefully this will jump start me a little bit, but I'm still not where I need to be."\nISU kept itself where it needed to be, and that place was in the lead. Back-to-back homers on back-to-back pitches by Purdom and senior Chris Hall extended the Sycamore lead to 9-6. \nAfter IU drew closer to 9-7 heading into the sixth inning, Purdom extended the lead again to 10-7 with a solo shot. IU senior Nick Evans' timely two-out, two-RBI double closed the gap to 10-9. \nEvans said he got a pitch to hit.\n"There were two outs and we really needed a couple of runs to get us back in the game," Evans said. "The guy had been throwing a lot of fastballs to just about every hitter on the first pitch and I was lucky enough to get one to drop in just inside the line."\nEvan's double was all IU could muster offensively, and a Vannatter ninth-inning homer insured the Sycamore win,11-9. \nMorgan said he gave ISU credit.\n"They're a good ball club," Morgan said. "And when we got back in it, every pitcher we brought in they were able to extend the lead. It's a hitter's day. The wind was blowing out and give them credit, they were able to extend the lead"