Hoosiers tame Tigers to earn first victory

The Hoosiers opened at home Monday in victorious fashion, toppling the Tigers of DePauw, 6-3. The victory marks the team's first victory of the season, after losing to Southeastern Louisiana this weekend. The Hoosiers are now 1-3 on the year.\nIU opened the game with a bang, scoring five of its six runs in the first two innings. After battering Tigers' pitcher Kerry Frost for four earned runs in just one and one-third innings of work, DePauw turned to P.J. Mitchell for help on the mound. Mitchell had an immediate impact, keeping the Hoosiers scoreless until the eighth inning. Though Mitchell earned the loss, he finished with five strikeouts and just one earned run in almost seven innings of work. IU coach Bob Morgan said Mitchell was effective in shutting the Hoosiers down.\n"He was very tough," Morgan said. "He worked his breaking ball, he worked us inside well and he went back door often."\nAfter shutting out the Tigers through the first three innings, freshman pitcher Matt Saba was pulled in favor of freshman lefty Byron Banks. Banks struck out Tiger catcher Mike Gonzalez for the first out of the inning. However, Gonzalez reached first after junior Kurt Weigle had trouble handling the ball. This would eventually lead to the Tiger's first two runs of the game. Banks was pulled after one inning of work after giving up two unearned runs. Despite Bank's sub-par performance on the mound, he was credited with the win. Saba said he was excited to pitch for the first time even though he was pulled after just three innings.\n"It was fun just to get out there," he said. "Coach [Morgan] doesn't want me to pitch too many innings this early in the season, so that's why he pulled me after the third."\nAfter the fourth inning, the only other run the Hoosiers gave up came in the top of the seventh. Sophomore pitcher Dan Pezley and junior pitcher Brian Lortz combined to pitch the last five innings, striking out four and giving up just one earned run.\nJunior infielder Corby Heckman led the offensive charge for the Hoosiers. In less than favorable weather, Heckman went 2-4 with a RBI. Heckman said weather shouldn't have an effect on how people hit.\n"It can be a little harder to find a rhythm in conditions like this," Heckman said. "Two-for-four means nothing."\nThe team next heads to Millington, Tenn., for a three-game road trip. The Hoosiers take on Murray State at 10 a.m. Friday and will play Kentucky at the same time on Saturday. The team caps its road trip off with a game against Navy at noon Sunday.\nContact staff writer Cory Steger at csteger@indiana.edu