Big Ten Tourney bid sealed

After the IU baseball team sealed a spot in the Big Ten Tournament Friday and a wash-out Saturday, the Hoosiers battled the Northwestern Wildcats Sunday at home. \nIU beat the Wildcats 7-0 on Friday, as junior pitcher Chris Behrens took the complete-game victory, allowed only five hits and three walks, and struck out a career-best seven batters. \nSophomore Ryan Parker led the IU offensive attack with a two-for-four performance and a two-run homerun in the third inning to give the Hoosiers a 4-0 lead. IU had no errors and amassed five stolen bases. \nWith their trip to the postseason assured, IU again took on Northwestern Sunday. In the first game of the doubleheader, IU got on the board in the first inning, scoring five runs, aided by three Wildcat errors. Northwestern freshman pitcher Dan Brauer gave up four hits and stolen bases. \nNorthwestern answered IU's run in the second, loading the bases with one out, then scoring on a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Ken Padgett. With the bases loaded again, freshman Mark Ori had a base hit up the middle to score another run, placing the score at 5-2 with IU in the lead.\nNorthwestern struck again in the third, as senior Brandon Ackley knocked in a run with a deep double to left center. Ackley then took third on a wild pitch, but that didn't matter as freshman Anthony Wycklendt smacked a line-drive homerun to left field to knot the game at five runs apiece. \nSenior Kevin O'Brien replaced Cary for the Hoosiers in the fourth and immediately found himself in a jam. A close play on an out at first avoided a bases-loaded, no-out situation, but on the next batter, O'Brien's pick-off attempt at third was wild and two Wildcat runners scored, giving Northwestern a 7-5 lead.\nParker drove in a run in the fourth on a sharp single to right, scoring sophomore Corby Heckman and moving Spanos to third, who then scored on a single up the middle. Senior Mark Calkins then drove in Parker with a drive through the right side of the infield, giving the Hoosiers the lead at 8-7. Junior pitcher Dan Pohlman replaced Brauer and immediately gave up a walk to load the bases with two outs. Junior Cody Wargo lined a double to left-center to score two runs, although left-fielder Mark Ori made a good relay throw and IU junior Kevin Mahar was thrown out at home.\nWycklendt then led off the fifth with a single, and Pohlman, who had just given up a run-scoring double the inning before as a pitcher, smacked a two-run home run to left off O'Brien to pull Northwestern within a run at 10-9. O'Brien then was pulled for sophomore Austin Rhoads, who got IU out of the inning with no further damage. \nJunior Seth Bynum laced a double to left-center with one out in the bottom of the fifth for the Hoosiers, leading to an intentional walk to Spanos. Nick Evans then pinch hit for Ryan Parker and hit the ball into left to score Bynum and give IU an 11-9 lead, which would prove to be the final score. It was a two-out run, the 10th of 11 runs for the Hoosiers that came with two outs. After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, Pohlman walked Donley to load the bases but got Calkins to pop out to end the inning. \nLeading off the sixth, Northwestern junior David Gresky was robbed of extra-bases by a spectacular leaping catch by IU left fielder Mark Calkins.\nThe Hoosiers stayed hot on the bases, swiping five steals for the second-straight game. Rhoads got the win for the Hoosiers. The second game of the doubleheader was not finished at press time.