A fastball down the middle did the Hoosiers in Friday night. Multiple fastballs actually, but one in particular.
Long Beach State was already winning by four runs at Bart Kaufman Field and still had the bases loaded. The Dirtbags No. 9 hitter, Eric Hutting, was at the plate. After working the count to three balls and one strike, junior relief pitcher had to throw a strike to avoid walking in a run.
Hutting sent the get-me-over fastball over the wall in left field. Over the entirety of the Hoosiers bullpen, in fact. Sophomore centerfielder Craig Dedelow said he knew where the ball was going as soon as Hutting made contact.
The grand slam came in a 12-5 Long Beach State win against IU in the first game of a three game series.
“Nothing against that kid, he made him pay when he fell behind,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said of the grand slam. “But our guy should get the No. 9 hole out in that situation.”
Long Beach State had two other home runs Friday night, both hit by Luke Rasmussen. Both were on fastballs after an IU pitcher fell behind in the count.
Both were crushed to left field.
“We’re not commanding the zone,” Lemonis said.
The loss went to sophomore starting pitcher Jake Kelzer, who allowed seven earned runs in 3.1 innings. Three runs from Hutting's grand slam were credited to Kelzer.
IU actually managed to outhit the Dirtbags 12-11, despite trailing by seven in the runs column. Lemonis attributed this to the three walks and two hit batters IU pitchers allowed.
Two of the runners on base for the fourth inning grand slam reached without getting a hit, via a Kelzer walk and hit batsmen.
“When you don’t get a great start, it’s not that you can’t win,” Lemonis said. “It just makes it a lot tougher.”
A poor start can also dampen the mood of the entire team, which is what Dedelow said happened Friday night.
He said if the Hoosiers aren’t lively in the dugout, aren't having fun and enjoying the game, they put themselves at a disadvantage.
“You have to remember it’s a game and you’re supposed to have fun,” Dedelow said. “As hard as that is, that’s all it is.”
He also said whenever the Hoosiers are playing well, is when they are vocal in the dugout. That’s what last year’s team was. That’s what this year’s team was during the sweep at Maryland last weekend.
“As soon as we get on a winning streak, that’s when we think it’s going to be handed to us,” Dedelow said. “We really do need to generate the energy because that’s what gets us going. So tomorrow we definitely have to have a lot more energy than we did today.”
One bright spot for the Hoosiers was the relief appearance of junior pitcher Christian Morris.
Morris pitched four innings out of the bullpen Friday, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits. His fastball ranged from 92-94 miles per hour throughout his relief appearance and he had good command of all his pitches, walking only one batter, which came in his final inning of relief.
“When you look up and you haven’t been in the stretch in a couple innings it just feels good,” Morris said. “You say, ‘Alright, I got this. This is what this feels like again.’ It’s just that self-confidence.”
The first pitch for Saturday’s game has been moved up to 3 p.m. at Bart Kaufman Field, a game the Hoosiers will need to win if they still hope to win the series against the Dirtbags.
Dedelow also called the game a must-win for the Hoosiers and their NCAA tournament chances.
“We have to get the series,” Lemonis said. “We have to get the first one tomorrow and then hopefully the second one. We goofed up some games early so every game now we can get is huge.”
