Hoosiers blow out Butler in home opener

In its first home game of the season, the IU baseball team gave its fans plenty to cheer about on a brisk March afternoon.\nPlaying without freshman left fielder Kipp Schutz, who sustained a broken collarbone during Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Indiana State, the Hoosiers (4-4) evened their record back to .500 with a 6-0 win against in-state rival Butler (3-5), Wednesday. \nThough the Hoosiers played well defensively, had strong pitching performances and forced Butler into five errors on the day, IU coach Tracy Smith said he saw plenty of room for improvement with his team.\n“I thought we made some decisions today where we ran ourselves out of a couple of innings and guys not doing what they’re supposed to do,” Smith said. “That stuff will come back to get you though it didn’t today. In my mind, we did what we had to do, but I think we need to set our bar higher on our level of play.”\nThe Hoosiers got on the board in the bottom of the first on an error to take a 1-0 lead early. After senior shortstop Keith Haas reached first and stole second, a deep fly ball from freshman catcher Josh Phegley bounced off the right fielder’s glove, allowing Haas to score.\nIn the bottom of the third, IU took another Butler error as sophomore outfielder Andrew Means reached base after Butler second baseman Jason Jamerson bobbled Means’ groundball. Means then stole second, and after two consecutive singles from freshmen second baseman Evan Crawford and right fielder Sterling Mack, he scored to give the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead. With Crawford and Mack on second and third, however, the next three Hoosiers recorded outs to end the threat.\nButler gave the Hoosiers a scare in the top of the sixth, but their rally ended after errant base running from the Bulldogs’ centerfielder, Dustin Bucalo. With shortstop Joe Pauley and Bucalo on first and second, respectively, Bucalo attempted to steal third but IU junior pitcher Chris McCombs picked him off when he was midway to third base. McCombs then struck out Butler left fielder Tony Barnes to retire the side.\nAfter tagging another run in the bottom of the sixth, the Hoosiers added three insurance runs in the following inning to extend their lead to 6-0. Junior third baseman Tyler Cox, Means and Crawford all got on base to start the inning and scored, culminating on Phegley’s second double of the afternoon.\n“I think for the most part, we came out swinging the bats,” Phegley said. “We weren’t timid at the plate and I think we were looking for hitters counts and we were swinging.”\nIn his first start of the season, McCombs pitched six innings of shutout baseball, striking out five Bulldogs along the way. After McCombs left the game, the Hoosiers used a combination of relief pitchers to give up only one hit over the final three innings.\n“I made a couple of good pitches in certain situations,” McCombs said. “I was just trying to make them put the ball in play and I know I have eight guys behind me. Best method for success.”\nSmith said that the solid play he got out of his pitchers was instrumental in getting several strong plays out of his defense, and sees his team making the same type of plays in the future.\n“I just think with our pitching, the way it’s going to be, we’re running out some quality guys one after another,” Smith said. “If you do that and the guys are throwing strikes, it makes your defenders – they’re more on their toes – more apt to make the plays behind them. I think we’re going to continue to take care of the ball; that’s the strength of this team.”